What A Day...

I love the sky in September. Today there's hardly a cloud and the blue is so beautiful it makes your heart ache. When we have these kind of days on September 11th, it's hard to forget nine years ago. Not that anybody is trying. But today, the sky just takes your breath away. I snapped a picture of our neighbor's Japanese maple, turning red against the bluest sky.

Chatham and Madison, next-door-neighbors of towns, were full of activity today. Farmers' Market, soccer games, a Green Initiative in the middle of town and yard sales in our neighborhood. It was hard to stop and remember. But I bet everybody did.


Related posts: Bayonne's 9/11 Memorial
A Beautiful September Day, 2008

Blogger Bust

Egads. I should have known better than to play around with templates early this morning.
They ate my widgets. Stay tuned. Blog being repaired. I hope...

Quaker Motto Calendar

It's time to order!


Check out the order form for these Quaker Motto Calendars and note that orders received by October 1 are guaranteed delivery by December 1st. Just in time for your holiday greetings. The calendars fit perfectly into large Christmas card envelopes, or you can tuck your own smaller cards into the calendar's envelope.








Here is a sample page from the 2011 calendar.


I love the stories that come from memories of seeing these sold at a childhood church or hanging near a much-loved grandfather's office desk. You can read about the Scattergood family's connection to the calendars in last year's blog post by clicking here. Great Aunt Margery Scattergood added her story in a letter, meticulously typed, stamped with a 13-cent "Airmail" stamp, and mailed to me in February, 1976, when I was new to the family. She explained that they were started by her father, Thomas.

Father was not gifted in the ministry, so he did not speak in Meeting but felt that getting out these calendars and distributing them would be one way he could substitute a worthwhile service instead of speaking in Meeting. He carried on the work until his death in 1907 when my brother, Henry Scattergood carried them forward and continued them until his death in 1963.

Since that time, other Scattergood relatives have kept the calendars in print. They are now put together by my sisters-in-law Marion Scattergood Ballard and Evelyn Scattergood Day. Good for them to keep this tradition alive and do their own Good Works.

Giving Advice

I seem to have gained new stature in the world. Even before my book sees the light of publishing day. Each week, somebody asks for advice about publishing that novel tucked into a drawer, hidden away, half finished.

I wish I knew the answer. In fact, I wish there were an answer! My best advice is hard work, butt in chair, network, read, learn.

Someone who's been at this longer than I, and with great success, started a conversation at her blog just now. Advice to our younger writing selves. Click on over to Kirby Larson's blog and join the conversation. Or tell me right here, what advice would you give your newbie self, re: writing?

Post Beach Books?

Last month, Newsweek's Jon Meacham editorialized on a topic near to my heart: detective novels, crime novels, and his summertime defense of the mystery/thriller genre. I particularly like the end of his essay, his answer to criticism that the books are frivolous lightweights:

"...no one who thinks of himself as a student of human nature can, in my view, dismiss some of the most vivid (and fun!) literature about the things that make us who we are, for better and surely for worse."

To tell the truth, I feel no need to defend. I read a lot. I read kids' books for enjoyment and edification, literary fiction when I want something worth discussing and need to think about how beautifully written a book can be, what amazing words a writer can pull from thin air.

But when I'm stuck for hours in an airport (which, sadly, I often am) or sitting on a plane next to a chatter (I do not like to talk to seatmates), give me a new P.D. James, the latest from Elizabeth George, or the new Scott Turow novel.

I'd call it my guilty pleasure but I feel no guilt.


Right now I'm reading the latest by Turow. Not only do I love the story so far, I give him high marks for how he's woven backstory from the hero's appearance in Turow's earlier novels. Which I read so long ago that they lingered only slightly in my book brain. I needed that refreshing and he gave it to me seamlessly.

(On a side note, this is the first book I've read on our new IPad. So far so good. I don't want to give up my print books, but this is working out a whole lot better than I anticipated...)

About this time last summer, Newsweek did a big book issue. Click here for links and to read my comments.

Hanging around with kid readers pushing to get summer reading lists completed this month, I silently sent a message to their teachers and librarians. Be sure to put something fun on those lists! Let kids read books of their own choosing, no restrictions, no page counts.

And for the rest of us readers- have no guilt. Read what you love. And I'd love to hear what that was this summer.

Southern Living and Southern Talking

I don't usually pay much attention to the magazine, true confessions, but this month's "Southern Journal" essay in Southern Living really struck a chord with me. I so totally think Hollywood needs to pay attention. Much as I love The Closer, Kyra Sedgewick and her Thank you so mu-uch and those endless Lew-ten-unts is beginning to wear thin.

