Try to Remember...

It's been so long since I posted here that I had to figure out how to sign into Google to open the proper browser.

(Not sure what that says about someone who used to love to write updates. Are blogs obsolete? Does anybody read them? Or have I said all I need to say?)

BUT I did dig up my password just to be able to share the photos of a new bookstore at the Short Hills Mall I visited last week. 

I lived near this lovely mall for over twenty years. I'm not really a Mall person, but this is where I met friends for coffee, walked many a mile when it was too cold/snowy/ icy in New Jersey to be outside, and okay, maybe made a few purchases.

I vaguely remember a bookstore there when we first moved to nearby Chatham, NJ in the 80s.

But this new store - WOW.

This is an INDIGO bookstore, a Canadian company. Here's the link to the NJ store, with a great photo of the front. I was so excited when I stepped inside that I didn't take pictures of the entrance.

The store is large, tremendously well-organized, and filled with great books. Even the "stuff" that bookstores have to carry was beautifully curated, with tons of holiday items on sale. 

Of course, I did what every friend-of-authors does and searched for familiar books. INDIGO's holdings are vast, however, and maybe I missed some. 

The entire back of the store is for young kids' books, including by my good friend Aimee Reid, herself a Canadian.

Check out the middle of the YA and Middle Grade books section. Cool, no?

Barbara O'Connor's books were lined up in the "O" section, and my friend snatched one up.

Shannon Hitchcock, I turned your newest book facing out, just for the photo op!

Be sure to tell your New Jersey friends to hustle on over there and check it out. 

This greeted us as we walked in the front door. 

Bestsellers, Staff Picks, etc etc etc. 

So many ways to look at books.

A perfect day. 

Bookstore with a friend. 

Cold and grey outside. 

Nice shopping bag. 

Who could ask for more?

I've moved to Washington DC now, home of Politics and Prose and other delightful bookstores. 

I left a favorite, TOMBOLO BOOKS, back in St. Petersburg, FL. 

I don't think I could live in a place that didn't have at least one good bookstore and a very strong public library system. 

I'm sure most of my blog readers, and all of my bookish friends, would agree, right?

Things I Love

This used to be a THING. 

I shared "Things I Love," blatantly copied from my buddy Barbara O'Connor's blog. 

I think she calls hers Things I Love Thursdays.

It was a thing I did with some regularity. 

But when you move, many things go by the wayside, including some things I love(d).

(and writing in my blog kind of took a nose-dive, too!)

But I kept this.

 

Because it has a story.

My husband brought three of these from a Navy deployment in Rota, Spain. They are olive jars. I filled two with flour and sugar, back in the day. I filled the third with shells we'd collected from beaches everywhere! And he turned it into a lamp.

Then we moved to Florida. All three became shell jars. One held a large conch shell, a gift from my first-born granddaughter's Great Godmother on her baptism!

When we moved again, I gave her the jar and the shell.

I brought one with me to our new home, the one filled with shells from beaches everywhere.

The stories our THINGS tell, right?

 

Linda Sue Park has a new book I haven't read but keep reading about. 

I bet it would make a great writing activity, for young and old.

The Year in my Journal, and Facebook...

I know, I know. Some of you are not fans of Facebook. And I get that. 

But I love the memories I get every day. Today Facebook reminded me that on this date in 2016, my friend Eileen Harrell, artist and designer extraordinaire, re-did my blog title and graphic. 

Maybe I should pay more attention to that blog.

Even though the posts have been few and far between this Quarantine Year, I have kept a journal. Call it my Covid Journal.

It's a very special book. A gift at NCTE 2016, from our panel's moderator, the brilliant and great and all-around fun guy, Patrick Allen. 

 

He presented blank journals to all the #TrueFriends, Sue Long, Kirby Larson, Barbara O'Connor and me. 

 

                (Here we all are! In Atlanta! Having a great time talking about books.)

 

I loved my journal. I'm bad about saving things I love. Saving them for "someday."

Why? I asked myself as I searched my box of journals for the blank pages to remember this year with, March 2020. Someday is now!

Don't you think I chose the perfect book?

