Great, extensive, useful list of Book Blogs right here. The list is broken into categories: Picture books, Teens and Tweens, etc. This is all you'll ever need to follow in order to know all there is about writing, reading, sharing kids' books.
Bookmark the list and try to get through it in an afternoon... Impossible!
Friday, October 30, 2009
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Quote for the Day
If there is a writing Easy Street, he's got it nailed.
"The road to Easy Street goes through the dumps." John Madden
(as quoted on Sunday Night Football, Giants vs. Cardinals)
Related post: Writing Quotes
"The road to Easy Street goes through the dumps." John Madden
(as quoted on Sunday Night Football, Giants vs. Cardinals)
Related post: Writing Quotes
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Spiders in Teacups and Swans on Tables
Just in time for Halloween. Check out Play With Your Food and make some critters like my friend Julie's.
Photo courtesy of Juliette Eastwick
And these from her co-conspirator:
Photos courtesy of Susan Tinanoff
Or if you prefer to eat your table decorations this Halloween, try a ladyfinger cookie decorated with red almond nails or a delicious chow mein noodle black spider, recipes and instructions from Ghoulish Goodies.
Happy Halloween fun to all you creative types out there in blogland!
Photo courtesy of Juliette EastwickAnd these from her co-conspirator:
Photos courtesy of Susan TinanoffOr if you prefer to eat your table decorations this Halloween, try a ladyfinger cookie decorated with red almond nails or a delicious chow mein noodle black spider, recipes and instructions from Ghoulish Goodies.
Happy Halloween fun to all you creative types out there in blogland!
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Writing Inspiration...
Well, I just love this. Made my day. Many thanks to author Barbara O'Connor for her terrific contribution to the National Gallery of Writing.
And I know just what your reader means. I so appreciate his writing tip:
Erik to Mrs. O'Connor: Thank you for sharing your writing techniques with us. My technique is to stare at trees.
Thanks, Erik. Now, back to staring at the really great trees outside my window...
And I know just what your reader means. I so appreciate his writing tip:
Erik to Mrs. O'Connor: Thank you for sharing your writing techniques with us. My technique is to stare at trees.
Thanks, Erik. Now, back to staring at the really great trees outside my window...
Sunday, October 25, 2009
New York Times Book Review
Often a book review appeals to me more than the book. With good writing and an interesting topic, I learn all I need to know just from the review. That's the case with Ben Yagoda review of The Tyranny of E-Mail. I may or may not look at the book, but I learned a lot from the review.
1. The "average corporate worker" gets about 200 e-mail messages a day.
2. 62% of Americans read and answer work e-mail on vacations. (Bet it's more than that!)
3. E-mail is highly prone to being misinterpreted. (Oh, really?)
4. Don't "debate complex or sensitive matters by e-mail." (Again, this shouldn't be news to anybody.)
5. E-mail is an instantaneous, demanding, borderline addictive medium.
That's what the author of the book has to say.
Yagoda has some thoughts on the topic also.
E-mail has "flaws and limitations, but they have also served as cleansing agents for prose..they may disinhibit inappropriate declarations, they also inhibit dull, abstract wordiness."
Took me a minute to work that out, but I think I agree.
The review concludes that "every day I get a half-dozen or more fine e-mail messages: short, (often) witty, (usually) pointed, (sometimes) thoughtful, and always written in that correspondent's particular register."
I suspect I get a few that are just as witty, pointed, thoughtful, and certainly written in a way that there's no mistaking the writer.
Maybe not all bad, this addiction of ours?
1. The "average corporate worker" gets about 200 e-mail messages a day.
2. 62% of Americans read and answer work e-mail on vacations. (Bet it's more than that!)
3. E-mail is highly prone to being misinterpreted. (Oh, really?)
4. Don't "debate complex or sensitive matters by e-mail." (Again, this shouldn't be news to anybody.)
5. E-mail is an instantaneous, demanding, borderline addictive medium.
That's what the author of the book has to say.
Yagoda has some thoughts on the topic also.
E-mail has "flaws and limitations, but they have also served as cleansing agents for prose..they may disinhibit inappropriate declarations, they also inhibit dull, abstract wordiness."
Took me a minute to work that out, but I think I agree.
The review concludes that "every day I get a half-dozen or more fine e-mail messages: short, (often) witty, (usually) pointed, (sometimes) thoughtful, and always written in that correspondent's particular register."
I suspect I get a few that are just as witty, pointed, thoughtful, and certainly written in a way that there's no mistaking the writer.
Maybe not all bad, this addiction of ours?
Friday, October 23, 2009
Not Millionaires...
I'm laughing while reading this posting over at the Southern Writers' Blog. Read the whole thing before deciding to take this advice because there are a lot of good things about writing, many mentioned by the end of the blog. But, still, there's truth in what poster Sarah Shaber says:
A young man at a school where I was speaking once asked me how much of the $23.95 price of my newest book did I get to keep. Oh, I said, maybe $2.00. He passed my book to another student with a look that indicated he’d be going into a different business. Novelist Lawrence Block, who’s written many books on writing, likes to tell anyone who is interested in becoming an author that they “should take two aspirins, lie down in a dark room, and hope the feeling goes away.”
Of course, don't a lot of us know that feeling's not going away any time soon, even with aspirin?
A young man at a school where I was speaking once asked me how much of the $23.95 price of my newest book did I get to keep. Oh, I said, maybe $2.00. He passed my book to another student with a look that indicated he’d be going into a different business. Novelist Lawrence Block, who’s written many books on writing, likes to tell anyone who is interested in becoming an author that they “should take two aspirins, lie down in a dark room, and hope the feeling goes away.”
Of course, don't a lot of us know that feeling's not going away any time soon, even with aspirin?
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Libraries I Have Loved
None of the group touring our alma mater on a recent fall weekend remembered that much about the Wilson Library and its resources. Details were fuzzy. We poked around the Rare Books room, wandered up and down stairs, tried to picture the place filled with undergraduates. But it is a different place now, and it's been a while since any of us studied for that last exam.
The beautifully renovated Rare Books room looked vaguely familiar as a place we'd hide out and study during exam week or possibly a place for a nap cloistered behind a study carrel. On this October day, the words closed study and stacks and Shakespeare 101 were bandied about like the fading memories they are. But the outside of the Wilson Library looked familiar and even a few of the nooks and crannies inside.
We spent some time in the Rare Books room and took a picture with our forbidden cellphone until the librarian hushed SOME of the group up and sent him outside to finish his phone call.
Among the displays- a glass case of banned books.
And this Ray Bradbury quote:
“You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.”
Related posts: Beautiful Bookmarks One Good Librarian
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
More Bumper Stickers
Monday, October 19, 2009
Calpurnia Tate
Yes, I know. Everybody and his brother has weighed in on this first novel by Jacqueline Kelly. Set in Texas at the turn of the century, the book is told by an 11-year-old sister with 6 brothers. Her interests are scientific, something she shares with her slightly eccentric grandfather. She's intrigued with Darwin's Origin of the Species. She fills a notebook with observations on her own natural world. She's a likable character, no shrinking violet, who holds her own with those brothers.
Although I don't know a lot about Texas or this time period, I do read historical fiction, and I've read a lot about writing historical fiction. And yet I'm still not sure if this book will appeal to a wide range of young readers. I know I loved it. I'd love to know if actual kids are reading it.
There's a good discussion going on over at the Mock Newbery blog run by the folks at School Library Journal. At least one of the bloggers thinks Calpurnia is too boring to win the Newbery. Scroll down that blog to read about The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate, but don't miss some of the other books they're scratching their heads about. I always love the pre-January dither writers, readers and librarians get themselves into over this very prestigious award. Let the Newbery chatter begin!
Here's a passage describing Calpurnia's terror at performing in her piano recital, an event I totally related to (having once fainted dead away at a recital held in a 90+ degree Women's Club hall where my friends and I were performing in the heat of a Mississippi summer):
Miss Brown walked to the edge of the stage...She gave a small speech about this splendid occasion, about Culture making inroads in Caldwell County...and how she hoped the parents there would appreciate her hard work in molding their children to value the Finer Things in Life, since we were still living, after all, almost on the edge of the Wild Frontier. She sat down to more applause, and then we got up, one by one, in varying states of misplaced confidence or paralyzing terror.
