Quill Inc.

Excerpt

2011-11-23T22:54:00.038-05:00

I step in.

If I can’t do it here

it will never happen.

Water rises

over my ankles

and my skin gets tight.

I wade further

and try to read this rocky river bottom

with my feet.

I walk

until I am a half-girl

gliding across the surface.

It's okay to fall back.

My hair spreads, holding on

until it can’t anymore.

All I can manage is a shallow breath

before

Water closes

like a river window over my face.

My arms and eyes are wide open and

I flood with relief

seeing them now in the clouds:

Those air castles in all their glory

just as I saw them before.

I am not afraid.

This river will let me go.

I know.

Rising

slowly,

water comes with me

as I come up

for those castles of air.

I breathe.

I'll be okay.

I am okay.

2011-10-28T22:45:00.003-04:00

Invasion of the Proper Nouns

Characters:

Common Nouns: a guy, a store, a crayon

Proper Nouns: Alexander P. McGillicutty, American Eagle, Crayola

An authority on the subject: Officer Wordsworth

guy: Hey nouns! What’s up?

crayon: I heard a rumor.

guy: Really?

clothing store: I haven’t heard a thing.

crayon: There’s a new noun in town. They call themselves The Propers.

guy: Have you met them?

crayon: No, but I’ve heard what snobs they are. They think they’re better than us.

(Enter Proper Nouns)

Alexander P. McGillicutty: Greetings my fellow common man.

guy: Hey!

American Eagle: Hello store. Ha! What kind of a proper name is that?

store: my name is just fine.

Crayola: Melt me down and color me red, I’ve never met such a common looking noun in my life!

crayon: Listen fancy pants, I’ve heard all about you proper nouns—

store: Yeah, we heard what snobs you are.

Alexander P. McGillicutty: Proper nouns have a proper job to do.

American Eagle: Yes. You common folks are fine. You’ve got your people, places and things.

Crayola: We are specialists.

guy, store and crayon: Huh?

Alexander P. McGillicutty: Think of it this way. Do you need ANY store? Just ANY crayon? Will ANY guy do? Then you common nouns are the ticket.

American Eagle: But all stores are not created equal. Quality Dairy will never be AMERICAN EAGLE. And if you only say “store,” how will anyone know which store you really mean?

Crayola: That’s right! Everyone knows that a proper crayon is called a Crayola—that’s with a capital “C”. “crayon” is so—so—

crayon: Common?

Crayola: Now you are getting it!

Alexander P. McGillicutty: And who are you, guy?

guy: I’m a guy.

Alexander P. McGillicutty: But which guy are you?

guy: I’m any guy.

Alexander P. McGillicutty: Precisely. I am the one and only Alexander P. McGillicutty, with a capital “A, P and G.” I am a specific guy. A proper guy. One special guy.

American Eagle: And I’m American Eagle with a capital “A,” and a capital “E.”

crayon: So you Proper Nouns have capital letters. So what?

store: Yeah, capitals don’t matter. I can have a capital any time I want. . . .well, only when I’m at the beginning of a sentence.

guy: I used to like my name.

crayon: Me too, until now.

Crayola: Isn’t this cute? Common nouns thinking they are special. Imagine it!

Alexander P. McGillicutty: It is very hard to imagine common nouns as anything but, well, lower case.

American Eagle: It looks like we got here just in time to set the record straight.

(Enter Officer Wordsworth, an authority on the matter.)

Officer Wordsworth: Wait just a ding dong minute. Before you Proper Nouns get puffed up with pride, I’m afraid I will have the last word on the subject.

Crayola: What do you mean?

Officer Wordsworth: You are specialists, but common nouns have a very special job to do.

Alexander P. McGillicutty: They do?

Officer Wordsworth: Yes. In fact, without THEM, there would be no YOU.

Crayola: Well, I never.

American Eagle: You mean, we’re RELATED?

Officer Wordsworth: Now you are getting it. The world is full of wonderful people, places and things. You, guy, stand for more than just one. You represent thousands! No, millions! NO, BILLIONS!

guy: I always knew it. I’m famous.

crayon: Me, too?

Officer Wordsworth: Yes! Billions!

store: And me?

Officer Wordsworth: Definitely! You are the proud voice of many!

guy: The fancy pants capital letter thing still bothers me.

Officer Wordsworth: Capital letters put their fancy pants on one leg at a time, just like everyone else.

crayon: I feel a lot better. I’m going to tell all the crayons of the world I will serve them forever!

store: Me, too. Stores everywhere are thankful for me.

guy: I’ve always considered myself a people person. Now I know why!

store: I love being a common noun!

crayon: Me too!

Crayola: Color me green and call me nauseous. I’m going back to my box.

Officer Wordsworth: Can’t we all just get along?

American Eagle: I owe my life to the common noun! Who would have thought it!

(the Propers walk off)

guy, store, and crayon: You’re welcome!

Home Grown Poems

2011-05-13T21:45:00.008-04:00

So, yeah.

sometimes I slice

little poems from my life.

It’s kind of like pruning,

only no blisters.

Mostly I toss them,

But sometimes

I save one,

put it in water;

it sprouts,

taking on a little life

Of its own

and I find

it isn't really mine

at all.

The Argument

2011-04-19T06:29:00.015-04:00

The moon

Had been steadily

Sending its regrets

and yes, I know

About the water cycle,

and circles unbroken.

Even the morning glory

knows when

to close its mouth,

just as eyes

know when

to open,

and a heart

knows when

to fill.

The moon, too,

will wax.

Wisdom

2011-02-14T16:33:00.003-05:00

Here is a beautiful photo essay from Deborah Wiles about what "ought to be" and letting go. It is wise and rich, and just what this writer needed to hear on a sunny, spring-is-coming sort of day.

http://deborahwiles1.blogspot.com/2011/02/embracing-sharp-points.html

Gary Schmidt

2011-02-12T08:18:00.003-05:00

Mr. Schmidt has written a companion novel to the Newbery Honor winning, THE WEDNESDAY WARS. If you've never read Schmidt I highly recommend all his books. He is a shining star in the Children's literary cannon. And he's from Michigan, too! Here is a video about his newest book, OKAY FOR NOW, coming out this April.

Best Friends Fur-Ever

2010-08-23T07:00:00.002-04:00

August 3, 2010

Bloomsbury USA

Ruth McNally Barshaw has another winner of an installment in her Ellie McDoodle series. With a missing parrot and an animal report to finish on time, Ellie has her hands full. The art is full of whimsy and witty details galore (check out the flip-book style animation in the upper right corner!)

Animal lovers and Ellie lovers have the perfect book for dog-days-of-summer reading.

Building a Bridge with Katherine Paterson

2010-08-21T07:00:00.006-04:00

I love Katherine Paterson's writing because her books speak to all faiths, resonate with those who profess no faith at all, and are infused with her own Christian identity. She says this about the relationship between faith and art:

We live in a Post-Christian society. Therefore, not many of those writers will be Christians or adherents of any of the traditional faiths. Self-consciously Christian (or Jewish or Muslim) writing will be sectarian and tend to propaganda and therefore have very little to say to persons outside that particular faith community. The challenge for those of us who care about our faith and about a hurting world is to tell stories which will carry the words of grace and hope in their bones and sinews and not wear them like fancy dress.

--Newbery medal winning author, Katherine Paterson

As someone who struggles to reconcile a Christian identity with a world view that occasionally contradicts, I find comfort in these words as I string together my own. Even more importantly, they provide sound guidance for how a person of any faith ought to live life.

The Pout Pout Fish in The Big Big Dark

2010-08-20T08:09:00.007-04:00

Farrar, Straus & Giroux

August 17, 2010

Check out Debbie Diesen's newest Pout Pout Fish adventure!

This sequel doesn't disappoint, and, in addition to Debbie's creative rhymes, I love the rich color palette's trip to the deep end of the ocean.

Will Ms. Clam's pearl be found?

Will Mr. Fish overcome his fear of the dark?

Will the mysterious voice identify itself?

This story will have you on pinfish and sea nettles!

Good News for Quill Interviewees and Crit Group

2010-03-20T09:41:00.012-04:00

Sue Stauffacher, interviewed on this blog a while back, has a brand new series, to debut this month, called Animal Rescue Team. The first title is Gator on the Loose! followed by Special Delivery in July 2010.

Kirby Larson (interview here) co-wrote a picture book published in November titled, Nubs: The True Story of a Mutt, a Marine, and a Miracle, and guess what? It won a Christopher award this month!

Also falling into the "Better Late than Never" category, ND Wilson's third installment of the One Hundred Cupboards series, The Chestnut King came out in hardcover on January 26th.

The critique group is pretty active lately, so I'll give you that scoop, too:

Ruth McNally Barshaw is putting finishing touches on the third book of her popular Ellie McDoodle series. Best Friends Fur-Ever (Bloomsbury)will be released August third of 2010. The other two books are in paperback here.

Prolific Buffy Silverman has a book out this month called, Can an Old Dog Learn New Tricks? And Other Questions About Animals (Lerner) In September 2010, two more books, Desert Food Chains, and Grassland Food Chains, (Heinemann) will be released. Check out all her wonderful non-fiction at her website.

New York Times Best-selling author, Debbie Diesen's The Barefooted Bad-Tempered Baby Brigade (Tricycle Press) will be released on March 23rd. Yahoo!

Morris Award Finalist, Amy Huntley's The Everafter (HarperCollins), comes out in paperback this August, but really, it's worth buying in hardcover and you can do that right now!

A great batch of books from a great batch of writers!

Barefooted Bad-tempered Baby Brigade

2010-03-13T14:54:00.004-05:00

Debbie Diesen, author of The Barefooted Bad-tempered Baby Brigade, is having a contest over at Jumping the Candlestick. Head over there to win a signed copy of her charming new rhyming picture book!

Shelf Life

2010-03-05T17:02:00.021-05:00

[The following is an essay about dreams titled, Shelf Life, that I wrote for a class I'm taking this semester.]

I’ve gone catatonic in front of the pulsing cursor on my computer screen, and there is nothing left to do but go to the grocery store. It’s raining, thunder and lightning, and the only umbrella in the closet is broken. I don’t want to grocery shop any more than I want to stand in the storm, pointing my faulty umbrella to the heavens. The budget is tight so I make a list, as I always do: Bread, milk, sugar, romaine, rigatoni, spaghetti sauce.

In addition to being a writer of lists I spend many days writing other things like stories, essays and poetry. The quality is inconsistent and my publications spotty. Still, the aspiration of a book with my name on the cover has long hovered out of reach. I sense it pulling away further as I drive out of the neighborhood with my list of needs, a dream disconnection.

The rain is torrential, immersive. At a red light my foot brakes while my mind reels. At almost thirty-nine I have lived for this hovering author ship to come in with more intensity than I care to admit. Acceptances are few and rejection is the norm, yet finally I had finished a novel that took years to write. My writer colleagues gave the green light for submission.

Green light. Hydroplane down watery Clinton Street, turn into the parking lot. “Just get it over with and get home,” I think. Sliding automatic doors open into a world that is all fluorescence and all for sale. The groceries glow. The greeter, a cheerful woman in a decades old hairstyle says, “Hi! Thanks for shopping today!” This, along with music piped in directly from the seventies, convinces me I’ve stepped into a grocery themed time warp. I grow suspicious of the looming produce.

“Your novel is like an uncut gem,” emailed the agent. “I would be willing to look at it again, but it would have to be quite different. It will take great skill on your part to make it sparkle enough for the current market.”

While I am well acquainted with rejection and have learned to anticipate it, somehow I had dared to hope for more. The sting of humiliation prompted a slow crawl into my bed with the covers pulled up in a kind of cottony cocoon. My family hovered and then left me to sleep.

“You must rewrite it and send it back to her,” my published friends told me. “Your foot is in the door.”

But I am in the grocery store, listening to melancholy love songs from the decade of my birth. I am tired of caring about budgets and separating want from need. The cart pulls me up and down the aisles and I contemplate Kalamata olives and marinated mushrooms. Not being able to afford either, I buy both. The jars are decadent, vague little victories and I feel a little more awake.

I am almost thirty-nine years old, for Pete’s sake grow up. I do have other identities: Wife, mother, friend, substitute teacher. Child of God. The wait for this Ultimate Validation has muted my other selves in anticipation of some illuminating Authorial Context.

I stand in the health and beauty section deciding between Loreal, “because I’m worth it,” and Suave, “at a price that works for my life.” Dan Fogelberg croons over the public address system, triggers emotional eating binges all over the store. Why didn’t I get my teaching certificate like everyone told me to? And when did I start expecting success?

“Your novel is an uncut gem. It will take great skill on your part to make it sparkle enough for the current market.” My skills feel exhausted already, and I lose my balance in thoughts of whether this is worth it or if I even want to write anymore. Quitting might cost less. I do not want to put failure on the list, but I am on a budget.

Romaine, rigatoni, spaghetti sauce. I pick up bell peppers one after another in search of imperfections and toss the winners in my basket. An elderly couple is bent together beside me and absorbed in apple inspections, as if this is the last thing they might ever do. I study them and wonder if finding one’s place in the world is being, most completely, wherever you are.

An acquaintance waves from the end of an aisle and I am confronted with small talk. “Kids are so expensive, aren’t they?” she says, and “What are your children doing outside of school this year?” Her questions are harmless, an easy making of conversation, but my hair bristles because I don’t want to talk about the saxophone or soccer or gymnastics. I don’t want to consider the prospect that what my children do might be more important than the people they are. “They are enjoying life,” I say, and she looks puzzled.

