Faster than Kudzu

See, I got your attention. Kudzu does it every time.

If you want to laugh your head off, almost every day, check out Joshilyn Jackson's blog. She's part of the A Good Blog is Hard to Find southern writers' blog that I contribute to, only she's a lot funnier than I am. But she also writes funny books and really funny blog entries about weight watchers, her Ipod songs, dogs, and even manages to make me laugh at her mostly serious FAQs about writing.

This 'n That

Lots to catch up with. Including this NY Times article, re: self publishing. I believe this came up in a Q&A session at my Writers in Paradise workshop.

Ten on a Toboggan, the book two others and I edited for the Chatham Historical Society, an oral history of our town, was a huge labor of love and a lot of hard work. And a perfect book for self-publishing. We have a limited market, we did a good job putting the book together, and now it's available to anyone who wants to purchase a copy. But would I self-publish a novel? Doubt it.

Speaking of books. Old news by now, but did everyone hear the Newbery and Caldecott Medal books announced yesterday. Still a bit of chatter about popular vs literary. I'll reserve judgement since I'm still waiting to read the very popular Newbery winner:

The Graveyard Book.

Here's one blogger's take on the awards. And here's a picture- scary cover, no?

Writers in Paradise, My Book List

Although this random, un-alphabetized, somewhat messy list I've created offends my Librarian Sensibilities, I'm telling myself that it's a blog, not a bibliography. So here's my list, mostly taken from recommendations in Ann Hood's non-fiction workshop, with a few additions from Laura Lippman's Roundtable and listening to the other speakers. It is not all-inclusive. It does not include books written by our instructors/ speakers (Stewart O'Nan, Ann Hood, Laura Lippman, Michael Koryta, Ann Rittenberg, Jill Bialosky, Marc Fitten, etc). Nor does it include books on our recommended reading lists for reading before the week began. Just random and messy, you were warned.

Writers in Paradise Recommended books, January 2009

Ann Hood’s Nonfiction workshop:

Fly Truffler

Mercy Papers: a Memoir of Three Weeks (by Robin Romm)
A good example of structure.

Natural History of the Senses (by Diane Ackerman)
Dirt
Secret Currency of Love
Boys in My Youth (especially “Fourth State of Matter” by Joann Beard)

Liar (example of unreliable narrator in memoir)
Drinking: A Love Story (by Carolyn Knapp)


Other instructors’ references:
Arrogance (by JoAnna Scott)

Under the Red Flag (Ha Jin) “writing is kind of a mess but the truth of the story comes through”

Lorrie Moore (for examples of surprising the reader)

First Comes Love (by Marion Winik)

A Three Dog Life (by Abigail Thomas)

Writers in Paradise, the End

Since Friday was jam-packed and I had no time to write, this entry will cover the last two days and I'll try to keep it brief. No promises.
The morning session was a panel on publishing, two editors, an agent, an editor of a literary magazine. Mostly what they said is what anyone who follows the business knows. Write your best. Don't let an editor/ agent be your First Reader- give your manuscript to as many good readers as you can, before it leaves your house. Don't be a pain in the butt client. Read what's out there but don't copy what's out there.

On Friday afternoon in Ann Hood's memoir workshop, she touched on other forms of creative non-fiction. We started with her take on personal essays. "In some ways as challenging to write as short stories." Ann quoted Grace Paley's statement that a short story is always two stories: the obvious one and the one happening beneath the story. The climax is when they come together and clash. And that can also happen in a personal essay.

Saturday morning started with the editor of The Chattahoochee Review. Good advice about submitting to literary magazines/ journals. An agent followed, with more publishing advice. We learned that everybody's happy when a book sells 15,000 copies. A lot sell only 2000. More advice, excellent and specific, about crafting the query letter. She even tore apart the letters (anonymous) of a few brave souls willing to have their letters used as samples. Very brave souls.

Then to our last session with our amazing teacher. Highlights? She reminded us again to use those similies sparingly: it's hard to find a great one. You defeat what you are trying to say if your simile (or metaphor) is jarring. Sometimes you don't need anything. It just gets in the way. We talked about about structure, about the container. How some pieces seem to cry out to be short, for example, four months of time passing, a specific road trip.

Since this class has officially been about memoir, I'll end with something Ann Hood said today about the hard things, the sad things that memoir is often about. "It's hard to decide what's interesting when it's your own life. But think about what's interesting to the reader. It's all about the literature."

Writers in Paradise, only 3 more days

In some ways, I'm excited about finishing and getting back to work, using some of my new thoughts and advice from this week. But I hate to think the time spent in these workshop sessions will be no more.

Today started out with a lecture by Nahid Rachlin on writing memoir. She read from her book Persian Girls and spoke very briefly about why to write memoir. "Unless you're famous, why would anybody read your life?" The writing. Write characters as interesting as those in fiction and use words that sing. I'm hearing that a lot this week.

When I asked Ann Hood that question in our afternoon workshop, she said nonfiction's like everything else we write. Why write? To make sense of the world.