That's probably Calpurnia's last musical performance, but she's on a different career path. Her wise grandfather's advice often conflicts with the norms of the day, which can present a dilemma for Calpurnia. When her grandfather tells her it's more important to understand something than to like it, that's a lesson we all could take away.
Lucky for readers, we get to watch her evolution, hear her observations of the times and places around her. Sounds like a winner to me. But I'd still like to talk to an actual reader under the age of 20 who gets this one. I hope there are a lot of them out there, passing the book around, admiring the very appealing book jacket (check out the animals scrolling at the bottom!), noting the differences between Calpurnia's world and their own.
Although by the book's end, I still wasn't completely convinced that Calpurnia wouldn't end up like her mother, with a brood of young Texans and tea parties to plan. And perhaps that was the most realistic part of the story. At that time, in that place, it did seem likely that Calpurnia Tate might not follow her dreams and her grandfather's footsteps, and perhaps that's what Jacqueline Kelly wants us to come away with. Though after reading this very well written and certainly thoroughly researched novel, readers will surely feel if anybody could do it, this heroine could.
Friday, October 16, 2009
Blood on the Forehead
Scrambling around looking for writing inspiration early this morning, I pulled out this book of writing advice, novel excerpts and short stories by YA/ Middle grade writer M.E. Kerr:
A few quotes, worth sharing.
Cut! Cut! Cut! Your reader has a life.
Easy reading is hard writing.
When a writer chooses names for characters, she has to believe they couldn't be called anything else.
A novel gives you a legitimate way to have a little world of your own creation.
(Quoting Somerset Maugham)
"There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately no one knows what they are."
And my own personal favorite discovery this morning?
After about thirty pages, you should find your voice (or voices), and when you do, your characters will begin to speak and act on their own.
Whew. Thirty pages. Don't give up on those voices too soon.
Related post: Voice
A few quotes, worth sharing.
Cut! Cut! Cut! Your reader has a life.
Easy reading is hard writing.
When a writer chooses names for characters, she has to believe they couldn't be called anything else.
A novel gives you a legitimate way to have a little world of your own creation.
(Quoting Somerset Maugham)
"There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately no one knows what they are."
And my own personal favorite discovery this morning?
After about thirty pages, you should find your voice (or voices), and when you do, your characters will begin to speak and act on their own.
Whew. Thirty pages. Don't give up on those voices too soon.
Related post: Voice
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Quaker Motto Calendar
Please note: there are newer entries, with updated information for ordering! Click here for 2013 info.
http://ascattergood.blogspot.com/2012/11/quaker-motto-calendar.html
This morning, a few days late, I turned to October in my favorite calendar, and the quote seemed apt. I'd just spent several sunny afternoons last week watching the monarchs migrate through North Carolina.
Here's a Nathaniel Hawthorne quotation from October's calendar:
Happiness is a butterfly, which, when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you sit down quietly may light upon you.
In 1884 Thomas Scattergood initiated these little gems known to many as "Quaker Motto Calendars." My sisters-in-law have continued the family tradition of compiling them. Although the old address still works for a while, this year there's a new address for ordering the 2010 calendars.
THE MOTTO CALENDARPO Box 1383 Pottstown, PA 19464
They are the perfect size to fit into a large Christmas or greeting card. They are exceptionally realistically priced:
25 envelopes and calendars for $28.00
(without envelopes, $25.00)
If you order 50, the price goes down to $46 and $40! You can order as few as 10 ($15) but why would you?
And if you order soon, you are assured delivery by early December.
And, for my writing colleagues, they are perfect little calendars to tuck away near a desk or on a bulletin board where the sayings will inspire you every day. Like this one from September:
Don't cry because it is over. Smile because it happened.
Dr. Seuss
And here's a sneak preview - February 2010:
http://ascattergood.blogspot.com/2012/11/quaker-motto-calendar.html
This morning, a few days late, I turned to October in my favorite calendar, and the quote seemed apt. I'd just spent several sunny afternoons last week watching the monarchs migrate through North Carolina.
Here's a Nathaniel Hawthorne quotation from October's calendar:
Happiness is a butterfly, which, when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you sit down quietly may light upon you.
In 1884 Thomas Scattergood initiated these little gems known to many as "Quaker Motto Calendars." My sisters-in-law have continued the family tradition of compiling them. Although the old address still works for a while, this year there's a new address for ordering the 2010 calendars.
THE MOTTO CALENDARPO Box 1383 Pottstown, PA 19464
They are the perfect size to fit into a large Christmas or greeting card. They are exceptionally realistically priced:
25 envelopes and calendars for $28.00
(without envelopes, $25.00)
If you order 50, the price goes down to $46 and $40! You can order as few as 10 ($15) but why would you?
And if you order soon, you are assured delivery by early December.
And, for my writing colleagues, they are perfect little calendars to tuck away near a desk or on a bulletin board where the sayings will inspire you every day. Like this one from September:
Don't cry because it is over. Smile because it happened.
Dr. Seuss
And here's a sneak preview - February 2010:
Monday, October 12, 2009
Beginnings?
How hard is it for you to begin a writing project? I know, I know-- tons of words have already been written on this topic. But I'm beginning anew, and beginnings are hard, especially if you don't know where they are going or how they'll get there. So do you put characters on the pages and let them sort it out? Outline first? I do a little of each. (Any excuse to outline or diagram- after all I was the Queen of Sentence Diagramming in 8th grade English class...)
This morning I opened a book by Carole Burns- OFF THE PAGE: Writers Talk about Beginnings, Endings, and Everything in Between- and reread how some of my favorite writers bring their stories to life.
Alice McDermott mostly writes about Irish Catholics. While doing a reading, she once was asked "Is this your family you're writing about?" and from the back of the room, someone shouted, "No, it's mine!"
Now off I go with a new set of characters, created totally from my imagination, with a few composites plucked from friends, family, newspapers, kids I once knew.
So, all you writers out there- where do you begin? Characters? Outlines? Venn diagrams? Spiderwebs? Journaling? A time or a place? Reading everything you can get your hands on about the most obscure subject in the world? OK, then where did that topic appear from? A box of newspaper clippings like Elizabeth Glaver's? And then, like Joanna Scott, do you get to that arbitrary point- hers is page 100- and tell yourself that "no matter what happens I'm going to finish that book...I have to see it out."
Related post: Plot Will follow
This morning I opened a book by Carole Burns- OFF THE PAGE: Writers Talk about Beginnings, Endings, and Everything in Between- and reread how some of my favorite writers bring their stories to life.
Alice McDermott mostly writes about Irish Catholics. While doing a reading, she once was asked "Is this your family you're writing about?" and from the back of the room, someone shouted, "No, it's mine!"
Now off I go with a new set of characters, created totally from my imagination, with a few composites plucked from friends, family, newspapers, kids I once knew.
So, all you writers out there- where do you begin? Characters? Outlines? Venn diagrams? Spiderwebs? Journaling? A time or a place? Reading everything you can get your hands on about the most obscure subject in the world? OK, then where did that topic appear from? A box of newspaper clippings like Elizabeth Glaver's? And then, like Joanna Scott, do you get to that arbitrary point- hers is page 100- and tell yourself that "no matter what happens I'm going to finish that book...I have to see it out."
Related post: Plot Will follow
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Two Favorite Quotes for Today
"I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day."
E.B. White
"Songwriters talk a lot about 'writing' songs, but it seems to me like I spend most of my time 'waiting' for songs. Writing is just something I do to kill the time until they get here..."
Iris DeMent
E.B. White
"Songwriters talk a lot about 'writing' songs, but it seems to me like I spend most of my time 'waiting' for songs. Writing is just something I do to kill the time until they get here..."
Iris DeMent
Sunday, October 4, 2009
The Challenge of Plotting
Last week on the Southern Writers' Blog, my day was up. I was at a loss for words (truly). So I wrote about something I'd like to know more about: I wrote a few words about Plotting.