And don't people realize there's a difference between the way people in New Orleans and people in Nashville talk? If you've lived in Mississippi, you even know there's a speech variation between Deltans and Coast residents. I know Hollywood (and literature!) can't always re-create such nuances, but please- surely they can figure out something better than stupid Yankees mimicking dumb Southerners.

And while I'm ranting, there's nothing worse than bad Southern speech in books-- dare I say especially kids' books-- Nah, it's any book that crosses that line.

Maybe it's not possible to distinguish between regions in kids' books. (Although, when it counts, a few good writers do manage to get the flavor of certain sections of the country just fine, better than fine- perfect: Thank you very much, Kerry, Barbara, Kimberley, Phyllis- to name a few.)

So I know you do not have to be completely idiotic about it. I mean do all Southerners really sound like they're saying SHOULDA and COULDA all the time? Not to mention writing every other sentence with a dropped final G.

Enough already!

OK, now I got that off my chest. I can get back to work.

If you're interested in a much more articulate rant than mine, pick up the September issue of Southern Living and read Amy Bickers' backpage essay. Or you can click here and read it.
And if you'd like to read something I wrote for the Southern Writers' Blog, way back when I first started over there, on a related topic, click here for South Speak. You can leave me a comment about your favorite Southern expressions and words. And those we'd just never, ever use. Or at least we'd never mispronounce.

I hope Kyra's listening.

National Dog Day!

OK, I was away from my computer and missed it! Drat. But it's not too late to read a funny funny post about kids' writers and their true-life dogs. Plus some dogs they write about.
Click right here.

Come to think about it, we were out to dinner on the night before this momentous Dog Day and the quite classy restaurant was featuring Bring Your Doggie To Dinner night. Tasty treats on the menu and funny dogs of all shapes and sizes.


And while you're clicking, here's a post from a while back, featuring dogs in fiction and my own special sweet dogs (with pictures!).

Memoir Writing

Ever think you'd like to try your hand?
Here's a post with some really good links to writing advice.
And if you don't feel like wading through them all, start here: with Jane Friedman's advice.

I was about to pick one of hers to illustrate, but there are way too many.

(FYI, I will never, repeat NEVER, write a memoir, but I have a whole host of writing friends who might, and could, and should, so this if for you, folks. I prefer just turning all our life stories into fiction anyhow...)

Self-Editing for Fiction Writers

Just last week, esteemed writing coach Leslie Guccione called me on a grammar thing. OK, not really incorrect grammar, but a stylistic error. She pointed out something that marked me as unsophisticated, in a writerly way. Me? No!

She didn't really say it that way, but I'd asked for her help and Leslie is nothing if not honest in her critiques. She was part of my original writing group, along with a small group of other fabulous writers. Recently, a few of us reconvened online and I'd submitted an essay for their consideration. In other words, I should have known better. I asked for it.

I'd committed a mistake the writers of SELF-EDITING FOR FICTION WRITERS: How to Edit Yourself Into Print address in Chapter 11 of the second edition of this book--Mistakes they claim show a lack of "Sophistication." And by the way, it's not just a book for fiction writers.

Here's what Leslie pointed out to me, chapter and verse:
"One easy way to make your writing seem more sophisticated is to avoid two stylistic constructions that are common to hack writers," namely:

Pulling off her gloves, she turned to face him.
and
As she pulled off her gloves, she turned to face him.

Nothing my fabulous high school English teachers would object to enough to bring out the red pencil. BUT both examples take a bit of the action and tuck it away into a dependent clause. According to Self-Editing, this makes some of the action seem unimportant.

You also need to beware the -ing and the as thing if it gives "rise to physical impossibilities."

While an occasional use won't wreck your writing, in a 700-word essay (such as what I asked Leslie to critique for me so of course it glared at her when I did that -ing thing...), too many of these constructions will soon jump right off your page. And not in a good way.

An oldie but a goodie, this book. Better yet, call it a classic. My copy was dusty and buried on the shelf, only occasionally opened since I first embarked on this writing thing ten years ago. I knew how to write back then, but Leslie and the rest of the critique group pushed me to improve. Books like SELF-EDITING FOR FICTION WRITERS showed me the way. Great book. I'll remember some of the fiction tips as I slog my way through early drafts of my new project.

(Note to self: when introducing new characters, include physical descriptions with concrete, idiomatic details. Chapter 2: Characterization and Exposition.)

Now back to work.