And good writing is crucial. Vibrant and lively language move a story. To illustrate her point, she read from Last Night at the Lobster by Stewart O'Nan, especially noting the verbs-- dangle, bend, glide, snow sifting. And the metaphors and similies (No weird similes that stop the reader in his tracks!)

Then we talked about flashbacks. Ann's a big fan of space breaks and says sometimes this is a better way to introduce a flashback, no matter what we learned about using a memory prompt- a device such as hearing the ringing of a bell. (Though I still think in writing for children, it might have to be clearer than just a space break.)

Other tips from today?
Always use said as a dialog tag. The actual dialog should tell you if it's a shout, a hiss, a query.
Not "Sarah Elizabeth, come here this second," Mama hissed.
Actually, I kind of like that. But in writing for adults and especially memoir, cut the hisses and the smiled dialog as much as possible.

In memoir- get rid of all the I remembers, I recall, I thought back. Just slows us down.

Lots more advice as we critiqued our two classmates today. That's what I like about this class. The instructor actually teaches as she critiques.

Throughout the almost three hour session, Ann shared several more book recommendations, many new to me. List to follow. Next week.

Writers in Paradise, Free Day

Ha. Not really a free day, though I did manage to get to my yoga class!

I'm catching up on the last manuscripts. I should have noted at the beginning that each of us submitted up to 25 pages of a non-fiction piece. And everyone reads and marks it up like crazy. Serious work.

The workshop I'm in is called Life Into Words. On the first day, when we went around the table and described why we were there and what we were working on, I confessed to the group (there are 12 of us in my section) that I was here because of Ann Hood. She writes memoir, fiction, essays, even a YA book. So I figured I'd learn how to put "life" into words on many levels. Here's the description of our workshop:

"Life into Words"
This workshop explores several modes of creative nonfiction, including essays, cultural criticism, humor, and memoir. The boundaries between fiction and nonfiction will be explored as well as the narrative techniques which best convey the truths of a particular moment. Discussion will touch upon the process of structuring life experiences into a book length work.

Of course, most of the participants are working on very personal stories. Some life-threatening, some horrific. We were cautioned early on, by Ann, that we are not critiquing the life event, but rather the writing. We are not commenting on the story, rather we are like mechanics trying to fix the story. Ann, who pulls no punches and is not falsely positive but is a true mechanic, with her box of tools, digs in to help us all.

At the end of the workshop, I'll try to compile a list of the books we've talked about. Stay tuned.

Now back to work.

Day 3, Inauguration Day in Paradise

This morning's lecture on Endings was like a college class. In fact, it was. Almost two hours on endings. More than I can take in, blog about, or probably ever need to know.

On to the afternoon workshop. (after a long mid-day break when the Inauguration was shown in the auditorium on a large screen)

Ann started the session sharing the way she gets tension into her writing. Excellent tips, too long to enumerate here, that looked like a football playbook when she sketched her plan on the whiteboard. That one moment may have been worth the price of the week's conference. I now have a revision trick, one that works in fiction and non-fiction, to heighten the emotional content of my writing.

Then we analyzed another New Yorker essay (we'd read Granny's Bridge by Tony Earley on day 1). This one was "Family History: Alone at the Movies." Ann pointed out that even in such a short piece, the Mother's slight dialog makes her come alive. The ending tells us so much. Reading these essays and getting Ann's take on them -- that no matter what you are writing, you need to include when, where, why, dialog, character development and the all-important SO WHAT-- pretty much made my day. That and her description of revising for emotional tension.

I could have left happy right then.
But we analyzed two more manuscripts, each for a full hour. Those writers went away with total satisfaction and a plan. That's what they said.

Tomorrow we have a Day of Rest. Nothing planned. Time to read.

At the beginning of the conference Dennis Lehane gave us this admonition:
Take full advantage of the week. Remember, when you want to talk about gerunds and onomatopoeia in the regular world-- "mutant issues"-- nobody gives a shit. In your regular life, non mutants don't care. You can't convert them. So while you are here, get into completely meaningless debates and revel in this time.

So far, I haven't had those discussions with my fellow writers at the Workshop. Then again, maybe I live in a mutant world. I do know a lot of people who love reading and writing, and even gerunds.

Day 2, in Paradise

At 10 AM, I walked into a large room with circles of folding chairs, mostly already filled up with my fellow Writers in Paradise participants. Today's first session was listed as Roundtables. The idea was come and go, join a circle being facilitated by one of the presenters, move on if you like. I took the last seat at the circle nearest the door.

Then Laura Lippman joined my group. I didn't move for 2 hours. I missed opportunities to hear Dennis Lehane, Stewart O'Nan, all the other presenters, but wow. I learned a lot.

I'm a Lippman fan from my 12 years of living in Baltimore. She writes crime fiction, old stories often taken from her days as a reporter for the Baltimore Sun. Here are a few gems from my notes (though I was listening and there was quite a dynamic interchange going on about writing and reading, so I didn't write much).