It's best to learn from the experts, right? So I'm rereading a Writer Magazine article about plot, featuring Dennis Lehane, Gayle Lynds and Stuart Woods, three who know of which they speak. Dennis is in charge of the Eckerd College Writers in Paradise conference- a fantastic week in St. Petersburg, Florida, in January just when the weather should be at its best. He spoke to us last year throughout the week, and let me just say I was hanging on most of his words. So when I found the Writer Magazine interview I'd saved, I reread it. And it is full of gems.
Lehane on plotting:
I put a character on the page and I have him want something-it could be as simple as a cup of coffee-and he goes out to get that thing. And hopefully, he bumps into another character and then another and conflict will gradually develop. I'm not a good plotter in the early stage of a novel. The trick is to remind yourself that no one's ever going to see those early stages of a book, so let yourself loose and let your characters loose and see what happens. Then go back and rewrite it all to make it look fluid.
Whew. Great advice. Now I can begin something new, messy and disorganized, without fear of anyone peeping...
Related posts: Writers in Paradise, 2009
The Dreaded Plot
It's best to learn from the experts, right? So I'm rereading a Writer Magazine article about plot, featuring Dennis Lehane, Gayle Lynds and Stuart Woods, three who know of which they speak. Dennis is in charge of the Eckerd College Writers in Paradise conference- a fantastic week in St. Petersburg, Florida, in January just when the weather should be at its best. He spoke to us last year throughout the week, and let me just say I was hanging on most of his words. So when I found the Writer Magazine interview I'd saved, I reread it. And it is full of gems.
Lehane on plotting:
I put a character on the page and I have him want something-it could be as simple as a cup of coffee-and he goes out to get that thing. And hopefully, he bumps into another character and then another and conflict will gradually develop. I'm not a good plotter in the early stage of a novel. The trick is to remind yourself that no one's ever going to see those early stages of a book, so let yourself loose and let your characters loose and see what happens. Then go back and rewrite it all to make it look fluid.
Whew. Great advice. Now I can begin something new, messy and disorganized, without fear of anyone peeping...
Related posts: Writers in Paradise, 2009
The Dreaded Plot
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Twitter/ Tweet/ Twriter
OK, I'm not a twitterer/ tweeter/ twriter, but I loved this comment:
Twitter has been called "The Seinfeld of the Internet — a site about nothing."
It came from a very old email I just uncovered, sent from Ann Wylie's newsletter. The newsletter basically has nothing to do with the kind of writing I read, or write for that matter. But I frequently uncover a gem of advice, so I keep on reading. Even if I don't open the July email until October...
And actually, I did find the greatest site by following her link to Word Spy, the Word Lovers' Guide to New Words:
(Forget Twitter, there's a place I could spend/ waste a whole lot of time.)
"Social notworking
pp. Surfing a social networking site instead of working. Also: social not-working — social notworker n."
Twitter has been called "The Seinfeld of the Internet — a site about nothing."
It came from a very old email I just uncovered, sent from Ann Wylie's newsletter. The newsletter basically has nothing to do with the kind of writing I read, or write for that matter. But I frequently uncover a gem of advice, so I keep on reading. Even if I don't open the July email until October...
And actually, I did find the greatest site by following her link to Word Spy, the Word Lovers' Guide to New Words:
(Forget Twitter, there's a place I could spend/ waste a whole lot of time.)
"Social notworking
pp. Surfing a social networking site instead of working. Also: social not-working — social notworker n."
Friday, October 2, 2009
A Good Blog is Hard to Find
Every six weeks or so, my assignment over at the group blog made up of some really great Southern writers is due. Today was that day. The topic this "term" was book signings or writing process. Or whatever we want to blog about, writing wise. It's a stretch to say I wrote about my writing process. Actually, I went for the "whatever" option. Come to think about it, I could have written about book signings but that would have been from the other side of the desk, from my librarian days. Hmmm. That might be a worthy topic for next time.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
It's Cybils Time Again
October 1 is the date to begin nominating your favorite kids' book.
Check out the categories and get out there and nominate your favorite book of the year. This is an award worth watching in the Kids' Book World. Nominations by actual reader/bloggers- you can't beat that.
Related post: Last year's winners
Check out the categories and get out there and nominate your favorite book of the year. This is an award worth watching in the Kids' Book World. Nominations by actual reader/bloggers- you can't beat that.
Related post: Last year's winners
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
On Returning to Writing from a 3-day Hiatus...
Even the best writers get distracted some days:
Returning the Pencil to Its Tray
Everything is fine---
the first bits of sun are on
the yellow flowers behind the low wall,
people in cars are on their way to work,
and I will never have to write again.
Just looking around
will suffice from here on in.
Who said I had to always play
the secretary of the interior?
And I am getting good at being blank,
staring at all the zeroes in the air.
It must have been all the time spent
in the kayak this summer
that brought this out,
the yellow one that went
nicely with the pale blue life jacket---
the sudden, tippy
buoyancy of the launch,
then the exertion, striking
into the wind against the short waves,
but the best was drifting back,
the paddle resting athwart the craft,
and me mindless in the middle of time.
Not even that dark cormorant
perched on the NO WAKE sign,
his narrow head raised
as if he were looking over something,
not even that inquisitive little fellow
could bring me to write another word.
---Billy Collins
Related posts: Poetry Day
Returning the Pencil to Its Tray
Everything is fine---
the first bits of sun are on
the yellow flowers behind the low wall,
people in cars are on their way to work,
and I will never have to write again.
Just looking around
will suffice from here on in.
Who said I had to always play
the secretary of the interior?
And I am getting good at being blank,
staring at all the zeroes in the air.
It must have been all the time spent
in the kayak this summer
that brought this out,
the yellow one that went
nicely with the pale blue life jacket---
the sudden, tippy
buoyancy of the launch,
then the exertion, striking
into the wind against the short waves,
but the best was drifting back,
the paddle resting athwart the craft,
and me mindless in the middle of time.
Not even that dark cormorant
perched on the NO WAKE sign,
his narrow head raised
as if he were looking over something,
not even that inquisitive little fellow
could bring me to write another word.
---Billy Collins
Related posts: Poetry Day
Friday, September 25, 2009
Forest for the Trees
I always forget about this blog. And then I spend an entire afternoon catching up with her. Not sure why it's such fun to read. Perhaps it's Betsy Lerner's venting about publishing (her words, not mine) and advice about writing (I scrolled all the way down to the post about Page Breaks. That I enjoyed it shows how strange my reading has become).
So it was fun reading the True Confessions from editors about "the ones that got away." Check it out. Along Came a Spider? Prep? Cold Mountain, rejected because it didn't ring true to a publisher who claimed she knew her Civil War sites?
That's where I'm headed. Back for more distractions. Kind of like the proverbial fly on the wall, listening in.
So it was fun reading the True Confessions from editors about "the ones that got away." Check it out. Along Came a Spider? Prep? Cold Mountain, rejected because it didn't ring true to a publisher who claimed she knew her Civil War sites?
That's where I'm headed. Back for more distractions. Kind of like the proverbial fly on the wall, listening in.
I voted!
Check out the National Book Foundation's website and vote for your favorite collection of Short Stories. So far, Flannery O'Connor is in the lead. It was a tough decision, but I had to cast my vote for Miss Eudora...
Related posts: Don't Mess With Flannery
Related posts: Don't Mess With Flannery
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Celebrate!
Before the day ends, it just wouldn't be right not to acknowledge what we've all been celebrating today:
NATIONAL PUNCTUATION DAY!!
;-)
Yay! Check out that website and learn lots about commas and the rest of the gang!
NATIONAL PUNCTUATION DAY!!
;-)
Yay! Check out that website and learn lots about commas and the rest of the gang!
All You Need to Know About Publishing and Publicity...
Just ran across this LIVE blog from the Writers' Digest conference on publishing. Whew. My mind is wheeling with a lot of information. After scrolling down through most of the posts, I feel a little like I was there. Or at least somebody I knew was there, telling me about it, breathlessly.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Magician's Elephant
Kate DiCamillo has a new book, just out. I loved Because of Winn-Dixie, the minute I read it. Some of her other books have taken me a while to warm up to, but I always end up being a huge fan. I read The Magician's Elephant more than once, but it captivated me each time. Here's my review, in today's Christian Science Monitor.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Wasting time...