 Page ONE- My sticker from Sarah Frances Hardy. She designed a whole packet of these. She's such a fun illustrator!

        A very recent entry. Though many of my days featured HAIR as an issue...)

My best friend forever had so many fascinating fun things she learned and did during Covid. We formed a group of three, called ourselves The Quarantiners, and we texted almost daily. She sent me this, from one of her many projects.

 

And then, a vaccine at last.

Did anybody else keep a journal during Quarantine? Did your kids? Your students? 

I don't know if anybody but me will ever see this. It's not exactly filled with earthshaking nuggets of brilliance. But for now, almost every page is full, and I may just keep it forever.

 

Time to Read!

A better title would be: TIME TO WRITE ABOUT WHAT I'VE BEEN READING.

But that's way too long.

Happy February, everybody!

Mondays always remind me that there's a whole group of you out there carefully documenting your week's reading.  #IMWAYR days are fun!

And what I've been reading is fun, too. 

Although I'd read the Advance Reader Copy (ARC) and I'd heard earlier versions as Barbara worked on this one, in honor of its true launch date, I reread Barbara O'Connor's latest middle-grade novel, HALFWAY TO HARMONY. 

Oh, those characters!

And her writing. Such a perfect ear. Such an economy of words. Every little detail belongs exactly where she's put it.

I dare you to open the first chapter, meet Walter, then his new neighbor Posey, and not be hooked.

 

When I watched the launch party interview with Amy Cherrix from Malaprops in Asheville, I remembered so many great writing tips! 

I've heard Barbara say it before but the next time I sat at my desk, I tried hard to put one into practice:

RESIST THE URGE TO EXPLAIN.

Many years and many critique groups ago, my friend Leslie Guccione created a little note, beautifully drawn and decorated, for my bulletin board. 

R.U.E. 

Way back when, Barbara's blog did a series of Writing Tip Tuesdays. If you're a new writer, or heck, even if you've written forever, they're great reminders. 

Here's one: http://greetings-from-nowhere.blogspot.com/2012/08/writing-tip-tuesday.html

And another: https://greetings-from-nowhere.blogspot.com/2008/02/writing-tip-tuesday_26.html

 (On the subject of repetition, Barbara reports, Sol Stein says, "One plus one equals a half."
If you think the reader won't "get" something unless you repeat it, then maybe you haven't written it right the first time.)

So I've always known this important bit of writing advice. Barbara's the champ at doing it and at explaining it. Read her novels and you'll see!

The other middle-grade novel, JUST LIKE THAT, skews to the upper end of MG and had me slowing down, re-reading, putting sticky notes on pages, and marveling at Gary Schmidt's skill in storytelling. I always pick up BookPage at my local library and I almost always agree with their reviews.

Forewarned, somebody dies at the very beginning. Somebody, if you know and love Schmidt's books like I do, you'll grieve right along with his friend. But the book is such great storytelling, such amazing writing, so gripping in many places, that grieving didn't detract from my loving this book.

If I'm honest and attempting to read like a kid, or even like a school librarian, my prior self, I did have a couple of issues. One, I wondered if it would have been a better book if there weren't two narrators whose stories, though often intersecting, were very different. But I think stronger readers will just go with that flow.

And some very minor plot points- like would a middle-grader, even back in the 60s and even at boarding school, be allowed to come back to school before it begins? And, yes,   she's staying with the headmistress (though she kind of bailed on the two kids in her care.)

<side note for copyeditors:  https://www.dailywritingtips.com/bail-out-vs-bale-out/ >

 

 

Other good grownups books I've loved since last posting for #IMWYR :

1. Hamnet (five stars! *****)

2. Another (I've read several during this too-long pandemic)  Laura Lippman novel- my warm-glass-of-milk at bedtime books

3. The Keeper of Lost Dreams, which I mostly enjoyed though I'm not a fan of ghosts/ spirits, even when they take a minor role.

 

 

 

Learn from the Best

 Writing Tip Tuesday(s)

Yesterday was my buddy and NYT-bestselling-author, Barbara O'Connor's birthday.