When asked how she plots. She calls her method the "distant shore school of plot." She always knows what's happening across the water, at the end. She knows the one big secret, but we (her readers) don't and even the protagonist doesn't. Although she knows the ending, she's also a fan of what she calls "Landmine Fiction" (don't you love that?). " It may not matter now, but mostly these zingers will go off later. This in reference to much of what she plants along the reader's path. Not exactly red herrings, but they might be.

About Rules: She likes George Orwell's rules, especially the last one: Break the rules. Remember my reference, somewhat ironic, to Elmore Leonard's rule about the weather? She loves weather. Often starts with it.

More on her concrete tips for writing out of a muddled middle later.

In the afternoon, we critiqued three manuscripts with Ann Hood. I've been in workshops where participants moved around the table and commented, then the leader gave her suggestions and that was that. That's not the way this works. So far, we've spent an hour, occasionally more, on each 25 page memoir. Interspersed with her critiques, Ann continually gives us tips, advice, suggestions that apply to all of our writing.

Today, for example, the question of prologues came up. "When chapter one and the heart of the story are set in different places, different times, and you need to know the earlier stuff, you need a prologue." Or you may need a prologue. The prologue says "this is what you need to know to read my book." Or it can be a different point of view being expressed, such as an earlier time, when the main character was a child.

This comment came because someone's piece had a prologue and she wanted to know if it worked. That's how most of what we are hearing happens. Because of the writing being discussed. We also talked about connected essays, the need for a central theme (if it's going to be a book).

More words of wisdom from my afternoon session?
Only specifics ring true.
Semi-colons are an evil form of punctuation (ditto ... and !).
But we all know that.

Tonight Ann Hood read the first thing she was able to write after the death of her young daughter, the prologue to the memoir about her daughter, and she finished with the chapter from that book about her daughter's love of the Beatles. Evening sessions are open to the public.

In introducing Ann Hood tonight, Dennis Lehane told us that after she'd taught at the conference last year, he didn't even think of not inviting her back. All the writers here are cool, he assured us. But Ann's even more than that. She actually cares if you learn something.

He ended his introduction with a quote from The Princess Bride:
Life is pain. Anyone who tells you different is selling you something.

Writers in Paradise, Day 1

OK. I probably overestimated my abilities. I told my writing friends I'd be blogging about the conference each day. After Day 1, I can see how this might be overwhelming. To me and possibly to anybody reading this.

So I'll keep it brief and fill in details as they come up in future posts. Because this conference, after only one day, is packed full of helpful, amazing, interesting stuff.

Stewart O'Nan spoke first. I'd just read his new novel: Songs for the Missing. I love his writing. He spoke about his journey, beginning in his basement writing room, through conferences, and eventually an MFA from Cornell. He's a big believer in reading to learn how to write and gave us numerous challenges in that department. (I guess I'll have to tackle Joyce Carol Oates after all.) He reads to look at sentences, their construction, to notice words. More of his advice?

Set your big scenes big.
Surprise the reader. (Change the tone. Make an unreliable first person noticeable. Shock the reader.)
Keep your characters with you. Carry them around Feel yourself as that character.

"Writing is like reading a good book. You live in that world and don't want to leave."

Then I moved to my afternoon memoir workshop with Ann Hood (the reason I wanted to be a part of this conference. Love her writing.)

"You can't write non-fiction unless you tell the truth. You can't worry about what others think."

Since I even worry about what others might make of my fiction, this is food for thought for me.
She quoted Gregory Maguire. The What if, Then What, And then, And then thing. A great way to get at the story. In non-fiction (and in fiction), the most important of these questions is the next one: So What?

In all writing, the focus should be right there at the beginning, in the first sentences. We should know where we are and what we are in for.

Tips I think I'll work on:
1. Picture sentences. Close your eyes. If you can't picture it, it needs help.
2. In non-fiction, use all the devices of fiction: dialogue, setting, character, action, climax, resolution.
3. Find a central metaphor (examples: knitting, fire), something that gives your story meaning.

That's about all my brain can process at the moment. Stay tuned.

Writing Rules

Elmore Leonard's Top Ten, excerpted from a New York Times interview, possibly with tongue in cheek, but still, a lot of truth. Click here for the list. A couple of my personal favorites:

Never open a book with weather.
Keep your exclamation points under control. You are allowed no more than two or three per 100,000 words of prose.

Email and Resolutions

I'm not saying I DID make any New Year's resolutions. But if I'd made a writing resolution this year, it would have been to invent my own serious Self Study program like blogger Kristi Holl is doing. I'd practice Reading Like a Writer and I'd study the intriguing writing advice of Margie Lawson. Maybe I will and maybe I won't. 2009's barely begun. I'm working on it. But I haven't followed through with a plan- yet. Perhaps because I didn't actually make a resolution in writing or even verbally to anyone other than my friend Kay.

Or maybe, just maybe, it's what Holl says in this blog entry. Actually documents it. With numbers.
Could I possibly be wasting too much time on email?
Just wondering.