I stand in the check-out line surrounded by catatonic stares from starlets on magazine covers. At five I dreamed of being a bagger at the A&P because the idea of items fitting inside a crispy paper bag appealed to my desire for structure. I wonder how many other dreams I outgrew, and if that is what is happening now. Out of habit I consider writing about this, and maybe I will.

The doors slide open. I push my cart into the downpour and consider the lifespan of a raindrop, then wonder if I am dreaming: They tumble from the sky like sparkling gems and people hurry in between them, shielding themselves with umbrellas and protecting their carts full of need, but I stand motionless, to watch this beautiful storm.

Fancy Writing Terms #2

2010-02-28T19:51:00.005-05:00

Polyptoton: A repetition of words derived from the same root.

Ex: Few are chosen because few choose to be chosen.

Again, a stylistic term.

Sounds like a title for a new ballet featuring "Dance of The Polyps"

Fancy Writing Terms #1

2010-02-11T07:55:00.012-05:00

Asyndeton: Deliberate omission of conjunctions. (ex: I came, I saw, I conquered instead of the more grammatically correct I came, I saw, and I conquered.)

An asyndeton is used as a stylistic tool, and while I've noticed this phenomenon in writing before, I never knew it had such a fancy name.

This is not the most important thing I'll learn in the English class I'm taking this semester, but it is fun trivia, and you have to admit, "asyndeton" is a pretty snazzy word.

Write on. . . .

The Writer's Presence

2010-02-05T11:50:00.015-05:00

A Pool of Readings, sixth edition
By Donald McQuade and Robert Atwan
Bedford/St. Martin's

2009

A luxurious collection of essays. Immerse yourself in this "Pool" with Sherman Alexie, Alice Walker, E.B. White and Langston Hughes. Not to mention Delillo, Carver, Lincoln, Woolf, Wolfe, Dillard, Obama, Orwell, Oates, O'Connor.

I can't do it any justice here, you'll have to sit down and read a few. I've been having that experience that comes from reading critically and immersively, which is the only way to read writers like these. the art is at once familiar and welcoming all around. How refreshing to take a swim in these words during cold February.

Enough babbling praise. ;-) I rarely beg anyone to read anything, but do read these if you can get them. I'm off to hit the pool again.

We're All Growing Up

2010-01-24T11:50:00.020-05:00

It's happening more and more like this. My son returns from an overnight band trip exuding a subtle, yet distinct new maturity. Aside from the little flush of parental pride, I search for words to capture this new person. Listening to him talk I wonder, when exactly did this latest bit of growing up happen?

Was it while sipping his first coffee in Starbucks? Maybe while playing in the hotel pool with friends, his parents wonderfully far away, with knowledge there is much more independence to come? Likely he doesn't know, the moment having fizzled into the subconscious of one who lacks context.

In good fiction, of course, these moments cannot fizzle, but must carve themselves beautifully into the highest points of the narrative. Those places where a character opens eyes to something never seen before that was there all along.

Discovering the instant a character touches glimpse of a fuller self is often the culmination of so many drafts written that seem to touch nothing at all. The writer continues to put one word in front of another, in faith that they will lead, in their own tedious and meandering way, like life itself, toward something true.

Yay ALA!

2010-01-18T19:58:00.004-05:00

For a full, annotated list of the winners you can go here. I'm particularly happy that When You Reach Me won the Newbery Medal. I loved that book, and so admire the plotting! Now I need to get to the library and read some that I missed this year (Charlie and Emma, here I come!)

Such an exciting day!

School

2010-01-15T10:16:00.026-05:00

I twist the paper from her small, squeezed hand. It tears.

“You did it, Idiot,” she says, testing.

I hesitate, focusing on a loss other than my authority.

“—You don’t speak to an elder that way,” someone interrupts. "You will follow her instructions. She is your teacher. Perhaps you speak to your mother that way, but it will not happen here." And on. . . .

No tears in response, but the well-played silence of a child familiar with the cadence and tone of anger.

“We’re just keeping her warm is all, she doesn’t care. . . .”

No matter. She is quiet now, unresponsive now. We are all wrong, and what I hear is the unmistakable echo of a closed door,the muffled cry of losses conveniently contained.

Book Review: The Magician's Elephant

2010-01-13T14:13:00.008-05:00

By Kate DiCamillo
Candlewick Press, 2009
Ages 9-12

In The Magician's Elephant, Kate DiCamillo's newest novel, Peter Augustus Duchene only wants to find his missing sister and know that she lives. It opens with a fortuneteller revealing to Peter that he will find her with the help of an elephant. The same night an elephant mysteriously appears, falling through the roof of the Bliffendorf Opera House, to the astonishment of both the magician responsible, and the noblewoman who is rendered paralyzed by the incident.

The rest of the story is a boy's journey from a joyless existence with a militant and neglectful guardian, to a life full of revelation, hope and, finally, a family. These themes are frequent in DiCamillo's work, and the structure, motley lost souls with converging plotlines, is similar to The Tale of Despereaux and Winn Dixie. Readers, however, won't care if this isn't exactly a departure. DiCamillo takes such pains to tell a story using language that is as magical as the miracles it describes. For instance, in the following passage, Peter is describing the life he knew before his parents died,

[Leo Matienne] leaned back in his chair. "Begin at the beginning."

Peter started in the garden. He began his story with his father throwing him up high in the air and catching him. He began with his mother dressed all in white, laughing, her stomach round like a balloon. "The sky was purple," said Peter. "The lamps were lit."

Yoko Tanaka's black and white illustrations enhance the waifish tone, the characters' enormous doe eyes making them almost doll-like in appearance. The cover conveys a silent film quality very appropriate for a story that feels whispered in one's ear.

There are no grand plot twists or cliff-hangers here. This is not a narrative to be plowed through, but a reverie in which to be immersed. If you love near-perfect prose, and the question, "What if?" If you want a story to curl up with under your afghan that will make you feel hopeful in the most Wabi Sabi kind of way, then read this little lullaby of a tale.

A Series of Unfortunate Events, or, Spatial Intelligence Can Save Your Life

2010-01-08T07:00:00.009-05:00

Three months ago, while on an early morning (and dark) run with my friend Michelle, I tripped and skinned both knees. In the interest of channeling my inner Rocky Balboa, I soldiered on and practically springted the rest of our three mile route. Yay endorphins!

Two days before a December 5k race, I tripped at the bottom of my stairs and heard the snapping of a thousand tendons. No breakage--have ankle brace, will travel. My skinned knees healed and I prepared to re-enter The Land of The (mostly) Coordinated once again.

Then, while carrying my travel mug of hot tea into school Monday morning, I tripped on the rug and briefly went superman before landing on the entryway tile, cracking my mug (the tea, not my face), and giving myself carpet burn.

The saving grace: No one saw me and my day went exceptionally well thereafter.

And no one saw me.

Now I know my geometry teacher was right--spatial intelligence may save your life. I have a brand new New Year's Resolution, to somehow raise my kinetic IQ and avoid my own Darwin Award.

This is all to say if you see me coming, clear a path. I've become a one woman slapstick show. These experiences have found their way into scenes I've been writing, and physical comedy can be funny; the research, however, is a bit tedious.

Recycling

2010-01-03T08:49:00.011-05:00

Some scenes from old, beaten down, rejected novel

Some characters from old, beaten down, rejected novel

Setting from old, beaten down, rejected novel (perhaps a coat of paint is in order here)

A new storyline that tackles some of the same themes from old, beaten down, rejected novel

Some new ideas inspired by life lived since the writing of the old, beaten down, rejected novel

EQUALS:

A new project that is not-quite-a-revision-but-more-of-a-recycling. The (very optimistic) goal is to take this barely functional thing (my old novel) and turn it into something fabulous and new-fangled and, dare I say it--Funky Fresh?

Have you seen those darling little wrist purses made from old drink pouches? Or Those fancy magazine racks constructed from bottlecaps? Or those little handbags made from old, falling apart books?

Yeah, kind of like that.

Moving Resolutely Forward

2009-12-29T09:25:00.003-05:00

My New Year's Resolutions:

Continue to write two pages per day of my new project
Organize my files, computer and otherwise
Continue to run five days per week, and participate in at least five 5k races in 2010
Post to my blog at least once per week; review at least one book once per month
Tame my internal editor, put her in a nice little cage with plenty of food and water, perhaps a tiny TV, and then don't let her out until needed.

I'm getting a head start on these; what are your New Year commitments?

Author Interview: Sue Stauffacher

2009-09-19T13:31:00.003-04:00

Today I have the privilege of chatting with Michigan Writer, Sue Stauffacher. Her Donuthead books are favorites of mine. Welcome Sue!

Lori: What were your favorite books to read as a young person?

Sue: Secret Garden, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Lori: How does your job as a book reviewer affect your artistic process?

Sue: I don’t like to review books I don’t like because I know how it feels to get a bad review. I try to stick to the ones I can recommend. Also, it can get a little criticism-heavy at times and then I take a break from it.

Lori: We know all writers, even published ones, deal with rejection. How much rejection did you receive before your initial acceptance?

Sue: Thirty rejections on my first book and ten years between book one and book two. I am deeply acquainted with rejection

Lori: Can you tell us anything about what you’re working on now? Upcoming publications?

Sue: I have four books coming out in 2010—a series called Animal Rescue Team for Knopf about a family of urban wildlife rehabilitators. I studied Beverly Cleary’s books over and over to try to pick up her gentle humor and timing. And a picture book called Tillie the Terrible Swede, about the amazing long-distance bicycle racer of the 1890s, Tillie Anderson

Lori: Please tell us about any of your upcoming appearances.

Sue: I am focusing on writing this year…spending a lot of time as a volunteer with school kids and also volunteering in the costume shop for the ballet. Folks who want to keep track of such things in the future, can look for my newly revised web site suestauffacher.com this winter. I’ve engaged the talented folks at Winding Oak. They specialize in children’s book authors.

Lori: What books are you loving in 2009?

Sue: I just read Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco Stork. It’s a young adult book. Really really good.

Lori: How would you feel about your book(s) being made into movies or plays? Is anything like this in the works?

Sue: The ‘exclusive right to review’ Donuthead has been sold three times : ), but so far no movie. I think I could handle it from this distance. Maybe right after publication would be hard.

Lori: Do you prefer milk chocolate or dark chocolate?

Sue: Dark chocolate, definitely

Lori: Desserts or hors d’oeuvres?

Sue: Chocolate chip cookies and seven layer cookie bars—that was an easy one!

Lori: Describe a typical day in the life of Sue Staffacher :o)

Sue: Typical day…well, write, revise, work in my massively overgrown native plant garden, work on community projects, try to be a housekeeper, a mom of two teen boys and a wife of a college professor (he’s in the writing department)

Lori: Thanks so much for taking the time to appear at Quill today, Sue. I’m looking forward to your upcoming books and, for the record, I’d love to see Donuthead as a film!

Plot, Splot, Kershplot

2009-07-17T10:07:00.003-04:00

Over at Fiction Notes, Darcy Pattison is offering lots of ideas and resources for those of us who are STILL learning how to plot our novels well. Even if you are a seasoned plotter, there's much food for thought here.

Belly up to the buffet, I say. . . .

Newbery Trivia

2009-07-15T21:22:00.003-04:00

Did you know that Ellen Raskin, who won the Newbery Medal in 1979 for The Westing Game, did the original cover art for A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L'engle, who won the Newbery for that book in 1963?

Chipmunk Stuck

2009-07-05T09:42:00.010-04:00

Photo by John Van Hoesen

We rescued this little chipmunk, but his predicament was so unbelievable we had to take his picture first. Kinda reminds me of a certain episode of Winnie The Pooh--there, a literary connection. :)

The Lazier than Lazy Person's Book Club

2009-07-01T10:06:00.009-04:00

Over at Jumping the Candlestick, Debbie has been hosting a Lazy Person's Book Club. I have been wanting to join, but was too lazy until now.

Anyhoo, here is a partial list of the books I plan to read. In keeping with the lazy theme, it is incomplete (to be finished when I am not too lazy to find books to fit remaining criteria).

So far:

1. A book of fiction you've been looking forward to reading:

Emma Jean Lazarus Fell in love, by Lauren Tarshis

2. A book of non-fiction you've been looking forward to reading:

3. A book by someone who's last name begins with Z:

4. A book from a genre you rarely, if ever, read:

Prairie Tale by Melissa Gilbert

(Despite the fact that I do not make a habit of reading kiss and tell books, I am intrigued by this memoir because I was SUCH a Little House on The Prairie fan. I wanted to BE Melissa Gilbert. I suspect after reading about her life I'll probably be glad I wasn't).

5. A book that was an award winner, or bestseller, from the year you were born:

6. Your best friend's favorite book:

7. A book you figure you probably should read, even if you don't want to:

Too many, but I've settled on Animal Farm, by George Orwell, because my son is reading it for English class in fall.

8. A book that has recently received rave reviews:

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, by Shaffer and Barrows

9. A book by someone who shares your first name:

The Girls, by Lori Lansens

10. A book that pertains to a skill you do not, and never will, have:

Math Doesn't Suck, by Danica McKellar

(I was a Wonder Years Fan, and a math phobic)

11. A book recommended by your hairstylist:

I've started "Guernsey Literary. . ." (too lazy to type the whole title again), which my mother is also reading.

Stay Tuned. . . .

A Fresh Start

2009-06-29T00:10:00.007-04:00

It was a blustery day yesterday and we flew kites! I thought of SCBWI, and how this organization has helped me grow as a writer and a person over the years. It gave me a wonderfully critical and supportive critique group. The camaraderie alone is worth the membership fee, the friendships are priceless.