OK, everybody, up from your desks! Rush right down to the refrigerator.
Hmm. On second thought, just click right here and have some fun wasting time with REFRIGERATOR POETRY!
Need another time waster? Let's call it jiggling the brain and make it worth while. You know you love that refrigerator poetry.
Whew. I'm feeling smarter already.
Hmm. On second thought, just click right here and have some fun wasting time with REFRIGERATOR POETRY!
Need another time waster? Let's call it jiggling the brain and make it worth while. You know you love that refrigerator poetry.
Whew. I'm feeling smarter already.
Monday, September 21, 2009
The Voice
On the question of voice in writing, I've heard lots of advice:
"Channel your character." "Write a letter in the character's voice." "Read it aloud till it sounds right."
Lots of workshops, many articles, entire books devoted to that mysterious concept of Voice. But what, really, is voice in a novel or a picture book?
Honestly, I haven't really tried to figure it out, and maybe that's because I hear my characters speaking to me, and I'm afraid if I think too hard on it, they might disappear. Many sound distinctively southern, but they all sound as if they are talking. Does that make sense?
I know voice is more than that. And here is a really good explanation by a writer who knows what she's talking about. Still, I'm glad to read that it does little good to think about it while you are writing. Good to know.
Read Marion Dane Bauer's interview on Through the Tollbooth:
I don’t think we are born with our voice. It does come ...through reading and the practice of writing. I do think, however, that our voice rises up out of who we are and that it does little good to think about voice when you are writing.
Concentrate on knowing your character. Your perceiving character will impact your voice in every story even when you are writing in third person. And concentrate on writing the very best you can. Voice will simply be part of the package. You will know you have fallen into the voice that is right for you when you can feel the energy behind the words.
"Channel your character." "Write a letter in the character's voice." "Read it aloud till it sounds right."
Lots of workshops, many articles, entire books devoted to that mysterious concept of Voice. But what, really, is voice in a novel or a picture book?
Honestly, I haven't really tried to figure it out, and maybe that's because I hear my characters speaking to me, and I'm afraid if I think too hard on it, they might disappear. Many sound distinctively southern, but they all sound as if they are talking. Does that make sense?
I know voice is more than that. And here is a really good explanation by a writer who knows what she's talking about. Still, I'm glad to read that it does little good to think about it while you are writing. Good to know.
Read Marion Dane Bauer's interview on Through the Tollbooth:
I don’t think we are born with our voice. It does come ...through reading and the practice of writing. I do think, however, that our voice rises up out of who we are and that it does little good to think about voice when you are writing.
Concentrate on knowing your character. Your perceiving character will impact your voice in every story even when you are writing in third person. And concentrate on writing the very best you can. Voice will simply be part of the package. You will know you have fallen into the voice that is right for you when you can feel the energy behind the words.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Field Trips
My stay in New Jersey this summer and fall has been marked by field trips. Not the kind I used to make with third grade classes to Waterloo Village and the aquarium at Coney Island, or with the fourth graders to Ellis Island. And not even the story-gathering kind, those trips down Memory Lane with my sister and brother and my Mississippi friends.
Nope, this year I've been venturing out to places I've never been before. Thanks to Al and Barbara for taking me to Bayonne New Jersey's own 9-11 Memorial.
Like any good field tripper, I did my research in advance, which led me to the New Yorker article on the link above.
Love this line:
(After a Jersey City arts organization rejected it) ...it turned out that Bayonne, a city where artists do not exert undue influence, was in the market for a 9/11 memorial.
The Memorial is not without controversy. In fact, that's how I first heard about it. An email claimed it was the memorial that some folks wanted to sweep under the rug, that nobody knows about it, that it was a gift of the people of Russia. Which turns out to be partially true. It is a gift from Russia. But nobody's trying to sweep it anywhere. There are numerous 9-11 Memorials in many little boroughs and small cities all over New Jersey. And a lot of them are not that well known, even though they are very impressive.
Bayonne's memorial is breathtaking actually. To get to the site, we were happy to have a GPS. But once there, we were in awe, first of all, of the setting. The view of the NYC skyline is exactly where the Twin Towers once stood, directly across the river.
The sun reflects off the monument and turns it golden in the late afternoon. The monument depicts a teardrop and is impressive in its size. You can't help but feel moved standing there, looking up and looking across.
Bayonne has a lot to be proud of.
And that line about Bayonne from the New Yorker? Fuhgeddaboudit. Bayonne may not be Jersey City or Hoboken, or even any kind of arts center, but they've got at least one terrific Italian restaurant. Pasta to die for. Cheesecake that made me want to order a whole one to bring home. Chicken so tender and so well prepared that I will forever hold it as a gauge to measure all other chicken dishes by. All this and 50% off the menu during the week. We almost fainted when the check arrived.
Now that's the kind of field trip I hope to repeat before departing the Garden State this winter.
Photos courtesy of Jay Scattergood
Related posts: Chatham's 9-11 Memorial
Nope, this year I've been venturing out to places I've never been before. Thanks to Al and Barbara for taking me to Bayonne New Jersey's own 9-11 Memorial.
Like any good field tripper, I did my research in advance, which led me to the New Yorker article on the link above.
Love this line:
(After a Jersey City arts organization rejected it) ...it turned out that Bayonne, a city where artists do not exert undue influence, was in the market for a 9/11 memorial.
The Memorial is not without controversy. In fact, that's how I first heard about it. An email claimed it was the memorial that some folks wanted to sweep under the rug, that nobody knows about it, that it was a gift of the people of Russia. Which turns out to be partially true. It is a gift from Russia. But nobody's trying to sweep it anywhere. There are numerous 9-11 Memorials in many little boroughs and small cities all over New Jersey. And a lot of them are not that well known, even though they are very impressive.
Bayonne's memorial is breathtaking actually. To get to the site, we were happy to have a GPS. But once there, we were in awe, first of all, of the setting. The view of the NYC skyline is exactly where the Twin Towers once stood, directly across the river.
The sun reflects off the monument and turns it golden in the late afternoon. The monument depicts a teardrop and is impressive in its size. You can't help but feel moved standing there, looking up and looking across.Bayonne has a lot to be proud of.
And that line about Bayonne from the New Yorker? Fuhgeddaboudit. Bayonne may not be Jersey City or Hoboken, or even any kind of arts center, but they've got at least one terrific Italian restaurant. Pasta to die for. Cheesecake that made me want to order a whole one to bring home. Chicken so tender and so well prepared that I will forever hold it as a gauge to measure all other chicken dishes by. All this and 50% off the menu during the week. We almost fainted when the check arrived.
Now that's the kind of field trip I hope to repeat before departing the Garden State this winter.
Photos courtesy of Jay ScattergoodRelated posts: Chatham's 9-11 Memorial
Monday, September 14, 2009
Just Another Day in the City
It was dreary and sprinkled rain most of the day on Saturday, but we decided that just kept the crowds off the High Line. And we loved walking the entire length of the restored train tracks in the drizzle. With views over the street and into the adjoining windows, the New York City High Line is a perfect window into the city.
And what a fascinating setting for a story. I mean, how can you not love a place with a history that documents the last freight carried:
1980-The last train runs on the High Line pulling three carloads of frozen turkeys.
Little boys especially, and maybe a few big ones, were captivated by the chaises on wheels. "Look, Mom, tinkertoys!"
Although not completely evident in this rain-soaked photo, the wheels did have a tinkertoy-ish look.
I can't wait to go back on a dryer day, take up residence on a comfy chaise and open my notebook. What a great place to write and to read.
The summer wildflowers have almost ended, but there will be more next summer. After all, who would dare tamper with the blossoms after reading the signs?
And what a fascinating setting for a story. I mean, how can you not love a place with a history that documents the last freight carried:
1980-The last train runs on the High Line pulling three carloads of frozen turkeys.
Little boys especially, and maybe a few big ones, were captivated by the chaises on wheels. "Look, Mom, tinkertoys!"