St. Brendan the Navigator...

OK, the next time I go for a walk on the beach, I'm taking my notebook. Or at least a camera. What I think will be a quick walk to breathe the fresh air and stare at the water always surprises me.
Today, besides children building drip castles, an Army helicopter flying back and forth, lots of sunbathers and one brave soul swimming, a bagpiper walked up and down, close to the water. Of course, I followed him. I love bagpipes. Plus, he was wearing a teeshirt from Pt. Pleasant NJ: St. Brendan the Navigator Pipes and Drums. How could I not pay attention?

Read more about bagpipe bands on the website Real Men Wear Kilts. My bagpiper wore his kilt, played his bagpipes, and dipped bare feet in the sand. And that music- mixed with the sound of the water and the gulls screaming..

Late Bloomers and Prodigies

Read Malcolm Gladwell's October article in the New Yorker for lots of reasons. The list of Top Ten poems. Picasso. Cezanne. Stay-at-home Dads. Art patrons. Haiti. But the true theme of the piece is the difference between early starters and late bloomers.

The Cézannes of the world bloom late not as a result of some defect in character, or distraction, or lack of ambition, but because the kind of creativity that proceeds through trial and error necessarily takes a long time to come to fruition.

I think he's also writing about not giving up. A good thought for the New Year.

A New Book Review

Just today, published in the Christian Science Monitor, is my review of What I Saw and How I Lied. (Why is it so hard to remember that title!)
I've already blogged about book reviewing, but this one's a good example of why you have to read a book more than once before reviewing it. There was a lot of hoopla about this novel. It won the National Book Award for Young People. Teen readers loved it. Many reviewers loved it. And then there's that award...

At first I thought it was heavy-handed with the foreshadowing. And way too film-noirish. Among other criticisms. But that was because I was reading it like an adult-- not its intended market, and I was reading it on an airplane-- not the best spot for analysis. So I reread and rethought and- well, read my review.

Top Ten(s) and a Music Blog

It's that time of year again when everybody's making their Top This and Top That lists. While deciding which Elizabeth McCracken book to read next, I stumbled up Largehearted Boy's blog.

Loved this post about Clyde Edgerton and the hymns he remembers from his childhood.
Not only does he let writers explain how music entered into their books-- which tunes they write to and why-- Largehearted Boy lists lots of Best Book lists. Not to mention free downloads.

Oh, and I found everything I wanted to know about McCracken's books, including an interview I remembered from NPR.
Great site.

Today in New Jersey

This is the view from my walk around the Madison Commons. That's ice on the pond, fyi. Today is sunny and bright, but I think I've used up all my words to describe ice and snow. Shouldn't this be melting now?

3 Sweaters...

The good thing about travel delays is that I can lose myself in a good book. When you fly in and out of Newark, mostly standing by, hoping to get on the next flight somewhere, you have lots of reading time.

On my trip South to visit family this New Year's, I read detective fiction- pure escape. But on the trip to New Jersey today, I finally let myself read my Christmas gift to myself-- Stewart O'Nan's Songs for the Missing. So far, all I can say is WOW. I'd been saving it, having heard such great things about this novel that I wanted to read it carefully, without airport distractions, but there I was, on a delay in Baltimore, stuck in the terminal with only one book. Fortunately, the writing is exquisite. So far, I'm loving this book. More on this one later.

So now I'll put on another sweater-- my comfort zone has narrowed since moving to Florida for most of the year-- turn up the thermostat a degree or two, and get back to that book.

Here's hoping all of you found the perfect book in your stocking. Leave me a comment and tell me exactly what Santa brought you to read!

The World's Most Beautiful Libraries

Look what I found linked to Barbara O'Connor's blog:

Not only the most beautiful libraries, including the amazing Trinity Library in Dublin, if you scroll to the bottom of the page, you can see some pretty awesome churches, too.

Christmas in Florida, Pt. 2

OK, I can't resist. These are just 2 of the many photos taken while family visited us, off and on, for a Florida Christmas. Taken at the light show at the Botanical Garden...







(That's it for the holidays. Now back to reading and writing. I'm finished with the cooking and eating.)

Merry Christmas to all!

The Night Before Christmas...
My grandmother claimed I could recite this when I was two. I kind of doubt that. But she was a great storyteller, everything from bedtime fairytales to the latest gossip from the church ladies, so I'm sure she embellished.

Click here for a most unusal telling of the Santa story. Thanks, Jack, only a true Dylan fan could unearth this one.

Christmas in Florida

Is strange. Strange in a good way. 68 degrees and sunny strange. Sunsets. A walk on the beach to check out the sandcastle building contest (see below for what the professionals did). Old friends, lots of family. Singing Frosty the Snowman along with the radio - and a 2-year-old and a 5-year-old.

I'm convinced they think Frosty is that inflatable thing in our neighbor's front yard.