For a completely non-birthday reason, I happened upon this quote on her blog:

The core of the writer's challenge is to tell a fresh story. As William M. Thackeray (Victorian novelist, author of Vanity Fair), summed it up: "The two most engaging powers of a good author are to make new things familiar and familiar things new."

(via Philip Martin, the editor of The New Writer's Handbook)

I love how she puts on her teacher face and shares such good advice.

Like- go all zen into your character's head and BE the character.

(Note:Even though she's older today than she was yesterday, this is not even close to how Barbara looks or how she teaches. But it is an image I borrowed from her blog because it made me smile. There's lots there that will make you smile, too.)

If you click over to Barbara's blog, you'll find a whole bunch of her Writing Tips. 

For a long time, she actually called them Writing Tip Tuesdays and every single Tuesday, I learned a whole lot.

So, happy birthday, Barbara, and thank you for passing along your amazing, funny, helpful writing advice.

Oh, and if for some reason, you and your kids, ages 9-12-ish, haven't read Barbara's fabulous middle-grade novels yet, you are in for a treat. A HUGE treat.

It's hard to pick just a favorite, but this is one I've read more than once.

                

BTW, I loved the original cover, but this new one, wow!

 

Thank you, readers!

So many fun/funny/smart things in this new year of 2019!

This week I visited a local Book Group that had just finished GLORY BE. We had a "continental breakfast" and Q&A. A donut and a book, as one boy noted, "doesn't get much better than that."

The questions were a blast. 
One of my favorites? "Do you have any family members who've read this book?"
Oh boy, do I!
Here we are, disguised as copies of GLORY BE. Fun times!

I love sharing books with kids, so when they asked me who'd inspired me and also if I could recommend another book for them to discuss, I mentioned Barbara O'Connor and WISH. The librarian hustled himself off to the library and came back with this. WISH is on the current Sunshine Readers. Win win!

And then there was the mail.
A librarian in Texas had emailed to ask my mailing address. She had a student who'd read my novel, the first book she'd completed on her own. 
Writers, this is why we spend (so so many!) years trying to publish a book. Or writing a book. Or trying to publish multiple books. It's all about the readers.

On the second page of the letter, the P.S., Isabella tells me she wants to grow up and be just like me. 
I hope that means she's going to find another book to read all by herself. 
Of course, I answered her. And of course, I mentioned a few more books she might also love.

While tidying up my files, I found a group of letters from a school in Washington state.
I'd filed them away for when I worry that nobody's paying attention. And let me tell you, that happens to all writers!
Finding them today was a gift.

"When we stopped at a chapter, I wanted to keep reading!"

"Did you have a bossy sister? Did you have a friend like Frankie? Did you live a life like Glory?"

And what librarian-turned-author wouldn't cherish a picture of the library in GLORY BE? She even remembered the "Back Room."

Did I say it doesn't get much better than this lovely way to start the New Year? 
Here's hoping you've all had a little joy in your mailboxes, too.

My MONDAY READING: Barbara O'Connor and Kristin O'Donnell Tubb

 It's Monday, my favorite book sharing day!

 Tomorrow lots of things happen. Okay, voting. Let's all get out and vote!

But also, it's the birthday of two of my favorite middle-grade novels of the year.

My friend, Barbara O'Connor's newest book, WONDERLAND.

And a book I've had a lot of fun reading and figuring out, THE STORY COLLECTOR by Kristin O'Donnell Tubb.

(Sharing my favorite photo from recent Facebook posts. Barbara loves dogs!)

WONDERLAND is told from several points of view, including the retired racing greyhound pictured on the cover. Barbara has that illusive thing called "voice" nailed, in all her books. But to write from that many different characters' voices? My friends, you need a special talent and a lot of skill to pull that off. 

This one's a winner! 

Barbara O'Connor is the champion of Author Visits. She'll be doing a bunch of them to celebrate her newest book, but if your school isn't one of the lucky visits, contact her via her website to see about bringing her to you. 

Teachers and librarians, she has some truly excellent tips for hosting an author, HERE.

HERE'S A LINK to various places to buy the book.
You can also read the first chapter and see some great reviews. 
I'll add my two-cents worth. This is a super book to read aloud. So many things to discuss in all of Barbara's books. 