Although not completely evident in this rain-soaked photo, the wheels did have a tinkertoy-ish look.
I can't wait to go back on a dryer day, take up residence on a comfy chaise and open my notebook. What a great place to write and to read.
The summer wildflowers have almost ended, but there will be more next summer. After all, who would dare tamper with the blossoms after reading the signs?
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Al Capone
September is new book time. For kids in school and for book reviewers like me. I love opening the mail and seeing my special review copies, knowing I get to have an opinion and write about it before it even hits the bookstores. Much more fun than writing about books and authors and all those other assignments from my own school days.
Whenever possible, I review books I love. And if I had my way, most would be kids' books, especially middle grade and YA fiction. And this fall there are so many to love!
My review of AL CAPONE SHINES MY SHOES appeared this weekend in the Christian Science Monitor. What a great book! The kind of story you can recommend totally without reservation to a whole host of kids. Not one reason not to love this book. Sometimes I have to frame my personal recommendations, when asked, with a clarification. There are no "yes, buts" when you describe this one. Not this one and not the other "Al Capone" story-- Al Capone Does My Shirts.
These two novels by Gennifer Choldenko are totally not about Al Capone. They just happen to take place on Alcatraz Island, the prison where Capone and his cronies were sent in the 1030s. And he is in the story. But so is baseball, autism, friendships, moral dilemma, and lots of food references. Which of course, I love. Pass the the cannolis, please!
But the story belongs to Moose Flanagan, his friends and family. Just a great voice, a funny story, perfectly told and perfect for middle grade readers, older kids, and even parents and teachers.
Go ahead. Put it on your wish list. Reserve it at the library. Buy it for your favorite niece or nephew. Best aunt/uncle/ grandma/grandpa award, coming right up!
Whenever possible, I review books I love. And if I had my way, most would be kids' books, especially middle grade and YA fiction. And this fall there are so many to love!
My review of AL CAPONE SHINES MY SHOES appeared this weekend in the Christian Science Monitor. What a great book! The kind of story you can recommend totally without reservation to a whole host of kids. Not one reason not to love this book. Sometimes I have to frame my personal recommendations, when asked, with a clarification. There are no "yes, buts" when you describe this one. Not this one and not the other "Al Capone" story-- Al Capone Does My Shirts.
These two novels by Gennifer Choldenko are totally not about Al Capone. They just happen to take place on Alcatraz Island, the prison where Capone and his cronies were sent in the 1030s. And he is in the story. But so is baseball, autism, friendships, moral dilemma, and lots of food references. Which of course, I love. Pass the the cannolis, please!
But the story belongs to Moose Flanagan, his friends and family. Just a great voice, a funny story, perfectly told and perfect for middle grade readers, older kids, and even parents and teachers.
Go ahead. Put it on your wish list. Reserve it at the library. Buy it for your favorite niece or nephew. Best aunt/uncle/ grandma/grandpa award, coming right up!
Friday, September 11, 2009
Another September 11th
I guess there are a lot of us who will wake up every September 11th, for as long as we live, and remember what it was like, where we were, who we were worried about in 2001. Today seems different somehow. For one thing, it's dreary, and gloomy rain has been coming down steadily all morning. On other September 11ths, when the sun was bright and the flags were everywhere, I was always reminded of the day we'll never forget.
Today we turned on the TV and heard Mayor Bloomberg tell us that this will be a day of service, from now on. I like that idea and hope it works. I read all the comments from my Facebook friends, remembering people they'd lost, remarking about how long it has been. And I read the front page of the New York Times, the article about how the city never thought they'd get to September 12 and beyond. Yet, here we are.
We're going to the Museum of Modern Art, to dinner, to walk around the city tomorrow. Taking the train with friends. All those things that some predicted we'd never do without fear.
So even though I'm not seeing the sunshine and the flags today, I'm still remembering.
Related post: A Beautiful September Day
Today we turned on the TV and heard Mayor Bloomberg tell us that this will be a day of service, from now on. I like that idea and hope it works. I read all the comments from my Facebook friends, remembering people they'd lost, remarking about how long it has been. And I read the front page of the New York Times, the article about how the city never thought they'd get to September 12 and beyond. Yet, here we are.
We're going to the Museum of Modern Art, to dinner, to walk around the city tomorrow. Taking the train with friends. All those things that some predicted we'd never do without fear.
So even though I'm not seeing the sunshine and the flags today, I'm still remembering.
Related post: A Beautiful September Day
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Looking for Alaska
I liked this young adult book a lot so appreciated the reminder of this quote. Kind of like my life and my bookshelves:
"Have you really read all those books in your room?" She laughed. "Oh God no. I've maybe read a third of 'em. But I'm going to read all of them. I call it my Life's Library. Every summer since I was little, I've gone to garage sales and bought all the books that looked interesting. So I always have something to read." --Looking for Alaska by John Green
Thanks to teen blogger Lexi for this. Also fun to see what books actual real-live avid readers, of the book's intended age group, are reading.
"Have you really read all those books in your room?" She laughed. "Oh God no. I've maybe read a third of 'em. But I'm going to read all of them. I call it my Life's Library. Every summer since I was little, I've gone to garage sales and bought all the books that looked interesting. So I always have something to read." --Looking for Alaska by John Green
Thanks to teen blogger Lexi for this. Also fun to see what books actual real-live avid readers, of the book's intended age group, are reading.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Inspiration and Imagination
Or
"What I Did on my Summer Vacation"
Remember those required writing essays? Even the youngest children know they are coming. And know, to impress the new teacher, it's good to have topics other than
Ate sno-cones, Read a lot of beach books, Cooked fish on the grill.
But, thankfully, my friend Eileen Harrell just shared this quote with me, paraphrased from Thomas Merton:
“The imagination needs time to browse.”
I've been thinking about that during these last days of summer. Labor Day weekend always marked the end of my children's and my own (grown-up) summers, with school following on the heels of the holiday. Mind you, I never knew that Labor Day was a holiday till I moved out of the South. My astute father always said that Labor Day and Daylight Savings Time were inventions of those living outside any economy that depended on farming. "Cows can't tell time," he'd remark. Nor was Labor Day weekend acknowledged by livestock where I grew up.
But here I am, in a place where this first September weekend is a big deal. The summer is ending, there's a chill in the evening air, and I've even detected a bit of color in the Japanese maples.
I've had lots of time and lots of people this past week to inspire my imagination.
All sorts of things-- from caterpillars. . .
to cute puppies . . .
And so another summer ends, with beautiful sunsets and plenty of time to let the imagination wander.
photos courtesy of Steve Marino and Jay Scattergood
Remember: Imagination needs time to browse.
And browse away!
Possible related posts: My Dad and Trains
My Life With Dogs
"What I Did on my Summer Vacation"
Remember those required writing essays? Even the youngest children know they are coming. And know, to impress the new teacher, it's good to have topics other than
Ate sno-cones, Read a lot of beach books, Cooked fish on the grill.
But, thankfully, my friend Eileen Harrell just shared this quote with me, paraphrased from Thomas Merton:
“The imagination needs time to browse.”
I've been thinking about that during these last days of summer. Labor Day weekend always marked the end of my children's and my own (grown-up) summers, with school following on the heels of the holiday. Mind you, I never knew that Labor Day was a holiday till I moved out of the South. My astute father always said that Labor Day and Daylight Savings Time were inventions of those living outside any economy that depended on farming. "Cows can't tell time," he'd remark. Nor was Labor Day weekend acknowledged by livestock where I grew up.
But here I am, in a place where this first September weekend is a big deal. The summer is ending, there's a chill in the evening air, and I've even detected a bit of color in the Japanese maples.
I've had lots of time and lots of people this past week to inspire my imagination.
All sorts of things-- from caterpillars. . .
to cute puppies . . .
And so another summer ends, with beautiful sunsets and plenty of time to let the imagination wander.
photos courtesy of Steve Marino and Jay Scattergood
Remember: Imagination needs time to browse.
And browse away!