For related posts on craft, search Writing Tips in the search box, or click here or here.

Blogging after Resting and Rejuvenating?

Having been away from my computer for a few days, I'm back, and in keeping with my turning over a new, streamlined leaf this week, I cleaned up my blog look a tad. The book background was beginning to show up everywhere, so I reverted to my previous blog look.

Did anybody notice?

Also contemplating these two quotes swiped from Darcy Pattison's blog:

The function of the overwhelming majority of your artwork (including writing) is simply to teach you how to make the small fraction of your artwork that soars. —
David Bayles & Ted Orland, Art and Fear: Observations on the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking

Before the gates of excellence, the gods have placed sweat. –
Katherine Paterson

(I've always loved that one from Katherine Paterson.)

Darcy titled her blog post Never Quit. To that I say, Amen...

Eat Pray Love

No, this isn't going to be a blog about the book, really, or about the movie, which I haven't seen yet.

But today's Story Fix blog had some interesting things to say about why MEMOIR also needs structure. Click on over there if you've ever pondered writing anything other than fiction. His ongoing postings about the plotting of fiction are very easy to understand... after I've read them a few times.

His posts about story are well worth the effort, however. Since I'm once again struggling to structure a plot. If only I had my teacher Joyce sitting next to me with her red pencil...

Related post: Save the Cat

SCBWI- LA

If those words don't ring a bell and you'd like to know more about writing for children, you are missing a big piece of the puzzle. SCBWI= Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. Each August they hold their national conference in Los Angeles. In the dead of winter, it's in NYC. Each region has terrific events also. This winter in Orlando, the Florida group will gather. (Now you know you'd rather be in Florida in the dead of winter, right?)

Here's a sample of what went on in L.A. this month, notes from a workshop about writing middle grade novels, by Newbery Award winner Linda Sue Park.

And here's a quote from that writer. I've seen it floating around cyberspace, in one form or another. Since I wasn't at the conference and I can't verify which version she actually said. I give you this one for your consideration:

The great mission of middle grade novels is to show young people that the world isn’t fair, but that doesn’t mean it has to be miserable.

I'm still thinking on that one. There's a lot of wisdom in some of what Park says about writing, so click on over to that blog link up there and check it out.

The Eternal Ones

I was sent The Eternal Ones by the book's publicist. She knew of my interest in stories written by Southerners, or about the South, or maybe she thought I'd be intrigued with the whole Past Lives thing. Since I'm not, I put the book aside. Then, as often happens, I found myself in a place with no books. That cannot happen to me. (Maybe I'd be a great candidate for a Kindle or a Nook or maybe even the IPad my husband hogs. I'd be downloading left and right, probably to the extreme...But for now, I'll stick with my paper. I still prefer the feel of real paper, but that's another topic.)

In desperation, I will read ancient yellowing magazines if there's no promising book nearby.

So I had this ARC (advance reading copy) in my suitcase. Young Adult fiction. About a topic I haven't considered since I was quite young and there was a big brouhaha about The Search for Bridey Murphy. Remember her? Well, that was my exposure to past lives. All the big kids and my mom's bridge group talked about it and it gave me the creeps.

Did I mention I was desperate for something to read?

I never expected to like this book. In fact, I kept trying not to finish it, to set it aside. But it's a moderately well-told story that's new and fresh. A daring teen so convinced she's lived and loved many times before that she leaves her family and takes off to live in New York. A gay guy who is totally not stereotyped. Snake-handling Pentecostals who are tremendously appealing.

I predict that this is going to be a huge hit with teen readers. I also predict a very strong crossover market into adult fiction. In fact, the official link to the book is supposed to be very intriguing, but I can't ever get on it, so I'm not sharing here so as to save you the frustration. From what I understand, if you get there, you can post your own past life experiences.

I have none nor do I anticipate any. But still sometimes it pays to be forced to read something you don't think you are going to like. Horizons are broadened. If you know a teen reader who's intrigued with the paranormal, this might be the book!

Here's a Publisher's Weekly interview with the author: Q & A with Kirsten Miller.

Teachers, Start Your Engines!

All over the South, kids are back in school already. Up here in the Northeast, where I'll be for another month or so, Labor Day is the target date for giving up our summers. Until I left the South, I had no clue what Labor Day even was. As my daddy used to say (OK, maybe he used a tad more colorful language):
"Farmers and farm animals don't care about Daylight Savings Time or Labor Day Weekend."

How true.

But I've digressed enough. It is time to prepare for school. So whether you are the teacher, the student or the parent, there's plenty to think about. Let books be way up there on the list, please.