My second book recommendation on this glorious Monday? 
THE STORY COLLECTOR.

Okay, I'm a former librarian who loves to visit the New York Public Library. So the bits about raising pigeons on the roof, snooping around after hours, climbing up a card catalog drawer by drawer, tickled me a lot. I love a good mystery, and I know kids do, too. Historical fiction's also my thing. This book was a total win for me, and I bet for lots of middle-grade teachers, librarians, and their readers.

Betsy Bird, former children's librarian at the NYPL, wrote a great piece for School Library Journal. HERE'S THE LINK. 

I couldn't possibly say it better than Betsy.

If I still lived near NYC, I would find a young reader to take to this event. Can you imagine your book having its own scavenger hunt at the New York Public Library?  
 Check it out HERE.  

There are a whole lot of other fun activities listed on Kristin's blog- including a launch party at what must surely be a totally cool bookstore, Parnassus Books. (My goal is to visit one day!)
(I bet you can call ahead and pre-order a signed copy.)

 

What say you, fellow #IMWAYRers? I know you've been busy this week, but for those of you savoring the last days of summer with a book, I can't wait to hear what you're reading.

Blog Two-fer: WRAD and IMWAYR

World Read Aloud Day, 2018 (#WRAD18) is in the books. I had a blast. One of my favorite parts about the day is reading a tiny bit of my own novel, then sharing what else I'm reading/ loving with the classes via super fun SKYPE visits.

So, here's what I shared, and because it's Monday, here are my IT'S MONDAY WHAT ARE YOU READING books.

Did you know there's a new "Al Capone" book coming this spring? I'm a huge fan. It was such an honor to meet Gennifer Choldenko last year at our Miami SCBWI event.

I'm rereading this book (which she signed!) in anticipation of the newest one, AL CAPONE THROWS ME A CURVE. (Click here for the cover reveal- fun!)

I recommended the "Al Capone" books to a group of kids on World Read Aloud Day, and some already knew and loved them. But I think I drummed up some new fans, too. 

 

 "Don't let the gangsters do your homework."

I also told one of the classes about Barbara O'Connor's book, WISH, a personal favorite. An audible gasp came over the airwaves. One of the literature groups was in the middle of reading this absolute best story of Girl Meets Dog. I had no idea! I promise, it wasn't planned!

But- and hold on to your seats, readers- Barbara has a new book, coming soon: 
WONDERLAND!

Nope, I haven't read it. But I have had a few sneak peeks at the subject matter, and we're in for another terrific story.

Put this one on your order list for this spring.

 (Barbara's box of ARCs, recently delivered and prepped for a giveaway closer to pub date.)

What else am I reading today?

THE TRUTH AS TOLD BY MASON BUTTLE, and oh how I love Leslie Connor's newest middle-grade novel.  A cast of funny, complicated, endearing characters (even the bully has a few redeeming characteristics- so far!), writing that sparkles, a plot that makes you keep turning the pages.  I'm only a little more than halfway through, but I highly recommend this one.

Just for fun, here are some of the super readers from my WORLD READ ALOUD DAY.
(If you missed inviting an author this year, watch Kate Messner's blog in 2019 for the list.)

Razorback fans in Pearland, Texas!

I was excited to tell them about MAKING FRIENDS WITH BILLY WONG, which has both a Texas and an Arkansas connection.

See that reflection in the picture? That's the palm tree outside my window. Most of the classes I read to on World Read Aloud Day live in really cold places- Saskatchewan!  I read THE WAY TO STAY IN DESTINY, hoping to warm them up.

Look at this- Imagination Glasses!
This teacher in Downers Grove, Illinois, was the very first to invite me to read to her very enthusiastic readers.

(Authors love it when you hold up our books for a photo!)

That's what I've been reading/ doing. How about you?

Writing Tip Tuesday

Okay, it's not Tuesday.
And I'm most decidedly not Barbara O'Connor (but I do love her writing).

When I was first beginning to explore how to write a middle-grade novel, Barbara was well into her career. She was generous about passing down craft tips she'd learned the hard way (and from her fabulous editor, Frances Foster). 