Possible related posts: My Dad and Trains
My Life With Dogs
Monday, August 31, 2009
First Drafting
Although I've put aside starting anything longer than 1000 words while I dive into revamping and editing something old, I like this post by writer Heather Vogel Frederick about starting brand new drafts, how difficult putting your toe into the water can be.
Thanks to Jo Knowles for the Facebook heads up on it. Jo's favorite has to do with making hollandaise. Kind of.
Writing a first draft always reminds me of starting a new project with third graders, in my school librarianship days:
How long does it have to be? Can I copy this picture now? Do we need note cards? Can I use a pen? A pencil? Colored markers?
That's how I feel about early drafts. A million questions, with at least that many right answers. And a few very wrong ones you won't know about until you are halfway down the path.
How do you feel about starting something new? Putting that proverbial toe into uncharted waters?
Thanks to Jo Knowles for the Facebook heads up on it. Jo's favorite has to do with making hollandaise. Kind of.
Writing a first draft always reminds me of starting a new project with third graders, in my school librarianship days:
How long does it have to be? Can I copy this picture now? Do we need note cards? Can I use a pen? A pencil? Colored markers?
That's how I feel about early drafts. A million questions, with at least that many right answers. And a few very wrong ones you won't know about until you are halfway down the path.
How do you feel about starting something new? Putting that proverbial toe into uncharted waters?
Friday, August 28, 2009
Great Writing Advice
Really terrific Food for Thought. But not just for thought, for action. Sue Monk Kidd's Ten Most Helpful Things I Could Ever Tell Anyone About Writing. Click here for her list. I love #9:
Hurry slowly.
"Getting the pace of a story right keeps me up at night. I have a horror of sitting on a plane, next to someone reading my book, and seeing her flip over to see how many pages are left in the chapter. You want a reader so caught up in the spell of a story it would never occur to her to pull herself away and count how many pages she had to read before she could stop."
Hurry slowly.
"Getting the pace of a story right keeps me up at night. I have a horror of sitting on a plane, next to someone reading my book, and seeing her flip over to see how many pages are left in the chapter. You want a reader so caught up in the spell of a story it would never occur to her to pull herself away and count how many pages she had to read before she could stop."
Thursday, August 27, 2009
New Favorite Series (I hope)
I discovered the books of Kate Atkinson through a review in the New York Times. And rushed right out to my local library to reserve When Will There Be Good News?
After about 10 pages, I realized that I was onto something. And I returned that book and checked out, Case Histories, the first of the series. I say series with hope. So far, there are three books in what Janet Maslin terms "books that would be chronologically linked if Ms. Atkinson had a simple sense of chronology." Which she doesn't.
Series or not, I wanted to start at the beginning.
Now I've finished book #2: ONE GOOD TURN. Next, I'm back to where I started, with Atkinson's newest. These books are hard to describe, other than saying they are fabulously written and fun to follow. Shifts in Point of View don't disrupt the action. Funny asides don't seem like author intrusions. I laughed at a lot of things in the first two books.
A favorite thought from One Good Turn: Martin, a writer/oddball of a character, imagines moving his fiction away from the linear narratives about his (boring) character and "writing a Borges-like construction where each story contained the kernel of the next and so on..something with intellectual cachet (something good)."
And this, as that same writer views the receptionist at the dump of a hotel he finds himself holed up in when a murder has kept him from his own house: "She had a smear of what looked like blood on her chin, but Martin thought it was more likely to be tomato ketchup."
That's about the way these first two mysteries progress. Weaving seamlessly from story to story, with kernels of characters, places, actions showing up from one to the next. Just great writing. And fun reading. In fact, reviewer Janet Maslin included When Will There Be Good News on her Top 10 list for 2008 (Along with Dennis Lehane's The Given Day, Edgar Sawtelle, and Ron Rash's Serena, among others).
I agree with Maslin who says she very much hopes Atkinson will continue the series. Here's what another favorite crime writer (if you can call them that), Harlan Coban, has to say:
Kate Atkinson is an absolute must-read. I love everything she writes.
Ditto that, Mr. Coban.
Related posts:
Writers in Paradise: Dennis Lehane
After about 10 pages, I realized that I was onto something. And I returned that book and checked out, Case Histories, the first of the series. I say series with hope. So far, there are three books in what Janet Maslin terms "books that would be chronologically linked if Ms. Atkinson had a simple sense of chronology." Which she doesn't.
Series or not, I wanted to start at the beginning.
Now I've finished book #2: ONE GOOD TURN. Next, I'm back to where I started, with Atkinson's newest. These books are hard to describe, other than saying they are fabulously written and fun to follow. Shifts in Point of View don't disrupt the action. Funny asides don't seem like author intrusions. I laughed at a lot of things in the first two books.
A favorite thought from One Good Turn: Martin, a writer/oddball of a character, imagines moving his fiction away from the linear narratives about his (boring) character and "writing a Borges-like construction where each story contained the kernel of the next and so on..something with intellectual cachet (something good)."
And this, as that same writer views the receptionist at the dump of a hotel he finds himself holed up in when a murder has kept him from his own house: "She had a smear of what looked like blood on her chin, but Martin thought it was more likely to be tomato ketchup."
That's about the way these first two mysteries progress. Weaving seamlessly from story to story, with kernels of characters, places, actions showing up from one to the next. Just great writing. And fun reading. In fact, reviewer Janet Maslin included When Will There Be Good News on her Top 10 list for 2008 (Along with Dennis Lehane's The Given Day, Edgar Sawtelle, and Ron Rash's Serena, among others).
I agree with Maslin who says she very much hopes Atkinson will continue the series. Here's what another favorite crime writer (if you can call them that), Harlan Coban, has to say:
Kate Atkinson is an absolute must-read. I love everything she writes.
Ditto that, Mr. Coban.
Related posts:
Writers in Paradise: Dennis Lehane
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
The Last Word (Promise)
I know some of you love these postings about Julia Child and all things Julia-ish. And maybe some of you are saying Move On! Enough with the postings about cooking!
So here's one more and I think this should do it. Today's New York Times sets us home cooks straight. Here's the way to make Boeuf Bourguignon in (Gasp!) Five Steps. That Gasp! was in the title of the article.
But it's true, and it's all about a new cookbook, coming from France in October.
So here's one more and I think this should do it. Today's New York Times sets us home cooks straight. Here's the way to make Boeuf Bourguignon in (Gasp!) Five Steps. That Gasp! was in the title of the article.
But it's true, and it's all about a new cookbook, coming from France in October.
Monday, August 24, 2009
One More About Julia
Great article in today's New York Times. Already this morning the #1 most emailed and on the top ten list of most blogged. So I'll just add the link here, and add my 2-cents worth: Loved the ending of this article, Nora Ephron's comment about people walking out of the multiplex and into the bookstore. Great to think a movie can have that kind of impact on book sales. Way to go Julie and Julia, both of you!
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Julia Child's Paris
Paris is one of my favorite cities. OK, my favorite city. And Julia Child fascinates me. I actually met her and heard her talk to the students at the school where I worked in New Jersey, and she was no less intriguing in person than she is in her larger-than-life big and little screen presence. Yes, I loved Julie and Julia, both the book and the new movie.
(Photo credit: Wikimedia)
Now I have a new reason to return to Paris. The site that gave me Henri the Existential Cat now has a post up about the places Julia lived, ate, strolled in her adopted city. Check it out here.
Related Posts: Henri the Cat
Book Review: Hungry for Paris
(Photo credit: Wikimedia)Now I have a new reason to return to Paris. The site that gave me Henri the Existential Cat now has a post up about the places Julia lived, ate, strolled in her adopted city. Check it out here.
Related Posts: Henri the Cat
Book Review: Hungry for Paris
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Food Writing
I've been thinking about food- Southern food, to be exact. And I don't mean writing about food specifically, essays about picking blueberries or missing figs. (For those, see my links to essays, on this blog, please.)
I also don't mean the kind of food my fabulous friend and fellow writer Lee Stokes Hilton celebrates on her new blog. Though after reading her recipe, I have been pondering making scones, as soon as it cools off.