Did you get your summer reading done? Did you stock your classroom full of books? And parents, how about donating a book to your library in honor of a family birthday, or just plain giving books as gifts, all around.

This month, I'll be catching up on a few books I've saved to review. Fall is a big time for publishers to send a whole bunch of new kids' books into the world. Stay tuned.

If you're reading this and you are a teacher getting your room ready, organizing class lists, etc., you owe it to yourself to read this amazing post. One teacher's take on what NOT to do at the beginning of the school year. Very thought-provoking.

And while I'm at it, I may as well steal the quote she has on her blog.

“Reading should not be presented to children as a chore or a duty. It should be offered to them as a precious gift."
Kate DiCamillo

Hooked

On the recommendation of a friend, I picked up Les Edgerton's small book at my local library.

HOOKED: Write Fiction that Grabs Readers at Page One and Never Lets Them Go (Its cover looks disconcertingly like one of my favorite kids' novels in recent history) has a lot going on inside. And last week, it also had a bargain price offer on the Writers Digest site.

The subtitle says a lot, so I won't even try to elaborate. But there are a lot of things to take away from this book. A few, in no particular order:


1. An overview about opening scenes and what's important included this reminder-
"Take time to craft not only the first sentence, but the rest of the opening...For gosh sakes, don't pair adjectives in an attempt to make the description more powerful. The rule of thumb with adjectives is that with each additional one, the power is halved, not doubled..."

2.The chapter on characters suggests "beginning with an out-of-the-ordinary character... can instantly pique the reader's interest."
(My question- is this a good plan for kids' novels? Or should we soundly establish the point-of-view character first?)

3. "A great first line buys you a lot of points" with editors and agents.
But we all know that, don't we...

Writing About the Sixties

Why do you think the 60s are ripe for fictionalization? What is it about that amazing time?

Not that I'm complaining. I first had my smidgen of an idea for a story that would take place during Mississippi Freedom Summer, 1964, almost 10 years ago in a Writing for Children class at The New School. I didn't know whether the time period was intriguing to kids, I just knew I had to tell that particular story. Now, all these years later, my novel is on the verge of publication. Amazing to me.

Yesterday I was talking to a friend I grew up with about our childhoods, marveling at the lives we lived and the interest shown in them now. Kids' books, literary fiction, movies, Mad Men. The Help has spent over 60 weeks near the top of the best seller list. Secret Life of Bees? A terrific crossover novel and a not-half-bad movie.

And just released this May is Minrose Gwin's The Queen of Palmyra, a darker, more complicated and considerably more literary, amazingly told story of a time in our history some would just as soon forget.

The setting? A small Southern town where neighbors tend to help each other out. Share coffee on the front porch. Bring casseroles for births, funerals and most everything in between. At least on the outside, everyone’s happy. Well, maybe not 11-year-old Florence Forrest's family, who’d just as soon the neighbors do their meddling on their own side of the fence.

And if anybody needed a casserole, the Forrests do. They are falling apart. Florence's father has failed at yet another job, and her mother, Martha, insists they return to the family’s hometown where Martha’s cake business will support them. Florence’s grandmother seems sympathetic to the young girl’s plight—her raggedy, outgrown summer shirts and shorts and inability to place the states properly on a map. But despite her love for the child, the grandmother is limited by her relationship with her shiftless son-in-law.

So young Florence’s care is mostly given over to the grandparents’ long-time maid. Over six feet tall with bad veins and legs that pain her, Zenie, named for Zenobia, Queen of Palmyra, agrees to take on Florence for the summer. She’ll “try it out. See how much trouble she get into.” Mostly she ignores the girl. Then Eva, college-educated and filled with ideas, moves in with her Aunt Zenie and turns the Black community— and young Florence’s life— upside down.

A powerful sense that all is not right with the world starts in chapter one as the young narrator looks out on the children off to school. With their shirts "tucked into their pleated skirts," they carry their books and "little lunch boxes and satchels. Watching this parade of regular children on their way to school, I feel like a dead girl looking down from heaven on the trickles of the life she is missing out on."

That's the voice of one strong narrator, telling a powerful story. I liked this novel from the beginning. I loved it even more when I read it the second time.

In the interest of full disclosure, let me put it out there right now. I know Minrose Gwin. But when I was sent this book by the publicist, I had no clue that my life and that of the writer had intersected. In fact, I don't normally review books by friends, unless I truly love them so much that I can't help it. But we were friends in our early college days in Mississippi, until we were 19 and departed that women's college. We had different names back then. Many years have passed. I had no idea.