What I'm Reading Now

1. Violet Raines Almost Got Struck by Lightning. Nice to read a first novel by a fellow Floridian, Danette Haworth. Violet's got a voice that's appealing and true. Great cover on this book, strong characters, and set in a sleepy little town in Florida.

2. What I Saw and How I Lied. I'm reviewing this one for the Christian Science Monitor, and my first reading didn't impress me that much. But, hey, the book won the National Book Award. I gave it a second read. And now a third as I write the review. I think this book grew on me and even the peachy-keen slang became an inseparable part of the appeal. Plus, I don't know a teen reader who will resist the cover.

3. Truth and Beauty. When I got the exciting news that I will be a part of Ann Hood's nonfiction workshop next month at Eckert College, I immediately went to the library and looked for the "suggested" reading list books. But I found Truth and Beauty on my own bookshelf. Ann Patchett is a favorite writer of mine. I think Bel Canto might be my top recent fiction book. The writing here is topnotch, but the subject matter is tough. I'll never be able to write like Patchett, but I'm hoping I'll learn a few tricks at the Writers in Paradise conference in January.

4. The Blues Route by Hugh Merrill. My so-far-pretty-vague-but-will-be-better-by-Wednesday (when it's due) topic for Writers in Paradise is The Blues and The Delta. I have a whole stack of books, and this is just one of the more helpful ones.

Now, back to work.

In Our Jammies, Whimsical Scribbling

"SHATTERING PRECONCEPTIONS...Contrary to popular belief, Writers & Illustrators do NOT sit around in their jammies all day!" Lisa Michaels, illustrator

Thanks, Lisa, for lending me your picture of Bunny Writer. But today in frigid New Jersey, slippers and warm jammies are just what you need for writing inspiration. OK, maybe not all day, sitting around. But those bunny slippers are first on my list for all I want for Christmas!

More books! All We Want for Christmas

It's good to read the best. And maybe just to read what the best are reading. So, click here for Stephen King's "Top Ten"- a list of books he's liked this year.

The Blog #2

You can now click over to A Good Blog is Hard to Find, and if you're clever and can figure out how to scroll down to part 2 on Dec. 9, you'll see my posting about Southern words and Roy Blount and lightning and a whole bunch of other stuff. Somebody posted on the same day that I did, a mistake no doubt but I'll forgive her, so you'll get to read two on the same day. And while you're at it, scroll down to that funny one on Nov. 24th. There's a lot to read on that blog of Southern writers.

Holiday Mail for Heroes

Just a few more days left to send a card to someone in the military. Read all about it on the Red Cross's website.

Here's the address:
Holiday Mail for Heroes
PO Box 5456
Capitol Heights, MD 20791

Cards must be postmarked by Dec. 10. You can put a whole bunch of cards in one big envelope and send it along.

Sounds like a good idea to me.

All They Want for Christmas

What a novel (pun intended) idea! Check out what your favorite writer is giving and wants to receive for Christmas. Thanks to Marjorie Kehe's blog for this suggestion.

Thanksgiving Week Sky

Gazing up at the stars is easy here in Florida. And lately it's been fascinating to watch Jupiter, Venus and the moon line up in the southwest sky. My local paper tells me that the two planets and the moon will not be this close together again until 2052. A similar night sky was visible in 3 B.C. and is considered to be a possible explanation for the Christmas Star.

This is not where I am. Click for more pictures of the sky in Paris, where I'd like to be.
Nice, huh? Or should I say, mais oui?

Slow Blogging

I promised when I started this blog that it wouldn't be navel gazing. I promised myself and others. Who cares about whether I got a good haircut on Tuesday or not. I'm truly trying to write about books and writing. Mostly.

So I was intrigued when I read in the newspaper last week about Slow Blogging. I clicked on over to the blog mentioned (click here to read it). I'll be checking that one out. Even though I guess I'm not officially a slow blogger. They write long, evocative posts about things other than haircuts and how hard it is to think of interesting things to write about.

But my real find this morning, as I blog while little ones sleep with visions of "Chicken Fries" dancing in their heads (but they'll get turkey and dressing nonetheless!), was an emailed link to a funny funny blog by a fellow librarian. This one will definitely be on my to-read list. In fact, I just added it to the Blogs I Follow. Click here if you want to have a great laugh.

This librarian-blogger is writing about writing porn. See, I thought that would get your attention.

Sports Writing

OK, so I don't usually spend a lot of time in the sports section but the picture of Dean Smith caught my eye. Hey, it's basketball season, right? And almost every single UNC game is being broadcast this season, so I can already see where a lot of my TV time is heading. But back to the sports section. Today's story about the Joe Lapchick Character Awards started with a great quote, something my grandmother would have said to us children. A little like her favorite: "Pretty is as pretty does." Or maybe, even more to the point: "Don't get too big for your britches."

But this is one from Coach Lapchick, as told to his friend Lou Carnesecca:
Peacock today. Feather duster tomorrow.

I'm writing that one down.

National Book Award

Hot off the press! Just announced today- Click here for a list of the National Book Award winners and runners-up.