But right now I'm mulling over changes, additions, edits of my book for middle grade readers that's been percolating for some time. The first draft had many references to fried chicken, black skillets, pimento cheese. Then I got cold feet and took out some of the Food Talk. A friend who'd published her kids' books with a very astute editor told me he said she had her (Southern) characters eating all the time. OK, but we do like our food, sir! Still, I held back.
Then I read Faith, Hope and Ivy June. And there was food every time I turned around. And I loved it. Mashing up Grandmommie's beans with the back of her spoon. Offering up something from the kitchen to the country doctor who comes to call. Homemade preserves. All the good stuff that came from that mountain kitchen added layers of description for me. I could just picture Mammaw in there cooking for Ivy June and Catherine, the exchange student friend from the city. Those cookies she baked drew me into the brothers' afterschool day.
So I'm adding layers, details to my novel and think at least some will be food. In the South, where my manuscript is set, that's a good piece of what families are all about. Sitting down, enjoying the stories around the dinner table.
Bring on the fried chicken. Gravy made in a black skillet. Corn bread, too. I just can't forget the family eating Sunday dinner, their stories around that table.
Related posts: SCBWI Pt. 2: Phyllis Naylor
Eating Our Way Home
I also don't mean the kind of food my fabulous friend and fellow writer Lee Stokes Hilton celebrates on her new blog. Though after reading her recipe, I have been pondering making scones, as soon as it cools off.
But right now I'm mulling over changes, additions, edits of my book for middle grade readers that's been percolating for some time. The first draft had many references to fried chicken, black skillets, pimento cheese. Then I got cold feet and took out some of the Food Talk. A friend who'd published her kids' books with a very astute editor told me he said she had her (Southern) characters eating all the time. OK, but we do like our food, sir! Still, I held back.
Then I read Faith, Hope and Ivy June. And there was food every time I turned around. And I loved it. Mashing up Grandmommie's beans with the back of her spoon. Offering up something from the kitchen to the country doctor who comes to call. Homemade preserves. All the good stuff that came from that mountain kitchen added layers of description for me. I could just picture Mammaw in there cooking for Ivy June and Catherine, the exchange student friend from the city. Those cookies she baked drew me into the brothers' afterschool day.
So I'm adding layers, details to my novel and think at least some will be food. In the South, where my manuscript is set, that's a good piece of what families are all about. Sitting down, enjoying the stories around the dinner table.
Bring on the fried chicken. Gravy made in a black skillet. Corn bread, too. I just can't forget the family eating Sunday dinner, their stories around that table.
Related posts: SCBWI Pt. 2: Phyllis Naylor
Eating Our Way Home
Friday, August 14, 2009
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
An Abundance of Riches
Look what's sitting on my To Read shelf. A book lover/former librarian/ book reviewer's dream. Three of the best fall kids' novels out there. And I get to read them all!
Well, as you might notice from all the blue stickies, I've read one of them and am about to write my review. I've actually read two of them because I couldn't wait to open Popeye and Elvis when the delivery guy left it on my front step on Monday. But I'm reading that one again soon, and the new Al Capone is also waiting for me. It's like Christmas and my 10-year-old birthday all rolled into one.
More to come on these. Right now, I have some serious fun reading to get to.
Related post: Book Reviewing
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Funny Sandwiches!
I'm sorry. But this is just too funny not to share. I know, I know. Nothing to do with writing. Though I'm sure if I ate a Sponge Bob sandwich, I could write something really funny. Or how about that little mouse- is he cute or not? I tried to paste an image into this entry but nothing seems to work. So go ahead, click on the link.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Best Beach Books Ever
If it's not too late to read at the beach-- and for my friends in New England, I'm not sure you've had your summer yet so maybe there's time--here's a great list of books to consider.
From NPR's recent poll to listeners and readers: What's your favorite beach read?
So what have you been reading this summer? Beach or not.
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Learn from the Best
I think there might actually be a famous writer who said "Steal from the best." But I'm not stealing today. Today I'm thinking hard about this, by one of my all-time favorite writers, Anne Tyler:
All really satisfying stories, I believe, can generally be described as spend-thrift... A spendthrift story has a strange way of seeming bigger than the sum of its parts; it is stuffed full; it gives the sense of possessing further information that could be divulged if called for.
That's the ticket. It could be divulged. As long as the writer knows the backstory, the character's history, what happens off-stage, readers don't need every single detail spelled out.
All really satisfying stories, I believe, can generally be described as spend-thrift... A spendthrift story has a strange way of seeming bigger than the sum of its parts; it is stuffed full; it gives the sense of possessing further information that could be divulged if called for.
That's the ticket. It could be divulged. As long as the writer knows the backstory, the character's history, what happens off-stage, readers don't need every single detail spelled out.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
A Good Blog is Hard to Find
Today was my turn over at the Southern Writers Blog, A Good Blog is Hard to Find. I finally found an excuse to link to one of my favorite articles of the summer in The St. Petersburg Times. Who'd ever think there would be so much to a simple Sno-Cone...
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Black Skillet as Metaphor?
I hope I never have to give up my morning newspapers, the kind printed on newsprint I can spread out on nearby tables and separate on the floor, with sections featuring Sports and Food and Local News. Newspapers I can glance up from when a replay of the 13th inning win by the Tampa Bay Rays over the Red Sox last night comes on the TV. But that's another story.
Some days my daily newspapers are filled with good stuff. Like today. Along with Frank Bruni's review of the Union Square Cafe, which sparked memories of a terrific January lunch there with a friend and a daughter, I loved today's entire food section.
Both the New York Times and the St. Petersburg Times. The St. Pete Times food editor is writing about Julia Childs, but I'm saving my comments till I've seen Julie and Julia (loved the book!).
I've been thinking about my black iron skillet as a metaphor for something- maybe for writing techniques, as my friend Sue threw out at me at our recent critique meeting. So that will be on my mind today, inspired by Sue and by Jhumpa Lahiri's article in today's New York Times.
OK, I know, she's writing about her summer vacation rentals, and Julia Moskin, in that same Dining section, takes on a similar subject. But both articles prompted me to think of tiny beginnings, an entry into an essay or a story. So today I'll spend time pondering the possibilities. And who knows what might be cooking on that metaphoric iron skillet by supper time?
Some days my daily newspapers are filled with good stuff. Like today. Along with Frank Bruni's review of the Union Square Cafe, which sparked memories of a terrific January lunch there with a friend and a daughter, I loved today's entire food section.
Both the New York Times and the St. Petersburg Times. The St. Pete Times food editor is writing about Julia Childs, but I'm saving my comments till I've seen Julie and Julia (loved the book!).
I've been thinking about my black iron skillet as a metaphor for something- maybe for writing techniques, as my friend Sue threw out at me at our recent critique meeting. So that will be on my mind today, inspired by Sue and by Jhumpa Lahiri's article in today's New York Times.
OK, I know, she's writing about her summer vacation rentals, and Julia Moskin, in that same Dining section, takes on a similar subject. But both articles prompted me to think of tiny beginnings, an entry into an essay or a story. So today I'll spend time pondering the possibilities. And who knows what might be cooking on that metaphoric iron skillet by supper time?
Monday, August 3, 2009
Stirring the Pot
Although my cooking skills aren't legendary, there's one thing I don't mind doing: stirring. I make killer cheese grits and a mean roux. Somebody once said of making roux: You can drink two beers while you're stirring and it still may not be ready. Of course, I'd never do that. You have to watch the roux very closely, without impairment. If it burns, out goes the whole batch.
I didn't think I loved risotto, however, and I'd never attempted actually making it. Although it's OK when a restaurant sneaks risotto under the dish I've ordered, I get more excited when my shrimp is heaped on grits or polenta. But I decided to give it a try. And I didn't bat an eye reading about stirring risotto. That part didn't worry me. I'd stirred grits longer, and with grits, you have to be careful not to get scalded.
I was ready for risotto.
Some recipes insist you should stir nonstop for an hour, but I'd watched my friend Joan making it, and she wasn't a slave to her stove. We took turns stirring that night. But tonight, I was on my own. Lots of stirring. And plenty of time to think about writing, while stirring.