Plus, I loved the book.

And then I discovered serendipitously, that Ms. Gwin is now an English professor at my alma mater, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. So not only am I proud of this book as an alum and as a former, almost-childhood friend rediscovered, I'm just plain delighted that it's such a good book. And that it has added to the discussion of life in the turbulent 60s.

For an interview with the author, click here.

For Minrose Gwin’s website, with appearances and signings listed for the summer and fall, click here.

Em Dashes-- All you ever wanted to know.

For those of us raised in the world of proper English grammar and punctuation, where formal writing eschewed things like hastily struck lines to break up phrases, the dash thing can be confusing. However, I've never been a big fan of the semi-colon, and I now embrace dashes of all stripes--- em, en, and the plain old hyphen.

But don't trust me on this. Cheryl Klein, world famous editor extraordinaire, tells it all on this blogpost.

Related post: Cheryl Klein on commas

Quotes of the Day...

Write something to suit yourself and many people will like it; write something to suit everybody and scarcely anyone will care for it. - Jesse Stuart

And along those same lines...

Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind. - Dr. Seuss

Celebrate!

Today, the mail was worth walking to the mailbox for. Two surprises!

My magic bean from Joyce Sweeney. A very, very special honor. Yes, indeed, I am in good company! Thanks, Joyce, for everything. I will plant my bean on my bookshelf, next to my handmade book made by my friend Leslie, the shell with a Eudora Welty quote beautifully written on it (also from Leslie), and my birthday card with the picture of Elvis's Tupelo house. (No need to say who made that one!)

Here's my bean. Outside enjoying the fresh air and the Black-eyed Susans. Now safely on my collections shelf.




And then, a truly unique, perfect beyond words, congratulatory/ birthday gift from my college friend. I've consulted with Patty-- and a whole bunch of others-- on my story off and on for eight years. I've asked what it was like growing up in North Carolina during the 1960s. I reached out to my friend Beverly about being a true PK in small town Mississippi (that's Preacher's Kid, for the uninitiated). And more emails than they'd care to remember to my sister and brother-in-law about playing football in the South and other questions so arcane that they were un-googleable. Googliable? Unable to google.

So a big thanks to all of you out there at the other end of my questions.

And a huge thanks to Patty for this most appropriate gift. In more ways than are obvious, it made me smile with delight.

Yes, Home is certainly where my story began...

My Little Town

Great to be back in New Jersey for a while, especially today when the temperature is 82, the humidity is about zero, the clouds are high and puffy, and the birds are singing.

So now that you've got the picture, here's what I want to tell you about living in this small town. It's not that I have anything against city dwelling. In fact, I'd hate living too far away from city civilization as I know it. So North Jersey, as we're known here, is a perfect spot to spend the summer, especially this summer. On the train line to NYC, plus there are still a few places where Everybody Knows Your Name.

Like the library where I worked. Make that libraries. I popped into my public library to do a little research this morning and discovered my former backdoor neighbor is now the children's librarian. 500 children's tags lined the front shelves, each one representing a young reader enrolled in the summer reading program. How can we possibly consider cutting funding to libraries? This one was packed with readers!

A lot of my former work colleagues are still there and of course I couldn't resist sharing that this July has been one of my favorite months ever. So many new, wonderful things!

They already have me signed up to do an Author Visit when Scholastic publishes my book. I warned them not to bake the cookies just yet. Book birthing can take a while.

Then off to the deli for a Turkey Sloppy Joe, a treat known only to New Jerseyans. If you don't know this sandwich, click here for pictures and history. And no, there is no ground beef or fork involved.

As I crossed the Post Office Plaza, one of my outstanding, most favorite library volunteers from my 10 years at Kent Place School, in the next town over, waved. She just happened to be driving by and we promised to meet for coffee and a catch-up very soon.

My former next-door neighbor joined me as we crossed the library walkway. Her two boys, all grown up now, remembered my dog Barley. How he used to eat grass in the backyard. That's the kind of thing that would stick with a 4-year-old, isn't it?

Did I say this is a small town? Does a population of 20,000 qualify or is it the feeling you get when crossing Main Street? All the strollers, the shoppers walking home, the recognizable police officer directing traffic turning left out of Kings Supermarket. Flags flying, flowers in boxes, sun shining.

Enjoy your weekend, wherever you are.