In honor of kites (and, well, because the kite pictures turned out so well), I start a new chapter of this blog. One in which I begin the work of becoming a school teacher, a better writer and always a freer thinker. Look for more interviews, book reviews and stories about process.

Below is an article I wrote for an SCBWI newsletter a few years ago. I'd forgotten about it until yesterday, as I fought at times to keep my kite from taking a nose dive. . . .

Keep Your Kite Flying

In the alternate whirlwind and stillness that is a writer’s inspiration there are plenty of opportunities to ponder one’s motives. Am I concentrating on publication too much? Am I even any good at this? Do I really like to write after all?

Inevitably I wonder, when the wind of inspiration is gone, how do I keep my own kite flying? The answer should be simple. If one truly loves to do something, they do it. Period. In times of ordinary frustration, I resort to this answer to get through the day’s work. But the truth is, as an artist, I need something a little more poetic for the long haul.

So I think of my breath catching in response to a beautiful sentence, or ponder the deep satisfaction that comes from choosing the right expression. I think about a character that vibrates with life on the page and makes my own heart beat. Before long, a whisper stirs and my pen is ready. I am a writer after all.

This is the breeze keeping my own kite in the air. Sure, writing a beautiful story worthy of publication would send me over the moon. But I will still be a person who has to ask myself again and again, “Why do I do this?” The answer is what keeps any writer’s kite flying. Even on a still, windless day.

Jam Session

2009-06-25T23:00:00.025-04:00

In my life I have jammed many things: to music playing Guitar Hero, staplers, photocopy machines, my finger, the gears on my Mazda. The list goes on. Even so, there is a kind of jamming I had overlooked until yesterday. The kids and I went strawberry picking at a local farm and discovered a dying art.

Freezer jamming.
We picked a few different kinds, tart and sweet, big and small. We are an equal opportunity freezer jamming operation.
My children, quiet and working together. We've not only been introduced to a new hobby, but I'm now convinced that these particular strawberries contain a kind of miraculous, "peaceful sibling" property. My research is not scientific, but I'm thinking it's in the seeds.
My son's favorite part was "murdering the fruit," which, though somewhat in conflict with the berry's miracle attributes, was quite theraputic for all of us.
There is a lot of sweetness in jam, but we decided to focus on vitamin C and antioxidents instead. And miracles can be only encouraged by sugar.
Stirring jam is loads of fun, until you feel a handstand coming on. . . and must take a break to indulge acrobatic urges.
And to think, if we wanted jam a hundred years ago, we'd have HAD to preserve it ourselves, and probably not the easy, freezer kind!

"Then I'm glad I live now," Mary said.

Me too. There is charm in the unnecessary.
Yet I think it is necessary to focus on process when I need a little inspiration. My writing suffers when I'm too focused on product, and forget that the work itself has sweet rewards of its own. Twenty jars of jam later, I can't wait to open one next January, and remember the miracles of June.

Story Gatherers

2009-06-18T21:22:00.008-04:00

Today my husband and I went to the Detroit Institute of Art where I gathered much inspiration, and saw this, one of my favorite paintings. We had a wonderful time.

About this painting called, The Nut Gatherers : It was created in 1882 by Les Noisettes and, I found out today, was a little edgy for it's time. The perspective is very low to the ground and close up to what's happening between these people. Doesn't it look as if you are sitting right next to them? This is (according to the DIA) the first painting to depict children in a way that invites the viewer right into their world.

I don't know enough about art to have realized this before it was pointed out to me at the museum. Perhaps it's why I've always liked this piece so much. I want to hear the secrets these girls are telling, and the painter has put me excruciatingly close without letting me hear. My imagination is captured. The Nut Gatherers is a great example of what good children's lit, or any good book is supposed to be. Real and honest and true.

An interview with N.D. Wilson, author of 100 Cupboards

2009-05-08T16:42:00.011-04:00

N.D Wilson's debut novel, an adventure called Leepike Ridge, prompted comparisons to Mark Twain and garnered much recognition. Now, with his 100 Cupboards trilogy, Wilson is dipping into the fantasy realm with great success. Check out his blog and website for writing tips and all around great content. He's also a fun interviewee:

Lori: I come from a family full of teachers. How does your teaching inform the kind of writing you do?

NDW: I've had to learn to shift and slide my verbal approach on the fly (tone of voice, inflection, comic vocab, sudden anecdotes, etc.) in order to keep students awake and interested. That forced me into a degree of versatility I might not have come by otherwise. I'm sure there are other ways that my teaching has influenced my writing, but according to me, right now, at this moment in time, that's the most notable.

Lori: You seem like a ham (See author photo). Do you have any theater in your background?

NDW: Ham? I'm quite serious about photos. . . Actually, I have (throughout the duration of my remembered life) been completely unable to take a "traditional" (note the scare quotes) photo without first ruining several shots. It's only one of the ways in which I have failed to grow up. As for theater, I have only a little in my background. Some junior high stuff (I'm sure I was amazing), and one community theater performance which I enjoyed immensely (a comedy called Leave it to Psmith). Not sure I could ever be involved in something that wasn't a comedy.

Lori: What were your favorite books to read as a young person?

NDW: Nothing original here. Narnia and Lord of the Rings from a pretty early age. In junior high, I expanded into C.S. Lewis's Space Trilogy. The third book (That Hideous Strength) remains my all-time fav.

Lori: What have you read lately (for adults or kids) that you'd recommend?

NDW: Hmm. Define lately? On the kid side of things, I really enjoy Megan Whalen Turner's stuff. And Holes remains as close to perfect as a book can get. For adults, I recently read (and truly enjoyed) Truck: a Love Story by Michael Perry.

Lori: I read that you've turned book three of the cupboard series in to your editor. Can you tell us anything about what you're working on now?

NDW: Too many things. But on the top of the pile, there is a picture book called The Wisdom of Ninja-Boy and a new five book series that I'm shaping (the name of which I am not currently sharing). Both are for Random House.

Lori: If you had a secret cupboard in your house, where would it take you?

NDW: When I first pondered this question (in adulthood), I came up with far too many answers. Eventually, I was able to narrow it down to 98 possibilities, and the 100 Cupboards trilogy was born. Currently, I think I would want it to take me up to my daughter's palace in the sky. She's been inviting me to a picnic up there, and I just haven't been able to find my way.

Lori: How do you feel about your books being made into movies? Is anything like that in the works?

NDW: I feel conflicted. There is no greater marketing tool than a film. Incidentally, there is also no greater tool for inflicting authorial pain. Various movie types are eager to chat, but nothing's in production.

Lori: Do you write every day, and do you have any of those quirky writer rituals like, say, the required company of a rubber chicken?

NDW: I don't write every day, but every day contributes to my writing (research, reading, sketching, etc.). No rubber chickens here, but I do have a large, smooth, 1911 British penny that always stays with me while I write. I also tend to find a single album for each project. That album is the only one that gets played until a project is finished, so it's important for me to choose wisely. (Example: Coldplay's X&Y provided background for Leepike Ridge.)

Lori: What books do your kids love?

NDW: My son (who just turned seven) has been sucked completely into Dandelion Fire. Obviously, that's a lot of fun for me to watch. We generally have to pry it away from him to get him into bed, and he gets up early to read it before we wake up.

Lori: Please tell us about any upcoming appearances.

NDW: The L.A. Times Festival of Books is next on the slate. I'll be on the Target Children's Stage at 4:4o in the pm on April 25th. I'm wrapping up a hectic spring and am looking forward (hopefully) to a quiet summer.

Lori: Finally, do you prefer milk chocolate or dark? Dessert or hors d'oeuvres?

NDW: Dark everytime. But dessert or hors d'oeuvres? My stomach is an inclusive operation. There's room for both.

Lori: Anything I didn't ask that you have an answer for?

NDW: Notta. Cheers, and thanks so much for the grilling.

Lori: Thank you. It was a pleasure!

Hiatus

2009-03-29T18:19:00.003-04:00

As of today, I'm going on a blogger hiatus. Deborah Wiles had an interesting post about "face time," a while back that was quite insightful, and it got me thinking about how much time I spend staring at this screen. While I'm not ready to write long-hand yet, I think I could decrease my screen time a bit, and connect some more with the faces around me.

Yes, connecting is good.

I don't know when I'll be back, but when I do, I'll have more interviews!

Interview Friday

2009-03-27T07:28:00.004-04:00

More interviews are in the works. Stay tuned! I'm substitute teaching today so, unfortunately, that means no time for a substitute post of any substance.

Have a good Friday all!

Wednesday

2009-03-25T09:03:00.013-04:00

Dig up
every bit
of the possible
and then plant all your seeds
there
in the yet-to-be-named.

Wait
because this is the only way to see

New Ground

It is the only way
To grow.

Diamond Willow by Helen Frost

2009-03-22T17:59:00.009-04:00

Farrar Straus and Giroux

(Frances Foster Books)

April 2008

Ages 9-12

I was drawn to Diamond Willow because of its creative structure. The novel is told in a series of concrete poems shaped like diamonds. Diamond Willow is a type of wood that grows in the northern woods, and is polished to be used for walking sticks and lamps and the like. The distinctly shaped scars create something striking and singular, much like this story, which is an ode to Alaska and sled dogs and the diamond willow.

Willow is growing up. She wants to be understood and trusted to do adult things. When her parents allow her to drive the family's prized sled dog, Roxie, to her grandparents' house, disaster strikes.

When she enlists her best friend (who has lately been paying more attention to a certain boy than Willow) in a plan to help the injured Roxie, they fight to survive the elements.

And then there are the animals in the forest, reincarnated ancestors, who watch over and protect Willow. Their contributions, in prose form, are the only departure from the diamond poems.

All this would have been enough for me to put the book down and say, "That was really good." Then Frost puts in such an unexpected plot twist I had to set the book down to thoroughly savor the surprise. Wow. And this book has been out since last April! I think it should have received more attention than it did. I highly recommend this novel--added bonus--you can read it in an evening. A pithy, sparkly read.

Interview Interlude

2009-03-20T08:13:00.007-04:00

I'm sorry to say, there is no interview today. In an attempt to offer an inferior substitute post, here are a few things that currently interest me. Got the idea from Kara Lareau.

Cute summer shoes and where to get them.
Picture books and learning to write them.
Dancing with the Stars
American Idol (though not as interested as I've been in the past, for some reason)
The shift from soup to salad for my lunch (It's spring!)
Allison Krauss
my son, who I caught perusing the "Parenting Teens" book I've been reading.
Learning to control the particular brain chemistry that causes inspiration (Why not? Doesn't it seem like you should be able to?)
The plot structure of Helen Frost novels (The Braid, Diamond Willow)
bike riding (It's spring!)
The fragility of the brain.
Economic Bailouts. Can't live with'em, can't live without'em. The economy doesn't usually interest me beyond my own wallet, but I'm worried enough to be quite interested at the moment. Banks: okay. Everyone else? Not so sure. Of course I want the automobile industry to surivive and thrive, but where do we draw the line then? And where is the money really coming from? Who is really bailing us out? And how will we ever pay it back?

What's knocking around in your head lately?

Ellie McDoodle!!

2009-03-16T16:35:00.002-04:00

Ruth Barshaw has up and been nominated for a 2010 Beverly Cleary award! What wonderful, prestigious recognition. Read more about the whole thing on Ruth's blog. Wouldn't it be great if she won?

An Agent Interview: Erin Murphy

2009-03-13T13:47:00.008-04:00

The Erin Murphy Literary Agency is one of the most successful around, and it’s not even located in New York City! Indeed, I’ve heard the words “Dream Agent” bandied about among authors seeking representation from this Arizona native. She also happens to be one of the nicest people on the planet. Welcome Erin! And thanks for being the first agent interview in my series.

Lori: With all the changes happening in the industry right now, do you think writers should still be submitting to houses without an agent?

Erin: Well, I think agents have become especially important in that we do have our fingers on the pulse and know what editors are looking for and what they just can't take to acquisitions right now--and we also help our clients put aside their long-shot, narrow-readership manuscripts in these hard times and present only the very best work to editors.
But if an unagented writer has a good connection with an editor via a critique or a conference or the like, and has a good manuscript that is ready to go, I don't think she should pass up the opportunity. Don't have an attitude of throwing whatever you've got and seeing what sticks--save some opportunities for later if you need to--but make good use of what you have.

Lori: Aside from honing one’s skills to the level required for the market, how important is it to develop a platform of sorts before attempting publication?
Erin: This depends entirely on the project. Here's a great link to an interview in which a publicist talks about playing to your strengths when promoting a manuscript:

http://shrinkingvioletpromotions.blogspot.com/2009/01/publicist-interview-jennifer-taber-of.html

As Jennifer Taber says, you simply focus on what you're good at and develop opportunities there. If you have a platform and it matches with your book, that's terrific. If you write nonfiction, it can even be key. But for fiction, it's not required.
Here's a good example: My client Susan Vaught published a book called TRIGGER, about a kid who tried to kill himself with a gun, but survived. It's a powerful piece of fiction just as fiction, and has gotten plenty of buzz among book reviewers and such for that, and Susan was already a published author when it came out, with connections among booksellers and librarians. On its own, that would have been enough.

But Susan is also a neuropsychologist specializing in head injury issues, and can speak with authority about the issue of suicide and suicide prevention. With that platform, she was able to reach into some areas that another author might not have reached--psychology magazines and journals, teachers who take a special interest in suicide prevention, radio programs focusing on mental health issues, and so on. So she was able to come at this from both angles, and I think it benefited the book.

