Reading Craft Book(s). Or not.

My friend Joyce Sweeney once said--and I'm sure I'm slightly paraphrasing: "Craft books are for when things aren't going well."

But, Joyce, I have a big shelf of them!
She's right though. That's way too-much-information unless something's going wrong. Start with your story. Begin with your characters. Keep writing till you get bogged down.
That's the time to see what's helped others, to explore lots of What ifs?, to find a trick to get you out of the Muddy Middle.

Before we took off to find a place to escape Florida's summer heat (which is turning out to be very hard this week), I grabbed a book by one of my favorite writers and teachers, ANN HOOD. I brought CREATING CHARACTER EMOTIONS with me. 
It's a perfect book for dipping into.

(And pictured, also, is the very cool notebook our Critique Group leader, Teddie Aggeles, gave us! I'm filling mine up fast.)

One interesting thing about this re-reading is finding little notes scribbled in the margins (Yes, I do dog-ear, scribble, sticky-note books if they're mine- don't you?). 
I've found thoughts about characters from two of my previous books and one WIP that may be "in progress" for a very long time! 

I grappled with emotions, especially for Theo and Azalea, and now smile-out-loud reading my notes.

I bought this book in January of 2008 when I was lucky enough to study under Ann at the fabulous Writers-in-Paradise conference. I love her examples, which have made me want to seek out some of the short stories and novels she references. Her exercises are excellent. She picks emotions like fear or happiness or grief, and shares things that work and things to avoid. This is a good choice to pick up with your writing notebook, to sit under a shade tree without your computer or your story racing through your fingers.

And since it's MONDAY and everybody is sharing what they're reading, I also re-read a picture book tucked away on my shelf. (I love picture books.)

Have you read Brian Lies's BATS AT THE BALLGAME. Hey, it's baseball season, people! Read all the baseball books you love. Right?

Re-reading this book makes me want to stop by the library and check out another favorite from Brian (truthfully, they all are favorites. I'm a big fan): BATS AT THE BEACH. 

This is what I said when I first shared this in a gift-buying blogpost: 

"When the grownup reading it continues the story even after the two-year-old lapchild wandered off, you know the book's a winner."

Heading to the Bookstore

The bricks and mortar kind. On Sunday, I tried my local Borders, but the line was out the door and I gave up. A good sign for us booklovers? I hope! Today I'll visit "Florida's largest bookstore"- Haslam's-  for the few gifts remaining on my list. If you're not finished shopping, check out these  suggestions. Happy reading everybody!                                                                             

Although right this minute, I can't think of anyone to give one of my new favorite holiday novels to, if you have a teen reader, or even older, may I suggest DASH AND LILY'S BOOK OF DARES. Told in alternating voices, these two teens send readers on an adventure that's great fun. A mysterious notebook! A girl and a boy! New York  at Christmas! Here's Lily, on spending the holiday alone: "In the future, I decided I would tackle the solitude thing more enthusiastically, so long as solitude meant I could also walk in the park and pet a few dogs..."

Another book, already purchased and presented- Brian Lies' BATS AT THE BEACH. I've already written about this new picture book, but it was road-tested at our house this weekend. (When the grownup reading it continues the story even after the two-year-old lapchild wandered off, you know the book's a winner.)

I've read so many middle-grade novels this year that it's impossible to choose a favorite. But for gift-giving, I know just the kid who'd love The Red Umbrella, which I reviewed for The Christian Science Monitor this summer. Oddly enough, the only vacation my family ever took when my siblings and I were very young was to Havana, Cuba, pre-Castro. Although I was too young to remember many details, my mother's budding skills at the movie camera produced a record of the trip that we still smile about. Cuba made a big impression on me. I couldn't have imagined a more exotic place. Christina Gonzalez's account of the children whose parents sent them away from their homes to live in the United States, via "Operation Pedro Pan," is compelling and highly readable.

So Ho Ho Ho to all. I'm bundled up and off to shop!

Bats at the Ballgame

A little boy in my life loves baseball. This month is his birthday. I'm all about giving books for any occasion, and this is what I chose for him.

I don't mind bats a bit. In fact, I'm fond of them in storybooks and for the good they do eating all those mosquitoes in real life. (Not crazy about them in the house, but that's another story...)
Brian Lies has a way with bats, both kinds.

In this newest Bat Saga, it's of course nighttime. The pictures and the rhyming story will just delight kids, I know this. The bat grounds crew "roll the foul lines, rake the mound, shape the field, and smooth the ground"-- all with a DINNER FORK!

And the flying vendors sell the most delicious snacks: Mothdogs! Cricket Jacks!

What red-blooded, all-American, baseball-toting young kid won't love Bats at the Ballgame? I hope mine does.

With all the uproar over whether picture books are being bought by parents and read to children (click that link for the recent, controversy started by the New York Times), I'd like to say I certainly hope so. From what I hear from the library community, they are being checked out by the armload. 


Brian Lies' bats stole my heart with Bats at the Beach. Oh, and of course, Bats at the Library.
Check them out if you have a young reader on your shopping list.


Related post: Bats at the Library

Bats at the Library

Today I stopped by the town library and slipped into the back work room to say hello to Diane, Debbie and Kathy, my former co-workers. They were huddled around a picture book, laughing and pointing and generally marvelling at the illustrations.

"Look, the baby bats are wearing swimmies!" "What book character do you think that is?" The questions were flying. I elbowed my way in and peered over a shoulder. Wow! Now this is one fantastic book.

I'd given Brian Lies's previous book BATS AT THE BEACH to my beach-dwelling family members, but I may have to buy this one for myself (click those links for some great pictures). All I can say is that this book has to be in contention for a Caldecott Medal. The illustrations are perfect, the story a masterpiece.

The library in the story was based on a place he loved as a child and it shows. As librarians, we noted every detail. Yes! The water fountain! Bats pretend it's a swimming pool, but at our library, the children loved to splash the water out, push for a spot, generally making messes--just like the baby bats. And the fabulous library table legs! Not to mention the beautiful windows which, at the end, let in enough light to send the bats scampering toward home. BATS AT THE LIBARY- what a great book.