Save It for the Page

I do love the stuff my critique group comes up with. This one's from my friend Teddie, who writes features for my most excellent hometown newspaper, The St. Petersburg Times.

I think we were talking about the moon. Or the trees. Or the Gulf of Mexico. How some people can creatively speak about the natural world, at length. Then there are those who look, mentally record, possibly, hopefully remember to get it right. Pray that we succeed in what Eudora Welty advises- that as writers we take care and get the moon in the right part of the sky. And the tulips blooming in the right month.

So, writers are always looking and paying attention. And from now on, I'm trying Teddie's advice: "Save it for the page." Keep those tidbits close to the chest. Write them in our notebooks. Pull them out when we need them on the page. Get the moon and the flowers right, but no need to babble on.

More on Words

Yes, I know, I already wrote about how I love words. But now I'm in good company. What a great review of Roy Blount Jr's new book ALPHABET JUICE in today's New York Times Book Review. Can't wait to read this one. As Jack Shafer cleverly writes in his review, "Blount hangs out in dictionaries the way other writers hang out in bars."

As a huge fan of Blount's, I suspect it will be fun to "pub crawl" through the OED and Webster's Third with him.

From the Horn Book editor

You can't get any more knowledgeable in the field of children's literature than Roger Sutton. This is from an article about choosing books for kids in the November/ December issue of Horn Book. Here's Mr. Sutton on helping good readers become passionate about books. And a word or two about parenting while he's at it:

Parents of an early expert reader — heck, parents of any kind of a reader, from reluctant to ambitious — are confronted with two sometimes-conflicting sets of expectations: what they want for their child and what their child wants for him- or herself. I would suggest that, ultimately, satisfaction will be found for the former by assiduous attention to the latter. Just because your child can read at a fifth-grade level doesn’t mean he needs to at all times. (Think about your own reading: just because you can read Henry James doesn’t mean you must, does it?) At the same time, of course, just because your child is seven doesn’t mean she can’t take a crack — if she wants to — at Harry Potter, either. Given access to a wide variety of reading — both print and pixeled texts — and given the proper tools and encouragement to wade through it and choose, children turn themselves into the readers their parents want them to be.

Unreliable Blogger...

Which I guess is something like the Unreliable Narrator, since this blog is supposed to be mostly about reading and writing. But click on over to the #4 Most Emailed article in today's New York Times to see the latest blogging hoax. Oh, wait, it's moved up to #2 in the time it took me to write this entry!

When I was a librarian, the second graders in my classes knew Africa was a continent, so I was a bit doubtful when that news originally circulated. Then again, I'm pretty gullible when it comes to believing what you see in print!

Book Bags!

Hey, out there, all you librarians and book types. This is too good to resist. Click here to learn exactly how to make these babies! Well, some of you might be able to make them. I'm not that handy with glue and floor polish. But I bet my friend Leslie could make about a million of them in no time flat.

I'm kind of partial to book-related decorations. I actually own a beautiful Book Jacket "wrap" (as my grandmother would call it) given to me by my sister, also a librarian. And once I actually made book earrings as part of a Library Week workshop. For now, I'll just admire this picture of penwiper337's Book Purse.

Words Each Day

I've been a big fan of Anu Garg's A.Word.A.Day emails for a long time. Sometimes I delete but frequently I put them in a special folder to savor later. Today I read it and remembered.

When I was in high school (click here for a link to the school's Centennial. All the other links to the school bear no resemblance to my memories), I studied Latin with an amazing teacher, Mrs. Garrett. We chanted our Latin declensions. (Amo! Amas! Amat!) That I can remember this and can't remember a friend's phone number puzzles me. 

So when today's Wordsmith word was CIRCA it brought back a lot of memories. Mrs. Garrett taught us to recognize and decipher many English words by considering their Latin roots. Something that's served me well. And circa is just one of those fun words to say. Covers a lot of ground. Makes up for incomplete knowledge.

Earlier in the week, the word of the day was MAUGRE/ Mauger. Despite its supposed Latin roots, I had no clue to its meaning. You really do learn something new every day. 

Every Soul a Star

Is that a great book cover or what?!

I've been a fan of Wendy Mass's books for a while and I recently, really loved Jeremy Fink.

She writes the kind of books kids actually read, more than once, ask for by name, recommend to their friends. So I couldn't wait to get her latest, Every Soul A Star. How she comes up with these absolutely fascinating topics to write about amazes me. Synesthesia? The Meaning of Life (now that's no topic for slouches)? In her new book, a solar eclipse is about to take place and I think I learned as much about the sky reading Every Soul a Star as I remember from my college astronomy course (but that's another story...)

Click here to read my review in today's Christian Science Monitor.

I voted!

What a great country we live in! And not just for the free Krispy Kreme, Ben and Jerry's or Starbucks I could get for showing up with my "I voted" sticker on. The lines were short, actually non-existent, and everyone was glad to see me, polite and helpful. I'm wondering how everyone else feels about their voting experience today? Any comments?