Lori: That makes a lot of sense. Since you consider clients only that you’ve attended conferences with, or on referral, would you tell us about any upcoming appearances?

Erin: I attended five conferences last year! I usually try to limit it to two. At this point I'm scheduled for only one, a fall conference with the Central Ohio SCBWI (a new chapter whose website should be up soon here: http://www.coscbwi.org/). I've sworn to do no conferences this spring at all--my reading pile has been out of control. And at this point, I've signed a few new clients in the last several months, so I'm finding it much easier to pass on submissions than usual, as well--I've referred several writers to other agents who have signed them, which says something about the quality of work I'm saying no to at the moment. I'd say it would be smart, if you have an avenue for querying me, to hold off until well into the spring at this point, if you want to catch me in a good mood!

Lori: Do you ever represent authors who write exclusively for the picture book market?

Erin: Yes. But I have a good number of picture book authors, and they tend to be fairly prolific, so it's rare I sign new ones.

Lori: The dreaded market trend question: What kinds of projects are you looking for right now that you believe can be sold relatively easily in this tight time?

Erin: I'm really sorry to say something entirely unhelpful: Terrifically strong writing that absolutely blows me away. Truly, that's what it takes. When I visited editors in New York last fall, I was told over and over again that they're looking for "sure things and award winners." If only we could predict in either category!

Lori: Please tell us a little about your upcoming publications in 2009.

Erin: I have lots of new things by well-loved authors, which of course is always exciting--two new YA novels by Janette Rallison, MY FAIR GODMOTHER and JUST ONE WISH, each breaking a little into new territory and together marking her best work to date, I think; the debut of a new series by R.L. LaFevers, the author of THEODOSIA AND THE SERPENTS OF CHAOS, called NATHANIEL FLUDD, BEASTOLOGIST, a chapter book aimed at adventure-loving boys; THE INDIGO NOTEBOOK, the first of a new series by Laura Resau, author of RED GLASS, marrying her international sensibility and magical realism with a slightly more commercial approach; and Susan Vaught and her first-time-writer son, JB Redmond, have a meaty new fantasy, OATHBREAKER, coming out in two parts, starting with ASSASSIN'S APPRENTICE in June. Perfect for die-hard fantasy fans.

I'm also very excited about some authors making their debuts in 2009. Lisa Glatt and Suzanne Greenburg have an adorable young middle grade novel called ABIGAIL IRIS: THE ONE AND ONLY coming out in March; another Abigail Iris book is in the works, too. Penny Blubaugh's magical YA novel SERENDIPITY MARKET is out this month as well. Lewis Harris has a really fun middle-grade novel called A TASTE FOR RED coming out in June--this features a girl named Stephanie who insists on being called Svetlana and believes she is a vampire. A bookseller who read it in advance said it was Buffy meets Nancy Drew.

I’m especially looking forward to seeing a spring picture book, THE HAT THAT WORE CLARA B., illustrated by Frank Morrison. The author, Melanie Turner-Denstaedt, passed away last year and did not get to see her first book release, but she did see Frank's sketches. The publication will be a bittersweet event.

Lori: What is your favorite way to spend a Saturday?

Erin: Depending on the weather, kayaking on the local lake, hiking in the woods with the dogs, or knitting while watching a movie or listening to an audiobook.

Lori: Do you prefer dessert or hors d’oeuvres?

Erin: Dessert! But not too sweet.
Lori: Dark chocolate or milk chocolate?

Erin: Absolutely without a doubt dark.

Lori: Describe a typical day in your life.

Erin: A typical workday starts around 7 a.m., with reading and responding to email, catching up on blogs and Facebook, and generally staring into my laptop for a couple of hours with the TV on in the background, vaguely catching up on news or whatever TV show has my attention at the moment. Usually on the couch, with sleeping dogs and cats sprawled around me.

Then I move into my sunny home office and start the "where did the day go" blur--making calls, going over royalty statements, reading partial manuscripts to respond to queries, talking or emailing with clients about their works in progress or where their attention should fall next or how to interpret what editors are saying about their manuscript on submission, handling one crisis or another, negotiating deals, sending manuscripts to editors via email, trying not to trip over the pile of submissions I moved to the floor so I can't avoid it, and somewhere in there, stopping for lunch or yoga or a walk or moving laundry from washer to dryer. Once a week I go to lunch with a friend and get reminded there's a real world out there. Once every six weeks or so I have a "reading week," when clients know not to call or email unless it's an emergency, and I give the vast majority of my focus to reading their manuscripts. (I spend more time on the couch that week.)
At about 5:10 p.m., my husband's car pulls into the driveway, one of my dogs presses her head down on my laptop and closes it, and I shut the door on the workday.

Lori: Thank you so much for stopping by today, Erin. It was a pleasure. I should add that Erin Murphy is the agent of my writing buddy, the inimitable Ruth McNally Barshaw, author of the Ellie McDoodle Series (and the artist who provided the sketch for this post--thanks!) Erin recently sold the third installment of the Ellie series to Bloomsbury. Yay!

Shred

2009-03-12T07:48:00.008-04:00

Lately, my husband and I have been talking about exercising together. My mother and sister recommended I check out the Jillian Michaels SHRED workout they just started doing. Jillian is a trainer on, The Biggest Loser television program. We get the work-out in our On Demand menu.

The idea is you are constantly multi-tasking: working your upper body with weights while doing lunges, that type of thing. This alternates with some pretty intense, high impact cardio.

So, I'm thinking, my sixtyish year old parents do this routine every other day. It must not be THAT intense. Maybe it would be the appropriate portal back to the world of fitness for me.

Oh, how wrong wrong wrong I was.

I dragged my poor husband out of bed on Sunday morning. "We're going to get FIT!"
We did the workout. My husband, having had knee surgery this past fall, was smart and stopped short of injury.

But I did the whole thing. There are three ladies leading these moves. There's our militant leader, Jillian, and two others demonstrating "lower" and "higher" ability.

I'm still in my thirties! I think to myself. Doesn't that make me high ability?

No No No No NO.

At certain points, I wanted to curl up and expire, and Jillian would say,

"I know you want to die right now! But DON'T stop!"

Okay, Jillian.

Six thousand four hundred ninety two crunches, jumping jacks, lunges, push-ups and Hail Mary cries later, I honestly felt great.

"Wow," I said to my husband. "This is a GREAT workout! I feel GREAT!"

"Good," he said. "Can we go upstairs now?"

I thought it was pretty good for someone who's been letting things like opening rejection letters pass for a workout regimen. In fact, I was downright thrilled with myself. Hey, I'm not so old after all!

I took a long, hot shower. Nice.

Then, as I tried in vain to get out of the bathtub, an urgent message surged from my quadriceps. Loosely translated: "We are very angry with you."

It is Thursday, and I am just now walking normally.

My mother called the other day to tell me Dad hurt his leg doing the Jillian Michaels workout. "You know, Lori, it dawned on me, I'm sixty years old. Your father and I probably shouldn't be doing quite so much jumping up and down."

I love my parents.

It actually is a good workout, if you ease into it a bit more.

As for my husband and I, we'll be looking at Debbie Diesen's Wednesday Workout Reviews to find a supplement to the jump-till-you-croak-insanity that is SHRED.

And keep a "shred" of our dignity in the process.

My Dog is Airborne

2009-03-11T08:04:00.005-04:00

We're having gusts up to fifty miles per hour here in my little midwest town. I'm posting to inform you that for the second time in her, so far, short yet meaningful life,

My shitzu has blown off the deck.

She's fine, just a little surprised. I mean she was kind of close to the edge, but not that close. I wish I had a picture. Imagine a scene out of the Wizard of Oz, for when our dear little Molly hit the grass, squinting and making a valiant attempt to stay on all fours against the elements, I'm quite certain I heard her whisper, "We are not in Kansas anymore."

Perhaps I'll hire her out as a stunt dog.

An Interview with: Janet Taylor Lisle

2009-03-06T07:00:00.005-05:00

This week’s author is highly acclaimed Newbery Honor and Scott O'Dell award winning author, Janet Lisle. Her latest book is HIGHWAY CATS (you can see my review here). Welcome Janet!

Lori: Where are you from?

Janet: I'm a New Englander with deep roots in Rhode Island. My home is in a small, rural town, on the coast. I love the fields, ponds, beaches and woods surrounding my house and many of my stories contain passages that describe real places I walk every day. Near my home are ocean coves where rum-runners like those in my book BLACK DUCK once landed on moonless nights. The magical garden featured in THE LOST FLOWER CHILDREN is off my side porch. The forest that provides the scene for my novel about how wars start, FOREST, is just down the road.

Lori: Tell us a little bit about your writing process.

Janet: I wrote my first books with a pencil, pages that I then typed up on an electric typewriter before mailing them to my editor. I work entirely on computer now. Otherwise the process is the same. Writing is like fishing: first comes the small tug of an idea, then a cautious reeling in, a stronger pull from the water and then a big fight (usually about mid-way through) where the story tries to get away and you have to play it with cunning and patience. Finally, if you're lucky, you land a creature that isn't at all what you thought it would be, but you're so relieved the fight is over that you don't care.

Lori: Do you listen to music while you write?

Janet: I love music, and sing in several choruses. But I don't listen to it while I write. It tends to drown out the voices of my characters. Also, I like to read my work out loud from time to time to hear how it sounds. Words, sentences, even whole chapters, make music of their own.

Lori: Do you ever work on more than one book at a time?

Janet: No. Once I'm into a story, I can't think of anything else.

Lori: Tell us about the play adapted from your novel AFTERNOON OF THE ELVES.
Janet: AFTERNOON OF THE ELVES was optioned by a children's theater company and written as a script for stage so quickly that I didn't have time to participate. I would have liked to. It's been a big success and I like the play a lot, but I find it both sadder and less magical than my story. I'm basically an "awe and wonder" writer, someone interested in the power of imagination. It's why I love writing for children. They're more in touch with this side of themselves than adults. In the play, Sara-Kate's backyard elves are no longer real by the end. They've become a way to describe Sara-Kate's terrible social problems. In the book, I leave room for my readers to imagine what they please about the elves. Personally, I've always believed that, within the scope of the story, the elf village is awesomely and powerfully alive. This is what gives the story its imaginative depth.

Lori: What do you like to read?

Janet: My favorite books growing up were J.R.R. Tolkien's THE HOBBIT, and his RING TRILOGY. I loved his invention of an alter world complete with history, geography, moral code, and even a literature. The writing in those books, with its over-elaborate, mock heroic tone, isn't the best, I see now, but I still admire the sweep of Tolkien's imagination, and the sinister creep of evil that shadows his plots.

Lori: Can you tell us anything about what you’re working on now?

Janet: At the moment, I'm writing a history of my town for the local historical society. The town is one of the oldest in America. This fall, I've been researching what happened to the Indians who lived here first, back in the 17th Century. There's a mystery about where they went. Were they simply killed or deported, or did they gradually blend in with the newer inhabitants? I may use these ideas in a fictional book later.

Lori: Is there anything else you’d like to share about your writing life?

Fiction is a kind of writing that's best done on a full tank of ideas and emotion. I need time between books to fill up. For me, the best stories have meanings that go deeper than the surface narrative. It isn't enough that characters are "well developed", as the critics often say. Or that a story is deftly plotted or a fast, exciting read. Ambiguity, voice, the uneasy thrill of teetering at the edge of reality, are things I've learned to treasure in novels written for adults, and I work to bring them to my stories for children and young adults. This doesn't make me the most popular writer out there, but for those who care to look, there are special sights to be seen.

Lori: Thank you so much for dropping by. Your books are worth the wait! (Janet has a wonderful, informative website with more interviews here).

I'm so out of it I posted to the wrong blog.

2009-02-27T13:50:00.004-05:00

So, it's Friday.
I promise next Friday there will be another interview.
Really.
For sure.
I've been working and writing and dealing with middle school stuff this week. Blogging has taken a backseat. Yay Friday!
And a Happy Friday to you!

This post originally appeared on Writebrainers, my critique group's blog. Sheesh. I didn't even notice until I went to look at it.

Friday Interview Hiccup Haiku*

2009-02-20T07:35:00.010-05:00

Please enjoy this
interview intermission--
Good and Plenty calls

When I was little, my mother would sometimes buy a box of Good and Plenty when we went to the movies. This is my first candy memory, even before M&Ms, which came shortly after. As an adult, I prefer M&Ms for taste, but hearing the name Good and Plenty still gives me a delicious nostalgic pause. It's one of the best candy names ever. I mean, if you have good and you have plenty, what more do you really need?

What is your favorite candy from childhood? Now?

*My apologies to Kay, friend and haiku genius.

An Interview with Patrice Kindl

2009-02-13T07:00:00.004-05:00

This Friday’s author is Patrice Kindl, author of OWL IN LOVE, GOOSE CHASE, THE WOMAN IN THE WALL, and LOST IN THE LABYRINTH. Welcome Patrice!

Lori: Your theater background is interesting to me. Do you ever do any acting (besides character creation on the page), even though your career went in a slightly different direction?

Patrice: A few TV commercials, some off-off-off Broadway and a few months with an improv. group. Not much, really. Like any of the arts, it's hard to break in and a hard way to make a living.

Lori: What were your favorite books to read as a young person?Patrice: I was an Anglophile. I loved MARY POPPINS (the books, NOT the movie), THE BORROWERS, the Narnia books, T.H. White's THE ONCE AND FUTURE KING. Actually, I was an omnivore; I devoured nearly anything I got my hands on.

Lori: Do you write every day? On more than one project at a time?