This morning I happened to be researching something totally unrelated to this post. And yet it appeared (How does that happen, Mr. Google?): A tip about writing endings. So hard, yet so important: 
"...if you blow the ending....well, then, it's like serving brussel sprouts for dessert after the gourmet dinner."  Barbara O'Connor

I'm passing along this fabulous writing tip about ENDINGS. There are many more tips on Barbara's blog.  I've shared a few HERE and THERE over the life of my own blog. 
Thanks, pal, for cluing me in.

Dead Matter

We all have it.
That detritus of STUFF that you save after a book has long since seen the light of day.

Whether you have a stack a mile high, or to be more exact- a shelf wide. Or one book, or three. Authors have copyedits. They have notes. They have editors who give them notes and letters and copyedits.
(For example, you can't really see eye-to-eye when you're walking side-by-side. Or at least that's what one copyeditor noted. And while I'm at it, is it copy editor or copyeditor? AND is funnybook really TWO words? As in Little Lulu?)


I am inspired by my friend Barbara O'Connor's post on things her editors taught her. So to speak. 
Truthfully, I suspect she taught them a thing or two! Don't even get me started about barbeque.

HERE'S HER POST. Click over there and read it. Such fun!

For example:

Lunch box is two words but tailpipe is one word.

Hot dog is two words but bottlecap is one word.

Popsicle is capitalized.

(I'm proud to say that my manuscripts and all my editing notes are stored in the de Grummond Children's Literature Collection at the University of Southern Mississippi. I'm hoping to visit them when I'm there at the Kaigler Festival in April. Can't wait!)

True Friends

Have you been following along with all the #TrueFriends fun?

You can CLICK HERE to get to a google doc with everything in one place!
(All four of us talking about friends in our books, for example.)

FYI- Hurry and enter! The Giveaway of lots of books and a Skype session ends in November.

There's even a FRIEND CATCHER.
(Much better than any of those other "catchers" you may remember!)

You know the definition of a True (writer) Friend?

Someone who takes the time during her book launch party to buy your book and post the photo on Facebook and Twitter.

Barbara O'Connor's holding up my new book at her own Malaprops Bookstore party.

Barbara has given me so many writing tips, it's hard to know which to choose.
I have an entire legal pad scribbled with advice she gave me when she first read GLORY BE.
Now, that's a True Friend.

If you don't already follow her blog, you may want to CLICK OVER THERE and read all her Writing Tip Tuesday past posts.

HERE is one of my favorite things she shared (and there are many).

"... pay attention to the extraordinary in the ordinary - to notice the small things around us that the average observer might not notice or note to memory.

And when you notice those small things, WRITE THEM DOWN."





Read Kirby Larson's writing advice from last week right here.
Susan Hill Long's advice will be next.

I hope you all have #TrueFriends to encourage you on your journeys!
 

My True Friends

Today was a big day. 
My third historical fiction middle-grade novel launched out into the world. Okay, the fanfare was mostly via tweets and posts, but I did sign a bunch of books that are easily available from the great LEMURIA BOOKS in Jackson, Mississippi.

Oh and I ate cake.
(Well, sorta.)

So, you can now order MAKING FRIENDS WITH BILLY WONG from your usual sources. 
Or request it from your public library. Or BUY it for your school libraries.

All of that by itself would be swell.

But another fun way I get to share this book news is telling you about my #TrueFriends.

Kirby Larson, Barbara O'Connor, and Susan Hill Long= 
writers extraordinaire! 

The four of us gathered to write and critique and re-gathered to do more of the same at Kirby's wonderful writing retreat. Now we talk to each other nonstop via email and texts and even- gasp!- the occasional phone call or Skype/ Facetime chat.

See, we really are the truest of TRUE FRIENDS.

And guess what! We're giving away our books! Lots of books! And a Skype visit!  

CHECK OUT THE GIVEAWAY RIGHT HERE.

If you'd like to see us, live and in person, talking about books on youtube and hear fun writing prompts for your students, check out our video.

Click here to subscribe and get to know all four of us.
(not to mention, see our picture along with Winston the Wonder Dog. Go ahead, you know you want to.)

And here I am, chatting away about my friends, my book, and writing.