Related post: A Bright September Day

Summer Suppers

One thing I love about living in New Jersey all summer long is our local Farmers Markets. Each little burg has one. I can hit Madison on Thursday, Chatham on Saturday and the biggest of all, Summit on Sunday mornings. Jersey corn and tomatoes, fresh fish from "down the shore" and even chocolate pastries that remind me of Paris, sort of. The good food never stops!

A recent, delightful dinner at the home of my old Baltimore friends inspired me to cook a grilled vegetable, feta and orzo salad a la Barefoot Contessa. That same friend also made a yummy corn salad that night. Her corn was Maryland, possibly Eastern Shore, and was as good as our Silver Queen here in New Jersey.

For even more on our local markets, check out Kitchen Goddess Lee Hilton's Spoon and Ink food blog. She, too, has a terrific corn salad recipe to share.

Serving salads for supper in the summer (wow, check that alliteration) is what my other Kitchen Goddess friend Ivy calls her "cool plates." Except she says Coooool Plates and makes them sound very special. When really it was just too hot to cook! (Which it totally is this summer.)

Then again, anything my friend Ivy or my friend Lee cooks is very special.

So pull out a good book and find a shady spot. Then buy some local produce, make your family a cooool plate, and enjoy the summer!

A Good Blog...

My turn over at the Southern Writers Blog. Click here to get there. The optional topic this time was setting so I had a chance to use my friend Julie's shoes. If that doesn't get you over there, how about the picture...

Stay cool, everybody!

The Help: The Movie

Yes, I had a few problems with the book, and you can read my comments and those of a few friends who grew up with me during that era on this blogpost about the book. One of the most telling comments I've heard, from an amazing writer whose new book about the era I truly admire? If nothing else, The Help's bestseller status has opened up a dialog on the topic that didn't exist before.
I'd second that.

But still, it's pretty exciting having a movie made right up the road a piece from my hometown (Why is it we consider the place we grew up and spent our formative years, no matter where we wander, as our hometown? There's even been a slight debate going on in our family about where your Facebook hometown should be, and we've come down solidly on the side of where we lived as kids, the place we have strongest and best memories. But that's another story..)

So from what I understand, the movie of The Help is being filmed mostly in Greenwood, Mississippi. There's a terrific independent bookstore right in the middle of town, Turnrow Books, and if you want to follow the news, follow their blog for frequent updates.

Right now, here's what I know. The movie has been cast. The director, Tate Taylor, is a friend of the author and a Mississippi native. They are scoping out the area for authentic accents and locales. (I know this because my most authentic friends have been interviewed, and they still talk just like all of us homegrown Mississippians started out talking before our accents got bastardized!)

Here's what the Turnrow Books blog says about the cast:

For those fans of the book dying to know who will play whom, we've heard a bit of casting: Emma Stone (Zombieland, Superbad) will play Skeeter, Viola Davis (an Oscar nominee for Doubt) will play Aibileen, Bryce Dallas Howard (the upcoming third Twilight movie, Eclipse) will play Hilly, and Octavia Spencer, who toured and read with Stockett during her initial book tour, is rumored to be playing Minny.

I think most of this has now been verified by DreamWorks.
Stay tuned for updates.

Words, words, words

I do love words, their derivation and usage- and mis-use!
This word-of-the-day is one I've never heard, read, used or even remotely known about. Contumely?
What?

Now I'm thinking of a word that made me smile on a recent cab ride to the airport. With a very loquacious driver. He told me every detail of his 17-year-old daughter's life, including how he was teaching her to drive. He was the better person to teach her because his wife was such a backside driver. That's what he said: backside driver. Now I just love that!

Can't you totally see a character in a book misusing Backseat Driver like that?? He was a great guy, so entertaining. I wanted to write down everything he said.

Quote of the Day

(My grandmother's version was a tad different...)

"If you can't say something nice about somebody, say the bad stuff really fast."
Mary's mom on In Plain Sight, season finale.

No-Nos for Writers

And while I'm on the subject of so-called rules...
click on over to Kirby Larson's great post on what bugs her in kids' books and this one on what makes a good children's novel.

I just copied them both, printed and plan to post them in a place where I'll read as I write!

Great reminders.

Rules for Writers

Here's a good one from Janet Fitch. Of course, you might think there are no rules for writers, but truly, you'd be wrong. This book blog from the LA Times also links to the "rules" Elmore Leonard came up with a while back. I agree with Fitch's thoughts more than I did Leonard's...