After voting, I meandered a short block from the church polling place to the beach and walked for a bit. Even though the day is slightly gray and overcast here on the west coast of Florida, it was delightful. Gulls calling out, waves lapping. All the good stuff.

I followed a couple arguing over his "wasted vote."

She: Your daughter wants to know why you voted for Ralph Nader.

He: He's the best candidate! He's the one to save America! (etc etc etc)

She: She doesn't care what you think about Nader. She just wants to know why you wasted your vote.

It went on for a while like that. Only funnier. 

I should have taken notes. I could work that couple into a scene somewhere. He with his bermuda shorts, sneakers and black socks. She in lime green pants suit/ jogging suit. Me wishing for my notebook.

Now off to Starbucks. Maybe I'll even take that notebook.

Writing about Voting?

If you need inspiration for your writing on any given Monday morning, head on over to Jo Knowles' blog (click here for the link). Today she asks writers to describe  what it's like to vote, wherever they are. So far, the reports from my county say people are waiting in line for 3 hours... 

But tomorrow's the real day so I'm hoping when I show up at my little polling place, all will be well.

Halloween in Florida

Back to St. Petersburg where trick or treating involves grownups sitting on lawn chairs greeting the little ghouls and gremlins with big bowls of candy on tables. And neat decorations. Like my favorite southern tree, the live oak, seen here spruced up for Halloween.

And very inventive palm trees with eyeballs...     

I got to go trick or treating with two cute kids, Tinkerbell and Minnie Mouse. It's nice to be back. Now back to reading and writing.

A Poem for Halloween

OK, maybe I'm missing the fun of being a teacher on Halloween. At the school(s) where I worked, we always dressed in costume. One year we wore old bridesmaids dresses and paraded around on stage. Even the one male teacher dressed for the occasion, I think in a tuxedo. Then there was the year we all masqueraded as fairy tale characters.  Costumes are not my thing but I loved seeing what everyone showed up in.  I do know how to sew and attempted a few witch capes and a devil suit once, but that wasn't why I loved Halloween. I loved the great kids' books about Halloween. If I were reading to kids on this Halloween, I'd give Michael Rex's new book GOODNIGHT GOON a try.

Or maybe this poem, perfect for today. Read the rest at the Poetry for Children blog.

THE MAGIC HOUSE

by Jane Yolen

We should have known when we tasted the eaves,

Breaking them off like toffee

And cramming them into our mouths.

And the dear little windows, the color of coffee,

And chocolate doorknobs,

And windowpanes striped with mint...

Trip Food

Writers need to pay attention to detail, right? So, after listening to the same songs on the radio and admiring the fall color, what do you do when driving through NC, SC and GA for almost 10 hours straight? 

I took notes on what food groups were available at the Stuckeys and other food marts at the grocery stores along the way.

Here's what I didn't eat- but was tempted.

Little bags of peanuts to put in my coke (something my mother did, fond memories)

Pork Rinds (never liked them, still don't)

Vienna Sausages (ditto)

Beanee Weanees (double ditto)

Here's what I did eat:

Nabs

Diet Dr. Pepper

GA Pig barbeque (a great place in Brunswick, GA where you can sit outside and enjoy a pulled pork sandwich with slaw and beans- yum!)

New Jersey in my Rear View Mirror

Lots of "lasts" this week. Last lunch of this season with Critique Group at the Summit Diner. Lee says best hamburgers in town, and I have to agree. Last dinner for a while, at a favorite Italian place. Was it serendipity that the special salad was FIG and mango?

So, here's what we really saw driving out of town:

(just so happens that Coviello's is where I discovered the nice gardener with 37 fig trees in his back yard, but that's another story).

Sunny, bright day as we hit the road for day 1 - a 10-hour drive towards St. Petersburg.

A little known fact: Jersey Girls Don't Pump Gas (it's actually against the law in NJ for anybody to pump their own gas). So here we are on the NJ Turnpike, getting gas pumped for the last time in a while.

Drove through lots of beautiful leaves! I do love fall leaves (as previously mentioned in another fall blog). I took a ton of pictures, mostly from inside the car speeding along I-95, so Leslie shared her fabulous picture of Mt. Lake, NJ. But that's exactly what we saw on our drive. Red, orange, yellow in so many hues it took my breath away. I was trying to get my fill as I know what's in my future: palm trees!

Next stop: St. Petersburg, FL...

Skirt Under the Covers

OK. Don't let that title alarm you.
I'm just sharing that some of the Skirt! Magazine book groups I edit are now available online. Click here and here to read a couple. My friend Barbara, who has not only written about her couples group for the magazine but has led me to her cousin Beth's group, her mother-in-law Peg's group and niece Anne's group, found the links.

I'm always looking for new book clubs to feature in my Under the Covers column. Skirt's a lot of fun to read and write for, so send them my way! Contributors receive a small check and your name in print.

It was only after writing this post that I discovered how timely it is. Who knew- October is National Reading Group Month. Whew. Almost missed that one. Happy Reading to all!