Patrice: I am a slow, lazy writer with a severe shortage of ideas.

Lori: Ha! I guess the number of ideas isn't important, as long as you have a few great ones! We know all writers, even published ones, deal with rejection. How much rejection did you receive before your initial acceptance?

Patrice: Not too bad, actually. I wrote one novel that disappeared into some publisher's filing system and never reemerged. Then I wrote OWL IN LOVE, which was published by the first editor I sent it to.

Lori: Can you tell us anything about what you're working on now?

Patrice: I wish I could. I repeat: I am a slow, lazy writer with a severe shortage of ideas.

Lori: Have you read any books recently that you'd recommend?

Patrice: Lying face-down next to the computer as I type is Joan Aiken's THE SERIAL GARDEN. Many of the stories (the Armitage family) are old, but there are four new ones (Ms. Aiken died in 2004, so the proper way to put it, I suppose, is that they are being published for the first time) and all the stories are collected here under one cover.

Lori: Would you ever write a memoir?

Patrice: Goodness! The thought never occurred to me. I am too fond of the quiet life for my doings to be of much interest to anyone outside of a severely restricted circle.

Lori: How would you feel about your book(s) being made into movies or plays? Is anything like this in the works?

Patrice: Oh sure. I'm all for it. Is anything like this in the works? Maybe. At last count there have been ten separate inquiries of varying degrees of seriousness. Some were single emails about the availability of film rights, some were initiatives that came quite close to actually happening. So you never know. It always cheers you up to get an inquiry, anyway.

Lori: Describe a typical day in the life of Patrice Kindl :o)

Patrice: Well, hmm. How about if I give you a snapshot of myself at this exact moment? I'm typing at a computer in a big old house in a small, rural village, in an intensely green room filled with books and birdcages. There's a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel asleep on my lap (this is the largest breed of lapdogs, so he overflows a bit -- his head is on my wrist, impeding my typing, and, as he shifts in his sleep, his foot presses down on the sp ace bar). He barks in his sleep and twitches all over; he's dreaming about the dobermans next door. From time to time a bright green parrot (a Panama Amazon) perched on top of my head says abruptly in a threatening tone, "I SEEEE you," and digs her claws into my scalp. Behind the three of us, Clyde the eclectus (another parrot) makes a sound like a foghorn.

Above my head -- Oops. Bree the Amazon just took careful aim and pooped on the dog's head. Those two are always squabbling over who owns me -- interval for damp paper towels required.

Above my head my much beloved husband is packing to go to the Philippines (again!), watched mournfully by the cat and our other dog, Boufe the gigantic Newfoundland, both of whom understand the significance of suitcases. Outside an ice storm beats steadily down; the frozen rain making little tinking sounds as it hits the ice-slick snow.

The radiators all wail in chorus.See what I mean? Not much scope for an autobiography here. Mostly just animals, a husband leaving for foreign climes, reading and (very little)typing.However, for what it's worth, there it is: my life. I hope you can do something with it.

Lori: Thank you so much, Patrice, for sharing your writing life (and your menagerie) with us!

Learning to Think

2009-02-07T07:00:00.002-05:00

I have spent the better part of my adult life now trying to learn how to think better. I'm one of those who is hopelessly focused on emotions, which does have it's own rewards. As a writer, though, I'm constantly in search of the elusive pure thought. I came across this exerpt from David Foster Wallace's 2005 commencement address(Per Cheryl Kline's blog). I think it speaks to this struggle quite well:

"As I'm sure you guys know by now, it is extremely difficult to stay alert and attentive, instead of getting hypnotized by the constant monologue inside your own head. Twenty years after my own graduation, I have come gradually to understand that the liberal arts cliché about teaching you how to think is actually shorthand for a much deeper, more serious idea: learning how to think really means learning how to exercise some control over how and what you think. It means being conscious and aware enough to choose what you pay attention to and to choose how you construct meaning from experience. Because if you cannot exercise this kind of choice in adult life, you will be totally hosed.

An Interview with Emily Jenkins

2009-02-06T07:00:00.003-05:00

This week I’m so happy to have Emily Jenkins visit for a Friday Interview. Her young middle grade novel, Toys Go Out, with illustrations by Paul O. Zelinsky has been called “Toy Story meets Winnie the Pooh.” It’s sequel, Toy Dance Party, is in stores now. She is the author of many picture books and novels.

Lori: Welcome Emily! You’re very active in the Children’s Lit world. How does your work, reviewing picture books in The New York Times, inform your own art?

Emily: It forces me to think critically about what I think makes a good picture book -- something that teaching did, when I used to teach, and that being on the Ezra Jack Keats Award committee does. If I articulate my values and opinions, I have a clearer sense of what I want to do myself.

Lori: Do you write every day? On more than one project at a time?

Emily: I write most weekdays. Usually picture books are procrastinations of larger projects. As in, I can't write today -- oh, a picture book sounds fun! I will try to work on one of those. But then, of course, picture books are as hard as anything else to write well. I'm just deceiving myself.

Lori: I just finished reading Toy Dance Party, and loved it just as much if not better than Toy's Go Out. Will there be more “Toys” novels?

Emily: Yes, there will be a third book! It's a prequel.

Lori: We know all writers, even published ones, deal with rejection. How much rejection did you receive before your initial acceptance?

Emily: The first thing I ever shopped around was a proposal for an adult book which was never published. So maybe a year's worth of consistent rejection before my first-ever acceptance, which was for a middle-grade book, The Secret Life of Billie's Uncle Myron. But I have continued to have rejections. Even recently.

Lori: Can you tell us anything about what you’re working on now? Upcoming publications?

Emily: I am working on that third Toys book, and then a series of chapter books about a kid with an invisible friend. In the Spring I have a picture book with Giselle Potter called Sugar Would Not Eat It, and I'm doing picture books with illustrators G. Brian Karas and Barbara McClintock.

Lori: Please tell us about any upcoming appearances.

Emily: I have none! I don't tour much.

Lori: What have you read lately that you’d recommend?

Emily: For kids, I like Wild Boars Cook, by Meg Rosoff and Sophie Blackall. Those wild boars are so disgusting! I love them! I also just read Educating Esmé, by Esmé Raji Codell. It's a brilliant and heartbreaking diary of a first year teacher in an underserved Chicago public school.

Lori: Do you think the declining word count over these past years has been an overall improvement in picture books being published today?

Emily: I think it means there are more high quality books for very very young readers, which is a great thing. I mean, it's all good with books like I Kissed the Baby! or Ella Sarah Gets Dressed, just to name two with real meaning, charm and low word counts. But it's sad that it's hard to find picture books with longer texts for older readers. And I have one or two in a drawer that I wish could find a publisher.

Lori: How would you feel about your book(s) being made into movies or plays?

Emily: I would like the paycheck, I suppose. But it seems unlikely that it would be a satisfying artistic experience.

Lori: What typically happens on Wednesdays in the real life of Emily Jenkins?

Emily: What Happens on Wednesdays is a true story. Except of course, I am the mom and not the kid. Thanks for having me on your blog, Lori!

It's an honor, Emily. Thank you so much.

There are many more books (Emily also writes for adults) on her website. Check it out here.

A Quick Howdy Do

2009-02-04T16:35:00.001-05:00

I haven't posted this week because I am scribbling away (on the computer of course). Blogging is going to have to take a backseat for a while so I can get seriously focused on some other writing. Once I have a rhythm back, I'll come back here. The Friday interviews will continue, and maybe little else for a while.

Oh the happy joy of inspiration. . . .

Now back to work.

An Interview with Linda Urban

2009-01-30T07:00:00.010-05:00

This week I welcome Linda Urban, author of the very charming novel, A Crooked Kind of Perfect. A forthcoming picture book, Mouse was Mad, will be published in 2009 by Harcourt. Linda was kind enough to take a moment from work on her second novel to talk about writing, reading and chocolate.

Lori: How has the process of writing your second novel been different from A Crooked Kind of Perfect? Do you write every day and on more than one thing at a time?

Linda: I have been so much more self-conscious while working on my second novel, and that has really gotten in the way of the work. I write best when I'm totally in the story and not thinking about structure or rules or audience. I had great good fortune to have a well-received first novel and I spent a lot of last year enjoying that, but also worrying that my second novel would not live up to expectations. I think I'm finally at the stage of clearing my head and focusing again on just the story. I sure hope I am, anyway. I work best when I write every day, but I did take large chunks of time off over the summer when we had family and friends around visiting. I have two small kids. They come first.

I work on whatever calls me. Most of the time that is a single project, but I do like when I have a short project and a long project going at the same time. It gives me the feeling that if one isn't working, I can turn to the other. Don't ask what happens when neither is working.

Lori: I won’t! And I certainly understand the challenge of trying to write while you have young children around. Everyone knows it takes time to get published. How much rejection did you collect before an acceptance?

Linda: Once I started writing seriously and submitting, I got very lucky and had many positive responses and an acceptance within a few months. That said, I've had plenty of rejection since then. I still have a lot to learn.

Lori: Now a process question: Do you listen to music as you write? If so, what inspires you?

Linda: I can't. I find it distracting.

Lori: How do you structure your writing day to be most productive?

Linda: Right now, I'm finding it helpful to get up early and write before the concerns of the day take over. If I can go from bed to teakettle to computer and just start typing, I often will have a much more productive day than if I read email first or scan the newspaper or think about packing school lunches or talk with my husband.A couple of mornings a week, my youngest is in preschool or with a sitter and I try to focus and write then, too, but I often find that I have a more critical mind then. It is usually a good time to look over and revise the early morning work. Once my boy is home for lunch, my writing day is over.

Lori: Please tell us about any upcoming appearances.

Linda: I have some school visits planned and I believe that Harcourt is working on scheduling some New England booksignings for MOUSE WAS MAD. I'll also be in Michigan in April to receive the Michigan Library Association's Mitten Award. I'm very excited about that.

Lori: Would you ever write a memoir?

Linda: My life is not so interesting as to warrant a memoir. There are little bits of memoir in every bit of fiction I write, but then I have to make a whole bunch of stuff up to make it worth reading.

Lori: What have you read lately that you'd recommend?

Linda: I love Richard Russo and just went on a fiction binge with his Mohawk, The Risk Pool, and Nobody's Fool. Reading him is to study characterization and dialogue. And humor. I'm always amazed at the way he is able to balance realism with humor. So many writers turn to surrealism or fantasy in order to be funny. Russo knows how to show us the everyday humor in regular people, and the ways so many of us turn to humor when things get tough.

I also adored The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. It is perfect historical fiction - I learned so much about the occupation of Guernsey during WWII, but every bit of that was filtered logically through the characters and plot. And characters! Oh, such characters!

As for writing for young people, I haven't read as much this year as I usually do, but I did love Ingrid Law's Savvy, Emily Jenkin's Toy Dance Party, and Dannette Haworth's Violet Raines Almost Got Hit by Lightning. I've also just finished reading a manuscript for a book which will be out next year, Kate Messner's The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z. I think tweens will love it.

Lori: For you, what is the most challenging aspect of telling a story well?

Linda: I think it is plot. I like character. I like the way characters talk to one another. I like finding moments that resonate with that. Making those moments all add up into a compelling plot, though, is tough. I often tell people that my drafts get wider rather than longer. Sometimes I'm just setting moments beside other moments but not one of them is leading to the next.

Lori: And now for an important question: Do you prefer dessert or hors d'oeuvres? Milk chocolate or dark?

Linda: I'll say dessert because I have tried to type the other word three times now and I keep misspelling it. Dark Chocolate. Always.

Lori: Thanks so much for dropping by, Linda!

This Year's Newbery Winner. . . .

2009-01-26T10:46:00.003-05:00

Guess I need to read this one. :o) The Underneath, a favorite of mine, won an honor along with three others I haven't yet read. I was surprised that Laurie Halse Anderson's Chains didn't get any recognition. Perhaps the last book in the trilogy will get some love--I suspect it will be the best of the three she has planned, no cliffhangers. Very cool that she got a career achievement award though.

Also, Madapple, by Christina Meldrum didn't even get a Prince Honor, nor did Paper Towns by John Green (not that he needs to win another Prince, but. . .) Awards are interesting, and so arbitrary in one way. It ultimately depends on the taste of three or six or eight or ten people on a committee. True, they are highly qualified to judge these things, but we all know what we like, and that's the bottom line.

I'll be off to buy The Graveyard Book now.

An Interview with Kirby Larson

2009-01-23T07:00:00.011-05:00

Welcome to the first in a series of Friday Morning Author Interviews! We kick off with the formidable Kirby Larson, whose debut novel, Hattie Big Sky, received a Newbery Honor for 2007. Her newest book, co-written with Mary Nethery and illustrated by Jean Cassels, is called Two Bobbies: A True story of Hurricane Katrina, Friendship, and Survival.

Lori: Welcome Kirby! Where are you from originally?

Kirby: While I'm tempted to give a smart aleck answer (like Mars), I am from Seattle. I was born in an army hospital that's now a park; does that count as interesting?

Lori: Very. And certainly better than being born in a park that used to be an army hospital. Can you tell us anything about what you’re working on now? What about the story behind Two Bobbies?

Kirby: Since the current novel is giving me such fits, I'll opt not to talk about it except to say it's an historical novel. Of sorts. And the story behind the Two Bobbies is best described on our website, http://www.twobobbies.com/. Let me just say that it is a tremendous joy to be able to write a book with a very dear friend.

Lori: Do you listen to music while you write? If so, what inspires you?

Kirby: I don't listen to music because if I hear any words, I get totally distracted. Jennifer Holm, however, said she couldn't have written Our Only May Amelia without the Dixie Chicks -- so to each our own!