Her rule about clichés struck a scary chord:

When you’re writing, anything you’ve ever heard or read before is a cliché. They can be combinations of words: Cold sweat. Fire-engine red, or phrases: on the same page, level playing field, or metaphors: big as a house. So quiet you could hear a pin drop. Sometimes things themselves are cliches: fuzzy dice, pink flamingo lawn ornaments, long blonde hair. Just keep asking yourself, “Honestly, have I ever seen this before?” Even if Shakespeare wrote it, or Virginia Woolf, it’s a cliché.

You’re a writer and you have to invent it from scratch, all by yourself. That’s why writing is a lot of work, and demands unflinching honesty.

Whew. That is a lot of hard work, a tall order to fill (whoops! Cliche police!) . And I wonder if, in writing for kids, although equally hard, you might be able to get away with a few clichés. Fuzzy dice? How many kids have heard of that one? And really, pink flamingo lawn ornaments?

Farther vs. Further

Truly, I do know the difference. But maybe Southerners use them more interchangeably than others, and guess what- thankfully, there are those with more credibility than I who've decided it doesn't matter- that they've come to be so confused and exchanged that it's now acceptable just to give up on the differences.

Like this blog entry, from The Word Blog. citing several dictionary entries.

The OED says that farther is usually reserved for use as the comparative of far (ie. measureable distance) while further is applied to figurative, unmeasurable distances or extents like time or metaphorical distance.

CanOx says that farther is simply a variant spelling of further.

Fowler’s Modern English Usage speculates that farther will become less and less common until further becomes the universally applied term.

The Chicago Manual of Style supports the distinction of meaning as set out in the above definitions.

And Merriam-Webster’s also agrees with the above definitions.

But maybe I'll go with Fowler, stick to further, and be done with it. Just the other day in an interview, John Grisham used further when he meant up the road a piece, and nobody batted an eye. Oh, wait, he's from the South.

So, is it a Southern thing, a new convention, or just plain incorrect grammar?

Author Interview

You can learn a lot about writing from author interviews like this. Especially if you've read and reviewed the book carefully. Rita Williams-Garcia's novel for young readers really intrigued me. Historical fiction at its very best. So to read how she used her research to fill in the pieces, just enough to give the book its flavor yet not overwhelm, check that great post over at Story Sleuths, which is a blog worth following if you've ever wondered just how writers put their thoughts together.

Here's a bit of my take on the novel.

Rita Williams-Garcia’s knowledge of the period is extensive. Her ability to describe this remarkable time and place (1968 Oakland, California) so that young readers understand the circumstances surrounding the Black Panthers and the American political climate is pitch perfect. Her child-friendly references— from President Kennedy to Cassius Clay to Mighty Mouse— make the story wondrous. This is historical fiction at its very best.

You can read more of what I had to say by following this link to my review in the Christian Science Monitor or to Joyce Moyer Hostetter's blog about history and how the stories are told.

What to Read Now?

As if I didn't have a stack of books waiting for me...
But these Independent Bookstore best-selling lists always have something that surprises me.
For example, Elegance of the Hedgehog? Still hanging in there? (sitting by my bedside, awaiting completion. Oh, dear!)

Here's the latest trade paperback list, which is all I need for summer reading:

TRADE PAPERBACK FICTION
1. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, by Stieg Larsson, Vintage
2. The Girl Who Played With Fire, by Stieg Larsson, Vintage
3. Little Bee, by Chris Cleave, S&S
4. Cutting for Stone, by Abraham Verghese, Vintage
5. Tinkers, by Paul Harding, Bellevue Literary Press
6. That Old Cape Magic, by Richard Russo, Vintage
7. The Art of Racing in the Rain, by Garth Stein, Harper
8. Let the Great World Spin, by Colum McCann, Random House
9. A Reliable Wife, by Robert Goolrick, Algonquin
10. South of Broad, by Pat Conroy, Dial
11. The Elegance of the Hedgehog, by Muriel Barbery, Europa Editions
12. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, by Jamie Ford, Ballantine
13. Sarah's Key, by Tatiana De Rosnay, St. Martin's Griffin
14. Olive Kitteridge, by Elizabeth Strout, Random House
15. Last Night in Twisted River, by John Irving, Ballantine
ON THE RISE:
20. An Echo in the Bone, by Diana Gabaldon, Bantam
Gabaldon's bestselling Outlander novel is now available in paperback.