Names, again, 2008 trends

For obvious reasons, names fascinate me. (I've been asked more than once if my own name is a pseudonym...) You never know when you'll need a character named Narcissus or Rivers or Big Timmy or Lil'bit, so I keep those names handy. And I also collect place names. Can't wait to use Swallowwater, TX as a setting!

One thing my sage writer friend Leslie taught me was to match the name with the "person." And not just personality-wise. Think about when the character lived, and where.

So I'm always intrigued to read what the latest trends in naming babies might be. Click here to read all about it-- Baby Naming for the current year. Short names like Ty and Dax are in because they are easy for texters and e-mailers to type? An interesting theory.
Another trend-- naming babies after presidents. And I thought I was being unique when I named two kids in a story after a president and a president's wife. Though it did seem like Mamie was the perfect name for that little girl in my story.

A Good Blog is Hard to Find

I'm delighted to be a new member of this blog of Southern writers. Thanks to my friend Kerry Madden, a regular blogger there, my first entry has been posted. Click here to check it out.
Hint: I wrote about one of my favorite topics- FIGS.

Later addendum to this post:
Although you may enjoy reading all the writers' posts, if you are looking for my Fig Essay on this southern writers' blog (the click here link, above), you must scroll down to October 17th to view that essay.

The Splitters

Outside the window of the second-floor bedroom I call my office, the yellow leaves of the huge ash tree have pretty much fallen. Last week I could hardly see the across-the-court condo neighbors for the blaze of color. This morning it was like kicking through a new snowfall to reach the newspapers at the end of the driveway. There are still orange and yellow maples blazing in the distance and plenty of purplish red colors for leaf peeping, but one good rainfall will bring them all down.

I love driving on these last warm fall days, seeing the colors off in the distance. Walking's not bad either, as long as the leaves are dry and crunchy. I think it was Anna Quindlen, though I'm not sure why I think that, who wrote that we love most the season we were born in. I love "my" summer a lot, but I'm beginning to love fall even more.

What I don't like is winter. So when my husband retired, we bought a little house in Florida and became what our friend Peter (who knows more about Florida, home ownership, moving around, living in two places than anybody) calls Splitters. I couldn't see myself in Florida year around so we split our time between Florida and New Jersey. We bounce back and forth on occasion, thus the Splitter thing. So far, so good.

And now the leaves are falling, which means time to pack up my writing notes, say goodbye to my fellow New Jersey writers and friends and our quick trips into the city, and head South. It hit me this morning as I was reading the paper. Even though my husband didn't stay retired long, we did attempt it. Maybe the suggestions in Key to a New Retired Life: Get Involved might have been a better way to look at that leisure time!

Mostly what I need to travel back and forth is a decent laptop and a good library in both places we live. I don't like hauling things from one house to another. Looks like I'm on the right track. Another article in my morning paper tells me not to fret over dragging clothes from one place to another. I've mostly always traveled light, hoping to find what I forget at my destination. My sister can attest to that, even though now I've grown up and no longer swipe her favorite nightgown when I touch down in her space. (Though I always appreciated her loaners. Thanks, Sis!)

So I guess it's time to pack up the writing notes and my favorite sneakers and head South. Check out what's new at the library, check in with my Florida writing buddies. If the leaves are down, winter isn't far behind.

Book Shopping

I do love traveling to book stores. Brand new ones, hopeful and shiny. Even old ones filled with ancient books and lots of dust. Mostly not the mega-stores, though I'm not above popping my head and my pocketbook into one as nice as the just opened Barnes and Noble near me--I was there yesterday to check it out.
But on my recent trek through the Mississippi Delta, we stopped in at TurnRow Books in Greenwood. And I wanted to stay awhile. A long while. First of all, look at the building:

Yes, that's a bookstore. I promise. Isn't it gorgeous?

I asked for a book recommendation and the owner mentioned an about-to-be-published novel by Ron Rash, SERENA, which is just out and getting great reviews. There are a lot of reasons to hang out with bookstore people.

Reading Poetry

Here's my weekly/ daily/ whenever-I-can-manage-it poetry fix. Even prose writers can learn a lot from poetry.
My friend Ann reported in on this year's Dodge Poetry Festival. Click that link to see what you, and I, missed. Billy Collins calls it the "mother of all poetry readings." Some call it Wordstock. In the past, our Critique Group has gone together. This year Ann went without us. Our loss.

Ann told us about Ted Kooser's reading, which reminded me that I have a book of his, given to me by a poetry-loving friend. So I'm thumbing through the book and remembered why she thought I'd like it (one of the many reasons). I once mentioned Praying Hands in something I wrote. The daughter of a preacher compares her hands to her daddy's statue of hands, and right there on p. 57 is this. I'll give you a few lines to tempt you to read more of Ted Kooser's poetry:

Praying Hands
from DELIGHTS AND SHADOWS

There is at least one pair
in every thrift shop in America,
molded in plastic or plaster of paris
and glued to a plaque,
or printed in church-pamphlet colors...