I decided writing is like making grits, roux, risotto-- a bit of this and a spoon of that. Stir, stir, stir. Add more broth, a pinch of salt, sample it. Stir some more. And occasionally, regrettably, toss the whole thing.
With risotto, I was lucky my first time out. Here's the pot, mid-way through stirring. With occasional breaks to write about it.
All it took was arborio rice, sauteed onions, vegetable stock, a spash of white wine, and a bit of grated parmesan cheese. And all that stirring.
I didn't think I loved risotto, however, and I'd never attempted actually making it. Although it's OK when a restaurant sneaks risotto under the dish I've ordered, I get more excited when my shrimp is heaped on grits or polenta. But I decided to give it a try. And I didn't bat an eye reading about stirring risotto. That part didn't worry me. I'd stirred grits longer, and with grits, you have to be careful not to get scalded.
I was ready for risotto.
Some recipes insist you should stir nonstop for an hour, but I'd watched my friend Joan making it, and she wasn't a slave to her stove. We took turns stirring that night. But tonight, I was on my own. Lots of stirring. And plenty of time to think about writing, while stirring.
I decided writing is like making grits, roux, risotto-- a bit of this and a spoon of that. Stir, stir, stir. Add more broth, a pinch of salt, sample it. Stir some more. And occasionally, regrettably, toss the whole thing.
With risotto, I was lucky my first time out. Here's the pot, mid-way through stirring. With occasional breaks to write about it.
All it took was arborio rice, sauteed onions, vegetable stock, a spash of white wine, and a bit of grated parmesan cheese. And all that stirring.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Home Food
This morning's New York Times carried a story about pizza in Brooklyn, available for $5 a slice. And people are lining up. My favorite line, which must resonate with others because my friend Leslie also picked it up:
“Worth it,” said Mr. Mancino, 64, between bites on Wednesday afternoon. “It’s like they dug up my grandma and she made the pie.”
My brother and sister and I feel that way about the fried chicken at Two Sisters' in Jackson, Mississippi. If you've never been, and you long for food cooked the way it used to be, check it out if you find yourself in Jackson. Fried chicken, homemade rolls, all kinds of what my Yankee husband once insulted as "brown vegetables" (butter beans, field peas, etc.), and peach cobbler for dessert. At least that's what I remember from our last visit. And every time we go, my siblings and I think our childhood cook must have swooped down from Heaven and is back there frying the chicken.
So I totally get it about the $5 slice of pizza at Di Fara Pizza in Brooklyn.
And while I'm on food and The New York Times. Here's an article about hamburgers by one of my favorite Southerners, writer John T. Edge, in yesterday's paper. Love his books about food. (See my review of Donuts.) All you ever wanted to know, but probably really don't need to know, about the subject. He's also covered hamburgers and fried chicken, in great depth, with humor. Surely the only way to write about something so bad for you that tastes that good, on occasion.
“Worth it,” said Mr. Mancino, 64, between bites on Wednesday afternoon. “It’s like they dug up my grandma and she made the pie.”
My brother and sister and I feel that way about the fried chicken at Two Sisters' in Jackson, Mississippi. If you've never been, and you long for food cooked the way it used to be, check it out if you find yourself in Jackson. Fried chicken, homemade rolls, all kinds of what my Yankee husband once insulted as "brown vegetables" (butter beans, field peas, etc.), and peach cobbler for dessert. At least that's what I remember from our last visit. And every time we go, my siblings and I think our childhood cook must have swooped down from Heaven and is back there frying the chicken.
So I totally get it about the $5 slice of pizza at Di Fara Pizza in Brooklyn.
And while I'm on food and The New York Times. Here's an article about hamburgers by one of my favorite Southerners, writer John T. Edge, in yesterday's paper. Love his books about food. (See my review of Donuts.) All you ever wanted to know, but probably really don't need to know, about the subject. He's also covered hamburgers and fried chicken, in great depth, with humor. Surely the only way to write about something so bad for you that tastes that good, on occasion.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Typing Skills
I loved the interview with Pat Conroy in the new, August issue of Southern Living. I learned he writes in longhand because his dad made him drop out of typing classes. Conroy knew he wanted to be a writer and realized typing would help. His dad had other ideas. Fighter pilot, for example. Where he'd have sergeants to type for him.
I, on the other hand, am a fast, (mostly) competent two-handed typist because I learned in 8th grade typing class and followed up with a high school class which enabled me to charge my fellow college classmates for typing their research papers (especially boys, whose fathers probably also thought typing was an unnecessary skill).
Did you know you can type more than 3,000 words with your left hand? And only 300 with the right hand alone? That's assuming you use the correct finger position, of course. Think about words like "exaggerate" and "stewardesses." Why is this? Early typists were so fast they jammed their machines, so in the 1870s, frequently-used letters like A, T, and N were separated on the keyboard.
Now you know.
I, on the other hand, am a fast, (mostly) competent two-handed typist because I learned in 8th grade typing class and followed up with a high school class which enabled me to charge my fellow college classmates for typing their research papers (especially boys, whose fathers probably also thought typing was an unnecessary skill).
Did you know you can type more than 3,000 words with your left hand? And only 300 with the right hand alone? That's assuming you use the correct finger position, of course. Think about words like "exaggerate" and "stewardesses." Why is this? Early typists were so fast they jammed their machines, so in the 1870s, frequently-used letters like A, T, and N were separated on the keyboard.
Now you know.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Book Reviewing
Reading books, then writing about them, seems like a perfect gig, right? Opening a new book with great expectation and anticipation, a story no one else has insisted You Must Read This and then proceeded to tell me what happens- All good. But there's a lot of responsibility in this newness. And then there's the pulling together of the review. You know a lot of really accomplished writers are going to see it, and you don't want to get it wrong. Apostrophes count. Just recently someone commented on something I'd written and cautioned me to watch for typos. Typos? Me? I'm the original line editor. What I think he meant was my propensity to leave out commas in short compound sentences. I do that occasionally and I know I do it (like that).
Is that so wrong? Well, I guess not, as long as I realize what I'm doing and do it intentionally. That's my story anyhow.
Check out Barbara O'Connor's recent blog posts (scroll past the hilarious antics of her new puppy Ruby...) to see how even the most experienced writer anguishes over her latest manuscript edits. Or at least that's what accomplished writers should do. There's nothing worse than reading a book filled with grammar and puncutation mistakes. I know. I've been sent books, albeit just galleys, so filled with errors that I wonder how they could ever fix them for the actual book.
But back to my reading and writing about books. Today's Christian Science Monitor featured my review of Rebecca Stead's book When You Reach Me. That was one hard book to review! I didn't want to give too much away because the story is complicated and hinges on events that take place early in the writing but later in the story. Aha, see that right there makes no sense when I write it. You just have to read the book. It was a terrific book, well-written and accomplished and unusual. And I loved reading it.
Is that so wrong? Well, I guess not, as long as I realize what I'm doing and do it intentionally. That's my story anyhow.
Check out Barbara O'Connor's recent blog posts (scroll past the hilarious antics of her new puppy Ruby...) to see how even the most experienced writer anguishes over her latest manuscript edits. Or at least that's what accomplished writers should do. There's nothing worse than reading a book filled with grammar and puncutation mistakes. I know. I've been sent books, albeit just galleys, so filled with errors that I wonder how they could ever fix them for the actual book.
But back to my reading and writing about books. Today's Christian Science Monitor featured my review of Rebecca Stead's book When You Reach Me. That was one hard book to review! I didn't want to give too much away because the story is complicated and hinges on events that take place early in the writing but later in the story. Aha, see that right there makes no sense when I write it. You just have to read the book. It was a terrific book, well-written and accomplished and unusual. And I loved reading it.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Revision...
Quote from Darcy Pattison's book, Novel Metamorphosis.
(The book was recommended last weekend at a terrific revision workshop.)
"I can't write five words but that I change seven."
Dorothy Parker
Woe is me. Whoops.
(The book was recommended last weekend at a terrific revision workshop.)
"I can't write five words but that I change seven."
Dorothy Parker
Woe is me. Whoops.
Woe is I.
Woe am I.
See what I mean? You could make yourself crazy like this. And I thought I was The Grammar Queen.
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