Lori: What about your own reading pile? Have you read anything lately that you’d recommend?

Kirby: I've posted some recent reviews at my blog, http://www.kirbyslane.blogspot.com/, about The Humming of Numbers, by Joni Sensel and Unwind, by Neal Shusterman. After those two fabulous but extremely intense books, I needed something lighter so I just picked up Confessions of a Serial Kisser, by Wendelin Van Draanen and so far have laughed my way to page 17. Not a kids' book, but I heartily recommend The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. It's a heart-warming and heart-breaking epistolary novel which any writer should study for voice.

Lori: And of course, we’d like to know if you are doing any author appearances. Where can people meet you?

Kirby: I am doing my best to turn down appearances right now to stay home and work! Mary and I will be making a rare joint appearance at Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park, Washington on February 2, at 7 pm. I will be at a Young Author's Conference in Idaho, Feb. 16-21; then, March 14-17, I'll be at the Children's Literature Festival in Warrensburg, Missouri, and in April, I have the amazing opportunity to speak at international schools in Doha, Qatar and Beirut, Lebanon.

Lori: That sure sounds adventurous. How would you feel about your book(s) being made into movies? Is anything like this in the works?

Kirby: There have been nibbles now and then about Hattie Big Sky. If that happens, fun. If not, no big deal. Books are my passion and I've got lots more to write!

Lori: Where do you keep your Newbery Honor Medal?

Kirby: Uh, I hate to break it to you but there is only one medal, which went to the lovely Susan Patron the year HBS won. I do have a lovely plaque from the ALA, however, to acknowledge the Newbery Honor award, which is on the wall next to my desk. I know-- I'll take a photo of my award wall and post it on my blog!

Lori: Clearly my ignorance has no limits. Although the shiny silver medal stickers on the books themselves may have fed into this “Medal Myth” I apparently created. I’m glad we could clear that up! On a completely unrelated, but equally important topic, do you prefer desserts or hors d'oevres? Please elaborate. . . :o)

Kirby: Life is too short to choose!!! I can never say no to brie and never say no to homemade pie -- if they are both served at the same meal, well, I just walk a little longer on the treadmill the next day.

Lori: Aside from a meal of brie and pie, describe your idea of a wonderful day in the life of Kirby Larson.

Kirby: I'd start off with long phone calls from (notice I say from and not to) both my adult children, then I'd watch the hummingbirds outside my window, go for a walk with my husband around Green Lake, return to my office, tall, nonfat, extra hot latte in hand, where I'd produce many pages of work. At day's end, I'd find myself at a dinner party where I'd actually get to talk, face-to-face, with writers I admire.

Lori: Thanks so much for hanging out in my tiny corner of the blogosphere today. It’s been a pleasure getting to know you, Kirby!

2009-01-21T07:00:00.005-05:00

Way Up and Over Everything
by Alice McGill
Illustrated by Jude Daly
Houghton Mifflin Books
In Bookstores Now
Ages: 6 and up

Way Up and Over Everything is a moving piece of African American Folklore, told in the voice of an African mother, telling you just the way it was told to her, long ago.
It’s no surprise to learn that the author of this book is a professional storyteller. The voice is colorful and rhythmic.

The narrator’s grandmama’s mama, Jane, grows up on the Georgia plantation of “Ol’ Man Deboreaux.” When the master brings five more slaves over from Charleston, Jane befriends one who says his name is “Edet.” The overseer shouts at him, reminding him that his name has been changed to Bob.

The depiction of slave life is true to life, without being too much for a young listener, and the language is rich. Slaves learn to “work by the whip. . . If a hoe rested too long, the whip popped. If cottonseeds didn’t hit the dirt fast enough, the whip popped.”

At mealtime, the five new slaves slip away from the rest. When Jane finds them they are over the hill and the owners have taken off to recapture them. As the overseer gets closer and all looks hopeless for the escapees, they merely twirl in a circle and “step up on the air.” They are flying away! And no one can believe their eyes. They float into the sky like helium balloons, ignoring the threats of those on the ground.

The folk art seems obviously appropriate here. Long furrows in the field echo long lines of the log cabin quarters, echo the rows of people sitting on the long wooden benches at mealtime. This is pleasing to my eye. The people in particular are painted so sparingly they look ready to take off before they actually do.

An author’s note explains the origins of this story come from the desire for freedom, when people believed escaped slaves had literally vanished into thin air. A mystic, poetic story that would be a great intro to a discussion of black history.

2009-01-20T12:00:00.002-05:00

Becoming Clint Eastwood

2009-01-19T10:16:00.013-05:00

I had been in a reading lull, focusing on writing a lot, and research and related things, but reading very little.

Since reading other people's great ideas expands my own creativity (duh), I'm attacking my book pile with gusto once again. Movies do this, too. My husband and I saw Gran Torino with Clint Eastwood last night, and it got me thinking about the complexity of motivations for a racist attitude. The movie is set in my state, and one of the supporting characters is a high schooler from my area. This was inspiring in itself.

Clint Eastwood is my new role model. He knows precisely what he does best, and proceeds to make a career out of it. You can call him one dimensional, but really the man transcends versatility. He is the master of his dimension. He owns every inch of it. He's just so very good at what he does.

Perhaps this is a problem for struggling writers. I lament that I can't turn a phrase quite like Polly Horvath, or structure a plot like Laurie Halse Anderson. I want to have the dry humor of Emily Jenkins, or the tall tale telling genius of Richard Peck. Clearly I'm no Clint either, but if I can possibly discover the thing I do best. And then do that thing really well, that will be my best shot.

So I do need to immerse, and learn, and admire, and think, and work. Then, focus inward, find the connections, discard the peripheral stuff, create, and hone hone hone that voice.

Did Cheryl Klein post this for me?

2009-01-15T16:15:00.001-05:00

Think you might need to work harder? Check out these.

Highway Cats

2009-01-14T07:00:00.004-05:00

Janet Taylor Lisle

Illustrated by David Frankland

Philomel Books
Sept 2008

Age: 9-12

Highway Cats is a sweet story about the healing power of miracles and making your voice heard. Feral cats, each haunted by a sordid past, live along the highway in constant conflict with each other. Then a mysterious trio of luminescent kittens arrives. After being inexplicably spared from death, they go on to inspire unity amongst this quirky community.

A parallel thread has humans, in short, scripted scenes, that are planning to develop the cat community's habitat. As the heavy equipment comes in to lay down a road, the scalawag cats, now inspired by the miracle of the kittens, come together to successfully defend their land.

Newbery honoree, Lisle, has succeeded in telling a fable that feels fresh and familiar at the same time. It manages to quite pointedly comment on the environment and government without coming off as didactic. Though the point of view sympathizes the cats' perspective, the animals are just as flawed as the humans. This juxtaposition of the human and animal points of view not only emphasizes the disconnection between these communities, but also the government's disconnection from the real world. A great intro to a discussion about building communities. A poignant read.

Birds On A Wire

2009-01-12T07:00:00.003-05:00

By J. Patrick Lewis &
Paul B. Janeczko
Illustrated by Gary Lippincott
Wordsong
(an imprint of Boyds Mills Press)
December 2008
Ages: eight and up

Birds On A Wire calls itself A Renga ‘Round Town. I’d never heard of a renga before I picked this up, so the introduction was helpful. It does a good job explaining this Japanese mother of haiku.

From the intro:

A traditional renga is written by two or more poets. The first poet writes three lines, the second poet follow that with two lines, the first poet comes back with another three lines, then two, three, two, and so on.

The cool thing is, each new verse must link in some way to the verse before it, but not with the others. This creates a longish kind of poem where each stanza has something new to say, and yet holds hands with the lines immediately before. To complicate things more, we are told the renga does not need to tell a story, but it should have a beginning, a middle and an end.

For example, in Birds On A Wire, the poem covers an entire day, with widely varying happenings that are yet linked together in clever, if sometimes obtuse, ways. Children won’t get them all, but that’s okay since the language is beautiful enough on its own to entertain. I like this one:

Poet one:
Flood waters on the creek!
Bon voyage, grasshopper,
On this morning’s paper boat

Poet two:
Carrying news
to nowhere

This book would be wonderful in a third grade classroom where they are studying the haiku format. I love the idea of students participating in a “Classroom Renga,” or partnering with each other to create poems for two voices.

The slightly subdued, watercolor panoramas give important clues to some of the stanza connections, as in the following:

Glazed with rain
A red wheelbarrow headstands
By the hardware store

The old doctor recalls
Childhood barnyard.

The image of the reflecting doctor enhances the text particularly well here. The art throughout evokes a sense of lingering--moments frozen by poetry. Birds On A Wire has much to offer a wide age range, and language that is a joy to read again and again.

We Ski--A Moonlight Reflection

2009-01-10T23:54:00.022-05:00

Windless. A gentle, powdery snow falling. Moonlight and cold have conjured the land into a silver, twinkling glitterscape. A camera can't capture this, I think, and try to savor the beauty.

We ski, trip, giggle, and then finally find our rhythm on the lit-with-lanterns trail, sip chocolate in the warming house, then ski some more and listen to the absent-minded river rushing rushing by.

We turn in our skis, tired, and on the way to the car my daughter says, "Do we have to go? It's so pretty!" Her eyes twinkle, silver breath circles her rosy face in the moonlight.
"Yes," I say, capturing this glitterscape that outshines the snow.

My One Hundred Adventures by Polly Horvath

2009-01-08T07:00:00.017-05:00

Schwartz and Wade
2008
Ages: 10-14

I discovered and fell in love with Polly Horvath's writing in Everything on a Waffle. After reading everything she's written before and since, one thing is for sure. Her work is artful writing, no matter the topic. Take a couple of sentences like these,

"I pray for a hundred adventures. And maybe, I think, if I pray all the time unceasingly as Nellie is telling us we should, as I walk to town and help my mother shuck oysters, as I make baskets from reeds and sweep the floors or weed the vegetable garden, as I sit mooning over the movement of the wind and lying on my back, lost in the thoughtlessness of doing nothing, then there might be a response."

(*pause* to fully appreciate this sentence)

This book is set by the sea, about the daughter of a poet searching for meaning in her life through the adventures she experiences one summer. The adventures range from extraordinary to quietly profound. The narrative reads like rolling waves. Still, the characteristic, quirky humor is stirred in, giving that most wonderful of make-you-laugh-and-cry-in-the-same-paragraph reading experiences.

Some have quibbled about plot structure and the all-important arc. I think the character IS the plot, and the tension between the outrageous and the poetic create an arc of self-discovery. In the end, poetry (love) wins. How do we live with the outrageousness of life without letting our egos get in the way of love? I want to read this to my children and ask them if they think Mrs. Gourd deserved what she got. Is justice merely a more dignified word for revenge?

Jane, the protagonist, says, "More often than not, when my mother sits on the porch steps now, we are totally silent. I think we are memorizing the sound of the waves."

Don't you want to read a book where people talk like this? And tell a story you recognize as your very own? And is in the form of a prose poem to boot? Polly Horvath must love our crazy world. This book is an ode to the ocean, a love song to life.

So This Blog Won't Sabotage my non-existent Career

2009-01-07T08:42:00.002-05:00

I can't post anything until I've written at least 2000 words.
Okay then.
See you.
Later
Bye.

Brain Freeze

2009-01-03T08:11:00.006-05:00

Perhaps 'twas not a good idea to read The Annotated Charlotte's Web while I'm in the very beginning stages of a rough draft for a new novel. Yes, perhaps not.

The problem is, I can't put it down. Charlotte's Web is one of my all time favorites. This book is like sitting at E.B. White's knee and having him tell me exactly how and why he wrote it.

I'm waffling between being completely inspired and, at certain moments, cringing while thinking of some of my own writing.

So--a vocationally themed New Year's resolution: I must be able to read The Annotated Charlotte's Web without being prompted to cringe at my current writing before I consider sending anything back to anyone who has expressed interest in my future work.

A New Year

2009-01-01T02:23:00.006-05:00

I've just spent the evening with great people, good food, and sixteen children between us who all play together with little conflict, even though half of them only see each other once a year.

I walk home at 2:oo am, putting fresh prints in untouched snow. Time crunches under my shoes, melts away.

The Christmas tree will come down today. A new calendar is waiting on my wall. Potential decorates my thoughts.

Spring is on its way.

Happy New Year.

A Time for Everything

2008-12-30T15:16:00.005-05:00

I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
I feel my fate in what I cannot fear.
I learn by going where I have to go.

--Roethke

One multicolored computerized flowchart later, I must stop planning. It's time to go to town writing. I cannot plan my way to the answers to these small, lingering plot questions. It's time to write my way to the answers now.

Yay! The fun part! Time to watch the word count grow!

The Goal: A first draft completed by the last week of February.

Post 100

2008-12-29T14:30:00.001-05:00

This post marks the 100th of my short, low-profile blogging career.

Having a blog has forced me to do something I have never been able to do. Keep a journal for more than ten or twelve entries. I have scads of blank books. It's the go to gift for people who don't know what to get me, and none of them have enough entries to represent a significant amount of time. In January it will be a year since my friend Erin and I both decided to do this (it was her idea in the first place). I'm glad I did. 2008=100 posts=the most well-recorded year of my life. And it was a good one.

There's something about celebrating the 100th anything (100 days in school, 100 years, 100 bottles of beer on the wall. . . .) that creates an expectation for number 100 to be special in some way. So. . . .