Counting Down the Days

It's such fun to share a new book with the world.

It's even more fun when I have special writer friends to spread the news.

(left to right, Kirby Larson, Winston the Wonder Dog, Sue Long, me, Barbara O'Connor)

AND it's tons of fun when the four who started this journey together all have books appearing in the same year. 

Two of us, my friend Barbara O'Connor and I have books appearing on the VERY SAME DAY.

(Although, rumor has it-- sorry, Barbara-- that there may be some early copies for sale at the fabulous MISSISSIPPI BOOK FESTIVAL, a Literary Lawn Party, next weekend!)

Click HERE for Barbara's excellent post about how we four friends connected.

WISH by Barbara O'Connor

 In the interest of full disclosure:  
I read a very early kind of/sort of draft of this novel when Barbara first shared it at our fabulous writing retreat with Kirby Larson and Susan Hill Long,
over a year ago.


It was a few chapters, heartfelt characters, and a dog. I loved it.
We all loved it.


Here we are, working hard on four manuscripts that all will appear- or already have- in 2016.

That's Winston the Wonder Dog, ready to host the first ever Pet Book Group.
(See below.)

http://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=2686#m31365

Truthfully, I've been a fan of Barbara's since our mutual friend Leslie Guccione asked her to read my very first manuscript, many years ago, and she offered some sage advice that helped turn that into my first novel, GLORY BE.
(Okay, it took about a zillion more drafts, but Barbara's encouragement was crucial.)

Her blog advice about writing craft ("Writing Tip Tuesdays") is invaluable to newly-minted writers. 
Click on that link to see what I mean.

But I vowed a long time ago never to review a book I couldn't say nice things about.
Even if a friend writes it. ESPECIALLY if a friend writes it.
Of if I know the author. And by "know" I include social media.
Knowing an author has become very easy.

I have nothing but great things to say about WISH.

First, the characters will tug at your heart. Oh that redheaded boy with the up-down walk, Howard Odom. Big time, heart tug! A Backpack Buddy who shakes hands when he first meets Charlie on the bus. Tiny details say so much. That's the way Barbara writes her novels.

And poor Charlie. You will love this girl whose real name is Charlemagne. So unlikable and yet- well, I don't want to say too much. I want everybody to read this book when it finally appears, 11/1/16.

The entire time I was reading my Advance Reader Copy of WISH, I kept hearing it in my head.
A read-aloud kids won't forget. Ever.

I would love to share my copy, especially if you're a teacher or a librarian or someone who would continue to share.

Leave me a comment or a Facebook message or a Twitter reply, and I'll choose a winner early Thursday morning, just before I have to make a trip to the post office!

Oh! And there's a Doggie/ Kitty/ Bunny Book Group forming.
Post a picture of your pet reading the book on Twitter or Facebook.
Join the fun and celebrate another perfect Barbara O'Connor middle-grade novel.

Remember! Leave a comment before March 31st at 10 AM EDT and I'll pick a lucky winner.
You don't have to own a pet to be a fan. Or a winner.
In fact, you don't even have to love dogs to love this book.

UPDATE:
We have a winner! Erin Preder, via Facebook.
But I drew two extra names, because I may have extra ARCs. Stay tuned! 

Reading Aloud to Kids

 Next Wednesday is WORLD READ ALOUD DAY.

If you're a teacher or a librarian and haven't scheduled a free Skype reading by one of your favorite authors, next year be sure to check Kate Messner's post about it. 






I suspect most of her list has already filled their slots. But if you hurry on up to that link, there could be a few left.

I'm really excited about reading to kids, always one favorite part about being a school librarian. I'm choosing my WRAD selections and thinking hard about what book to pick.

And today I found what could well be my favorite statement about the joy of reading aloud. 
 I absolutely adore the blogpost from Colby Sharp.

Something that should be framed and hung or at the very least needle-pointed and turned into a pillow:

"The next day we once again met at the carpet for read aloud. Our days can be a little crazy at times, but this is one appointment we never miss."


CLICK RIGHT HERE to see what Colby did to mix Winn-Dixie and Willy, two of my very favorite dogs in kids' books.