Since this event of the 100th post coincides so nicely with the approaching new year, I will be changing the look of this blog in observation of both. Also, my husband got a fancy schmancy new camera from his parents for Christmas. To give him an opportunity to use it often, and encourage his long-time photography hobby, I will begin a new "Yet-to-be-named" photo series of some kind in January. Maybe I should call it "Inspired by Ann."

Making Progress. . . .

2008-12-28T21:27:00.004-05:00

While the WIP word count may be at a standstill, progress is being made in the area of plotting. This story is going to require some pretty careful construction, because it is actually three stories being told simultaneously. These will, hopefully, dovetail and mirror each other in a resounding halleluia chorus of an ending. Ambitious, yes, but really, shooting for the moon is the only choice at this point.

Anyway, I had to head back to the flowchart for a bit this evening. I have plotted one thread quite carefully, and noted the intersection points. I believe I will do the same for the other two before I go back into the zero draft. I'm thinking about writing each story separately, in a linear fashion, before combining them in a later version.

This process is a pretty dramatic difference in my approach to a project like this. Let's hope it's not just different. Let's hope, for the love of Petunia, that it's better.

Owl In Love

2008-12-27T15:05:00.004-05:00

By Patrice Kindl
Graphia (June 7, 2004)
Age: 9-12

I finally finished reading Owl over the Christmas Break. Since this novel, Patrice Kindl has written Goose Chase, and others. Owl is a shape-shifting teenager who is also in love with her science teacher. I really appreciate Kindl's writing style, with a distinctive and strong authorial voice. The story is contemporary and ethereal at the same time. The whole novel was so well-paced and plotted, the ending did not quite live up to the rest for me. But this is so worth reading. A writing class unto itself.

The New WIP Word Counter

2008-12-23T09:58:00.005-05:00

Over the last year I've done some off and on prewriting, storynotes, character sketches etc. Now that I've decided to shelve more revisions for my other novel (for now), these efforts have intensified and focused themselves. I'm finally ready to begin a ZERO DRAFT of a brand new idea.

For my own accountability, there is a new gadget in the sidebar that will track the progress of the ZERO DRAFT. Word count is king at this stage. It's the only time quantity does slightly trump quality. Do you have any methods to keep yourself going during the "roughest of drafts" stage?

Christmas Memory

2008-12-18T07:50:00.015-05:00

Just before dawn, my sister Betsy and I are creeping down the stairs, our sleepy parents behind us, at six a.m. The tree is huge, spectacular, and throwing pokey, rainbow shadows on the walls. We cut it down in our own backyard, had to wire it to the wall so it wouldn't fall over.

We take in the display of Christmas booty, I swear it glittered like treasure, beneath this giant evergreen. An art set, opened with the brushes carefully fanned next to shiny watercolors. A pink doll stroller. For Betsy, a Little Lady Buggy, holding a tiny doll passenger and looking every bit as charming as it sounds. At age eight and two, we think we have hit the mother load.

I love my presents, but even more, I'm thrilled to watch my sister. Her pigtails are cockeyed from the day before and I'm thinking how adorable she looks, how fun it is to share this morning with a sibling. I'm showing her how the little buggy works and how to hold the doll like a real baby. This is the first Christmas she has any idea who Santa Claus is.

Contentment settles over me as I sit in the middle of toys and lights. I will never want another thing as long as I live. I can't even imagine there is no Santa Claus. Next year would be a different story but, for this morning, my sister and I are both so excited about this guy who indulged us like we never thought our parents would.

No matter how it really was, I think the rainbow lights must have been more vivid and bright that Christmas than you can get them now. The tree must have been stolen from a production of The Nutcracker. And Santa must have been real, if only for that moment.

Flow Charts and Spreadsheets and Outlines Oh My!

2008-12-17T10:22:00.004-05:00

A few posts ago I wrote about my foray into spreadsheetdom, with regard to publisher research and submissions tracking. This has led to creating an outline for a newish idea for a novel I've been kicking around.

In the past I have spouted on about how much an outline "wouldn't work." Oh, and how outlines "take the excitement out of creating." Stuff like that. These things are possible, but as I was forcing my daughter to take a bite of chicken not long ago, I considered this fact: I have never TRIED it. And, frankly, the novel writing I've been doing is perhaps one step above underwhelming. This is a lot because of the lack of plot organization. So, on with the experimental outline! And did you know what a beautiful flowchart you can make with Word 2007? Alas, the flowchart will wait. I'm starting with storynotes. One step at a time. . . .

Need some inspiration lately? Check HipWriter Mama
I need to re-think how I blog

The Anti-Rant (aka Positive Moment Post)

2008-12-15T13:30:00.010-05:00

I overheard my sister, who is a kindergarten teacher, talking about the importance of having a "Positive Moment" at the beginning of the day with one of her more challenging students. This got me thinking about the importance of positive moments in general. With the holiday season in full swing, and the darkest month of the year almost half over--

--cue new agey instrumental and fade in to a cup of steaming chai (with a side of ripe mango for a serving suggestion)

I hereby commence the inaugural "Positive Moment Post"

*Today's positive moment is brought to you by Stash.*

A local restaurant (and high school hangout) has been collecting money for the food bank in our town for the past month or so. They have a jar by the cash register for spare change. So far they have raised $660.00. Everywhere I go I see collection sites for the clothing bank, glove and hat trees etc. At my church we are raising money for Heifer International--a nonprofit that's fighting world hunger one cow (or goat or honeybee) at a time. There are food baskets and toy donation boxes galore because everyone thinks about sharing their blessings this time of year.

Someone I know had a good idea. Donate to your local food bank every year during the month your birthday falls. This evens out the giving (if a lot of people participate) and spreads it throughout the year.

I call June. :o)

Looking Ahead

2008-12-10T22:29:00.003-05:00

I know, it's not yet Christmas, but I'm in the mood to think about 2009. January is one of my favorite months, not because of the snow, but because of the "clean slate" feel to it. And I'm all about fresh starts. Plus, I never really made any December goals, unless you count the November goals I all but completely ignored.

So, in 2009 I, being of sound mind (?) and body, do solemnly resolve--in no particular order--to:

1. Keep up on my laundry
2. Paint my kitchen
3. Floss more
4. Call my grandmother more
5. Organize the rest of my files
6. Submit my picture book ms
7. Start another novel
8. Give monthly to a charity/church
9. Make sure the dog is walked every day
10. Get myself, once and for all, on a regular writing schedule
11. Exercise five days a week
12. Eat five different vegetables every day
13. Blog about more interesting things than just myself all the time

My Competition

2008-12-06T09:57:00.004-05:00

The Chronicle Books slush pile, picture from Fuse#8. And they aren't even one of the so-called "Big Five." Not that most of those even accept unsolicited ms anymore! Hoo boy. I need to work harder.

Writing Exercise #6

2008-12-04T08:26:00.003-05:00

This is an exercise to get your childhood memories bubbling to the surface. Think back. Even further. Further now. Step into your tiny child body and look around at what you smell, hear, see, taste etc. It's the very first Christmas you remember. Maybe it's just a snippet, but that's okay. Pull the memory to the center of your mind and let it stay there a moment. Meditate on it a spell and see if it blooms a little, elaborates on itself. It might take a little time, but when you have a few sensual details go ahead and write those down.

Or maybe something immediately comes to mind. Still, see what more you can remember. Fully immerse yourself in the memory and then write down everything.

Read it.

Do the same thing with other random childhood memories. When you think about it, it's quite amazing what you've got stored, just waiting to be mined for story.

Oh Yeah

2008-12-03T11:26:00.003-05:00

Read this --an interesting rant about capitalism. Thanks to Sarah Miller for the link.

Update

2008-12-02T19:05:00.003-05:00

As I write this I recall that I did make some goals for November. It is now December first and too late to make a mad dash to accomplish them. I did do one thing, though, toward making smarter submissions.

I've been researching *stifles a yawn* and researching. And, oh, doing more research.

I now know the publishing trends of eleven major publishers, including how many debut authors they've bought from in the last four years. I know which ones favor anthropomorphism, word play and humor. I know which ones lean more toward didactism, celebrity authors and high concept. I know the take-out preferences of certain editors, and which ones will return a postcard submission reply.

I've had my daughter make files for me because she likes to be a little helper. She even filed the info for me after I printed out my reports. Those very scientific reports that give information like "query only--crapshoot" and "only agented--ice cube's chance" Oh, and "No debuts in five years--don't bother"

A list of titles has been compiled. My job now is to comb the biggest library in town for them, read them and make the appropriate notes in the appropriate files. Then, write these very personalized cover letters evidencing all this careful study blah blah blah.

So far it's been an enlightening experience. I've learned quite a bit and, mostly, I'm glad I'm almost done with this part. Of course, the system will require upkeep. Right now I think hiring my daughter sounds good--so far she exhibits more "agent skill" than I do!

Ham

2008-11-30T13:40:00.018-05:00

Thanksgiving was fun. We had ham, and it was delicious. The no-turkey tradition goes back to a "food allergy" contrived by my great-grandmother to avoid the traditional fare herself. She's gone now, but the ham lives on and has become a tradition of its own.

Studying my own family dynamics is a storytelling lesson in itself. A house containing several generations of the same clan, with all the moments of joy, humor and (yikes!) tension, makes a laboratory of sorts. I become an observer for my art, a behavioral scientist of sorts.

I watch, and wonder at the difficulty of re-creating this sort of wonderful tension in a work of fiction! The kind that is full of subtext and implications. The kind that is a dance among stakes that are constantly changing. The kind that might not look like tension to the casual observer, and yet is palpable beneath the surface.

As a writer, I live to re-create the beautiful moments, too. The laughter, the love, and the lingering sense of the magical Now. The baby who will be like a different person next Thanksgiving. The grandmother who may not be here at all. The awareness that all we ever have is today, and so we should love each other as best we can.

Family is a story with an arc that is not a perfect bell shape. There is no clear protagonist, except for we, the characters, who might sometimes each mistake ourselves for the hero. The ending is sort of nebulous at best. But I know that without this most sacred family narrative, no other story can exist for me. We tell it with love, and with laughter, and with ham!

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-26T14:21:00.003-05:00

Happy Thankgiving to all! I'm leaving for the north country soon, and probably won't be blogging. See you on the other side of the turkey (or, in our case, ham).

Feverish Post

2008-11-23T21:55:00.004-05:00

I've just been thinking about November.

Full disclosure: I've been sick in bed all day. Suffice it to say I've been pondering a lot of things and not all of them coherent. Anyhoo, blogging is about all I can bring myself to do, so, on with November. . . .

Why is it that we celebrate the season of gratitude during the second darkest month of the year? I find this unnecessary. I'm sure there's a good reason. I'm sure there is. But a November cold is all it takes to get me questioning the placement of holidays.

Perhaps the act of practicing a gratitude ritual in the dark is supposed to somehow be more authentic. I mean, anybody can be grateful in the bursting buds of May and June, right? Perhaps Real Gratitude lives in the dark, irrelevant to circumstance.

Tell that to the turkey.

Getting Down to Business

2008-11-23T12:53:00.002-05:00

I am inherently lazy. Particularly when it comes to things I'm not very good at and lack experience with, such as the submissions process.

Everybody knows there is a way to submit one's work that yields better results. Do lots of research about different publishers. Find those hard to reach editorial assistants whose names aren't emblazoned all over the house's contact information. There's a lot of internet surfing involved. A lot of library visits. A lot of publisher catalog downloading blah blah blah.

It's kind of fun, digging for those little golden nuggets. But I wish I enjoyed it more so I would hurry up and get it done already. There has been some progress--I did some preliminary research on fifteen publishers and found about half of the names I need. I have all the various submission guidelines in place. I went through an online Excel spreadsheet tutorial so I could learn how to make "Lori's Fancy Online Submission Tracking Chart," complete with color coding and neato rejection font. I called my whole family into the room to look at my spreadsheet, because I've decided to celebrate every blessed step of this process that very closely resembles the homework I loathed in gradeschool.

In the meantime, it's been very easy to digress to creative work. My other picture book ms is evolving shrinking and expanding and generally trying to make itself "spreadsheet worthy." If you're like me, and having a hard time getting yourself to write, try forcing yourself to do some data entry. It won't be long before you're crying for your word processor. Or at least a pen.

Then I realized somthing. I really really love my spreadsheet. I do! Maybe there is hope for this lazy one yet.

Happy Birthday

2008-11-22T10:46:00.005-05:00

Happy Birthday to Erin, my ever reliable phone-a-friend, and all around good buddy.

Picture Book Boot Camp

2008-11-17T07:57:00.006-05:00

That's what Lisa Wheeler calls her picture book workshop, which I attended this past Saturday. I received a very helpful critique from this woman who has clearly mastered the form. As someone who has focused on middle grade so far, I gleaned a few helpful little tidbits about writing specifically for younger kids. I also was generally refocused, reminded and re-charged with regards to my writing in general.

I almost didn't go for the stupidest of all reasons.

After eight years of seriously studying to improve my writing to the point of marketability, (attending conferences, workshops, having a top notch critique group filled with published writers)--I, um, kinda thought, *blushes* that I knew enough.

Here's what I learned (yet again).

Lesson #1: I will never, ever, never know enough about writing and storytelling. Even if I were to get fame, critical acclaim, and a devoted audience that turns everything I write into a bestseller. Period. I will never be GOOD ENOUGH.

Lesson #2: I will always remember to enter a teaching moment with a teachable spirit. I will be open to learn. Because if I do that, I WILL LEARN SOMETHING.

Lesson #3: I will never, ever, never pass up a chance to sit at the knee of someone who is a master of the craft I want to master. Even if I only learn one new thing. (it's even worth listening to fellow attendees who would rather talk about how to get an agent than how to improve their writing) It's worth it if it clicks me to the next stop on the learning curve.

Adventures in Subbing

2008-11-13T16:41:00.007-05:00

I find myself in kindergarten again. It is the most fertile ground for kid humor, I've found. Today there were definite religious overtones to these overheards:

Boy: I have superpowers, you know.

Girl at his table: There are only two people who have super powers. Santa Claus and God.

Me: What about the Easter Bunny?

Girl: Oh, yeah, him too.

******

Two Girls approached me at playtime:

Girl #1--We were playing with--

Girl #2--With the dollies and--

Girl #1--And the little blender thingie, you know, with all the little teeny tiny white balls in it--

Girl #2--We didn't DO it--

Girl #1--Yeah, well, the TOP came unglued and--

Girl #2--WE didn't do it! But the balls came out and they're all--

Girl #1--(gesturing wildly) All over the FLOOR!

Girl #2--But WE DIDN'T--

Girl #1--Someone else DID it, but we just--

Girl #2--Yeah, we just FOUND it--

Girl #1--We think maybe Jesus did it.

Yep, that's my motto. When in doubt, blame. . . Jesus? Then again, I suppose that's not unheard of.

Living Room Time

2008-11-11T14:54:00.011-05:00

I am forever trying to find new ways to keep my family close knit and engaged with one another. One of my favorite ways is something called Living Room Time.

It's exactly what it sounds like: All four members of the family must spend an hour together in the living room. One is not required to talk or even do anything with another person. But you must do something that doesn't require batteries or electricity. You may:

Read
Write (without a computer)
play a quiet game by yourself or with another agreeing party
work on some crafty thing
Give someone (preferably the mother :o) a foot massage
daydream
talk

or, do nothing at all. Just listen to everybody breathe if you want.

I love living room time. Living room time is good. It used to be that the living room was the place where most family leisure happened. The family TV was there, the radio, the books, the games. Leisure is portable now, and we don't have to share anything or any space if we don't want to. Certainly not in our own homes.

I thought my kids would balk at having to stay in the living room, away from the electronics of choice. Away from the TV and even neighborhood friends. In fact, they love it. Even my son, who greatly values his "alone time." There is something deliciously comfy about sharing companionable silence with people you love.

Another unexpected side effect of Living Room Time: My husband had finished his book one night and wasn't in the mood to start a new one. He found the dog brush and groomed our dog, a kind of attention she rarely receives. He said, "I should do this more often, but there's no time."

When you take a person's computer and telephone and TV away, it frees up a moment to think about what ELSE you might do. And you find that your dog would love to be rid of her snarled coat. And your child would still love to be read to, and be cuddled with even though he or she is eleven and thirteen. And you discover that leafing through a travel magazine with your husband or son or daughter is a kind of vacation in itself.

Your kids find themselves absorbed in creating a little scrapbook, or doing a Mad Lib, or making people out of pipe cleaners. They begin to re-wire that part of the brain that has to "come up with something to do." And it's just a bit more difficult than flipping a switch. And that's good.

Of course, Living Room Time doesn't happen every night. There is soccer and gymnastics. There is homework and music practice. There is the other kind of life that must also be lived. Sometimes there is arguing during living room time, when people are tired and irritable, and then I wonder whose bright idea this was in the first place.

But a few days a week (during a majority of the school year), I'm surprised to find, with a little effort and planning, we can manage one hour of Living Room Time, a dying practice that deserves to be resurrected. And well it may be, as the economy gets worse and people are in need of cheap entertainment. You can't get cheaper than sitting in your living room!

The Thrill of Creativity

2008-11-09T07:55:00.003-05:00

I had been in a lull. My novel was at a standstill and I couldn't figure out how to fix it. Still can't. But now a new project has taken hold and I am basking in the joy of creativity. Ideas and characters are having a party in my head, saying "How about. . .? and Oh! Oh! What if. . .? And I, the author, am saying "Yeah, that sounds good." or at least, "I'll try that. It's so crazy it might just be original."

My internal editor has become irritable and now resorts to immature, attention seeking behaviors. She shoots spitballs. Her hair is down, the glasses are off, and her feet are up on the desk. She's eating licorice and complaining loudly about her salary and not being appreciated.

I've warned her about the poor economy and potential lay-offs in sight. I've told her if she has such great ideas she should go and write her own book. :o)

Hope

2008-11-05T07:55:00.003-05:00

A new era has dawned. This much I know for sure. :o)

I'm tired now, but it was totally worth it to watch such poignant history being made. Now he gets to prove to the world that he's more than just an eloquent speaker. And boy I hope he does!

2008-11-04T09:45:00.001-05:00

Image courtesy of Ann's Blog

October Goal Report/November Goal Setting

2008-10-31T21:48:00.007-04:00

Here's a follow-up to October Goals I set on October 2nd.

I finished the critique of Ann's novel, and finally gave it back to her.
I wrote another picture book manuscript. It is not submittable, but in pretty good shape so far.
I did not read my novel yet. Probably because I'm not feeling moved to work on it, and am otherwise inspired by other projects. I'm going to give myself a break on this one, because I have been writing.

That's it, besides cleaning out my filing cabinet (the small one in my kitchen has been cleaned and re-organized--still have two large ones in the basement to go).

On to November Goals:

1. Write one picture book manuscript (again, doesn't have to be submittable, just a complete story idea.)

2. Finish reading Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson.

3. Clean out one of the filing cabinets in my basement.

4. Do market research and submit finished pb manuscript to three more publishers.

5. Participate in helping one of the libraries Debbie blogs about (Read more about that here.)

Happy goal setting to you. :o)

UPDATE: Goal #6 has been added as follows--My cleaned out filing cabinet will ever after be filled with Dove Chocolates that are wrapped in those nice little fortunes.

Poetry--Boo!--Friday

2008-10-31T08:07:00.000-04:00

LOOK AT THAT!

Look at that!
Ghosts lined up
at the laundromat,
all around the
block.

Each has
bleach
and some
detergent.

Each one seems to
think it
urgent

to take a spin
in a
washing machine

before the
clock
strikes
Halloween!

--Lilian Moore

Writing Exercise #6

2008-10-28T17:21:00.006-04:00

This exercise is very simple. What do you normally write? (Fiction, non-fiction? Picture books, novels? Poetry, Plays? Sermons, sonnets?Instruction manuals, Grocery lists?) Okay, are you ready? It may seem obvious, but it's taken me years to really give it a good try. Scroll down to see this veritable pearl of wisdom, this advice to surpass all advice, this foolproof way to unclog your imagination.

Keep going. . . .

Keep Going. . . .

You're almost there!

Here it is: Write something different.

That's it?

I know, weird.

But only as an exercise! See how your brain reacts to this possibly lowered expectation. :o) Let me know how it works out!

Mini Me

2008-10-21T22:53:00.007-04:00

I decided to participate in Jay Asher's challenge by posting a much younger photo of myself, since I write for middle grade and earlier. I remember when this photo was taken (about winter '74) and what a treat it was to be under specially adjusted lights. This tells you a bit about the kind of kid I was. . . .Quite honestly, not much has changed.

Recalling age three is a pleasant thing. I lived as an only child until I was six. Things were quiet and uncomplicated, there were oodles of imaginary friends and the fluffy pink rug in my bedroom. Love was all around.

Writing for children takes me back to these kinds of memories all the time. I guess I love childhood; my own stories and listening to other people's recollections. Perhaps it's the distance and the sweetness (for us lucky ones) that makes it seem so magical, like another planet altogether. That's what young childhood is to me--a sparkly little world that gets more and more reflective with the gentle polish of memory.

Do you have any vivid recollections from your childhood to share? Do tell. :o)

Write Night Extravaganza

2008-10-21T07:54:00.003-04:00

I had the pleasure of enjoying a particularly helpful write night with my group last night. First of all, we are on such a high regarding all the good news some of our members have had lately. This makes everybody hopeful and happy and inspired, which is great creativity food! Tim brought a great voice exercise and we did our usual whining about his rules. Then we followed them like we always do, and I think we were all pretty pleased with what we wrote. Here's what we did:

Pick a magazine picture and then tell a narrative having something to do with that picture, but focus on the writing VOICE and make it very strong. Then we pass our stories to the right and either edit our partner's work to make the voice even stronger, or continue writing in the same voice they used. Challenging and good fun.

I've ended up using a lot of my write night production in projects I'm working on. It's something what you can come up with under the pressure of Tim's stopwatch. :o) And good company!

Poetry Friday

2008-10-17T07:00:00.001-04:00

After Years

Today, from a distance, I saw you
walking away, and without a sound
the glittering face of a glacier
slid into the sea. An ancient oak
fell in the Cumberlands, holding only
a handful of leaves, and an old woman
scattering corn to her chickens looked up
for an instant. At the other side
of the galaxy, a star thirty-five times
the size of our own sun exploded
and vanished, leaving a small green spot
on the astronomer's retina
as he stood on the great open dome
of my heart with no one to tell.

--Ted Kooser

Here's a Fun Word

2008-10-13T07:40:00.006-04:00

epeolatry

PRONUNCIATION:(ep-i-OL-uh-tree)

This is a word that means "The worship of words." If you subscribe to Word-a-Day then you already knew this (if you've checked today's entry!) If you don't, then what are you waiting for? Go. . .go!. . .GO to Wordsmith.org (The hyperlink function is on the fritz, otherwise I'd get you there).

Get me my Boa

2008-10-07T17:06:00.004-04:00

Ah, the joys of parenting: A conversation with my eighth grader:

A: Mom, some people in math class were mad at me today. They say I think I'm always right.

Me: What happened?

A: Well, today was bad because I told them they were wrong. And they didn't like that.

Me: So, first of all, who was right?

A: That's the bad part. Actually, they were.

Me: Hmm. What did you learn?

A: I'm not always right.

Me: Of course. I think you already knew that. What else?

A: Keep my mouth shut.

(That's always the hard one isn't it?)

At this point I gave him a hug, imagining the glee his peers demonstrated at catching his mistake, and thinking he's really feeling bad about all this.

He said, "You know, Mom, I was just thinking when you were hugging me just now, that's the exact same place on the body that a boa constrictor squeezes until it crushes its prey to death."

Me: Are you trying to tell me something?

Tired

2008-10-05T08:23:00.004-04:00

I made a point of staying up to watch Saturday Night Live last night, because I just knew they would send up the vice presidential candidates at the debate (which I also stayed up past my bedtime to watch).

No matter which side of the fence you sit, SNL is NEVER better than when they're doing political satire. And Debbie, they referenced the "Maverick" drinking game you said you were glad you weren't playing!

I'm such a sucker for intelligent, talented women and I'm a little bit in love with Tina Fey right now. I fear I'll be tired many a Sunday morning until the election because this is too good to miss.

2008-10-03T06:00:00.000-04:00

An Autumn Evening

Dark hills against a hollow crocus sky
Scarfed with its crimson pennons, and below
The dome of sunset long, hushed valleys lie
Cradling the twilight, where the lone winds blow
And wake among the harps of leafless trees
Fantastic runes and mournful melodies.

The chilly purple air is threaded through
With silver from the rising moon afar,
And from a gulf of clear, unfathomed blue
In the southwest glimmers a great gold star
Above the darkening druid glens of fir
Where beckoning boughs and elfin voices stir.

And so I wander through the shadows still,
And look and listen with a rapt delight,
Pausing again and yet again at will
To drink the elusive beauty of the night,
Until my soul is filled, as some deep cup,
That with divine enchantment is brimmed up.

--Lucy Maud Montgomery

Find this and more L.M. Montgomery poems here.

I'm a huge Anne of Green Gables fan, and was sad to read about her mental illness. What's most sad to me is that only now her family felt they could share this. I only hope that writing poems like this one gave her some comfort. Debbie Diesen gave me the heads up on this. You can read the article here.

October Goals

2008-10-02T07:00:00.001-04:00

My friend Ann Finkelstein (who knows imitation is the sincerest form of flattery) has inspired me to do some goal setting once again. For some reason, when I do this, things actually get done. We're going to stick with writing goals for the most part. Here goes:

1. Write one picture book manuscript (doesn't have to be submittable, just a finished story idea).

2. Finish compiling feedback on Ann's novel. GIVE IT TO ANN.

3. Read my novel and decide whether to proceed with revisions at this point, or call it a learning experience and move on to better, fresher, more exciting to me ideas.

4. I guess three things for one month is enough, because I must work, and I'd also like to organize my file cabinet.

Toys Go Out

2008-09-30T19:26:00.005-04:00

I've been doing some research in the picture book realm--not my normal area of focus--because I'm trying to write a picture book or two. I discovered Emily Jenkins for myself about a year ago when I read, "Toys Go Out." Even if you're not a picture book person, I highly recommend this. It's the most sardonic children's book I've ever read. Quirky and wonderful all the way around. I haven't read it recently enough to give it a proper review, but I intend to buy this book next time my paycheck rolls around.

The Lutheran

2008-09-28T17:19:00.003-04:00

An article I wrote for this magazine can be found here, if you happen to be interested.

It's not Friday. . .

2008-09-28T08:06:00.001-04:00

But, I just read this poem by Sherman Alexie. . .I think everyone should.

Poetry Friday

2008-09-26T07:00:00.002-04:00

Fairy Bread

Come up here, O dusty feet!
Here is fairy bread to eat.
Here in my retiring room,
Children, you may dine
On the golden smell of broom
And the shade of pine;
And when you have eaten well,
Fairy stories hear and tell.

--Robert Louis Stevenson