TRADE PAPERBACK NONFICTION
1. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert, Penguin
2. Zeitoun, by Dave Eggers, Vintage
3. Mennonite in a Little Black Dress, by Rhoda Janzen, Holt
4. Three Cups of Tea, by Greg Mortenson, David Oliver Relin, Penguin
5. Food Rules, by Michael Pollan, Penguin
6. Half the Sky, by Nicholas D. Kristof, Sheryl WuDunn, Vintage
7. Strength in What Remains, by Tracy Kidder, Random House
8. Shop Class as Soulcraft, by Matthew B. Crawford, Penguin
9. Manhood for Amateurs, by Michael Chabon, Harper Perennial
10. The Lost City of Z, by David Grann, Vintage
11. The Glass Castle, by Jeannette Walls, Scribner
12. The Road to Serfdom, by Friedrich A.Von Hayek, University of Chicago Press
13. Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea, by Chelsea Handler, Simon Spotlight
14. The Omnivore's Dilemma, by Michael Pollan, Penguin
15. The Black Swan, by Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Random House
ON THE RISE:
17. I'm Down: A Memoir, by Mishna Wolff, St. Martin's Griffin
Wolff's winning memoir of her father, a white man who truly believed he was black.

Bookshelves!

This site is the greatest! And what a name: Bookshelf Porn... for people who "heart" bookshelves. I heart books. But bookshelves are fun, too.

In the past few days I've visited shelves filled with books written in French, carefully organized and actually read by the owner. A brand new library, all gifts- a tiny baby's board books, not yet read- but soon! A real live library, the kind you check books out of and I'm never far away from, shelves of metal, filled to overflowing.

But nothing remotely resembling these foldaway bookshelves...

Life Imitating Art? Or at least the beauty and order of it?

"This is kind of like life. Life is all about balance. Then you just have to step back and take it all in."

Leslie Davis Guccione, on the occasion of rearranging my corner cupboard for the third time. A masterful job that we had stepped back to admire.

I'd removed some of the blue, left all of the silver on one shelf, had the creamer and sugar bowl off kilter. She fixed it.

Leslie also has an amazing ability to look at my writing this way.

It's good to have friends who can put your Stuff in perspective, isn't it?

Write What You Know?

When dreaming up a big July 4th parade and celebration scene, all I had to do was shut my eyes and visualize the town I've lived in and out of for a long time.

And it is way north of the Mason Dixon line.

Although the fiction I write takes place in the South, this little 'burg is in New Jersey. Sometimes living here felt like a throwback to the 1950s, a place kids safely walked to town and parents sat on front steps or back decks gossiping and laughing. My friend Kay and I walked our dogs all over, on every side street and leafy playground. I worked in the public library on Main Street where I met all the quirky residents and observed their reading habits (but my lips are still sealed).

I knew what my town looked like.

The string of small boroughs on the Midtown Direct train line to NYC melt into each other so that you can drive from Summit to Chatham to Madison to Morristown and find great restaurants with good bread, an overly-sufficient number of banks and nail salons, and enough quaintness to go around. Flags always fly and flowers fill the tasteful pots outside storefronts. Just a great place to imagine any number of characters drifting through the neighborhoods.

So when I needed an Independence Day parade, even though the setting might be 1964 Mississippi, yesterday's annual Fireman's Parade and Fireworks Display in Chatham, New Jersey filled the bill quite nicely.

Preparation starts on the day before the parade, with the reserving of seats... And nobody bothers them.



Float-building begins early.
Since Washington probably slept here (not on this particular float, but in our town), the Chatham Historical Society recreated the scene nicely:



I have more pictures of the fireman on their trucks, the Scouts, the swim teams, the marching bands. But I'll leave that to your imagination. Hope you are celebrating wherever you are reading this. July 4th is a great holiday, filled with possibility, hot dogs, flags, swimming parties, birthday cakes decorated with blueberries and strawberries. Happy Birthday USA!













Related post: A Beautiful September Day

Happy July 4th!

On this weekend of picnicking and sharing fried chicken and pimento cheese and whatever else strikes your fancy, this quote by one of my favorite food writers strikes my fancy:

"Southerners can't stand to eat alone. If we're going to cook a mess of greens we want to eat them with a mess of people." --Julia Reed


Related post: Julia Reed and Me

The Healing Spell

I've been thinking a lot about Louisiana lately. Haven't we all? Growing up in Mississippi, I often visited New Orleans and southern Louisiana with my family. Later, my daughter lived there, married a native, and we visited even more. Once New Orleans speaks to you, it doesn't shut up.

When I was a working school librarian, in at least five schools over my career (hey, what can I tell you? We moved a lot...), I tried to help teachers find relevant books to share with their students. A big part of a school librarian's job is to match books with kid readers. Maybe that's the most satisfying thing we do. And it's something I can't let go of as a writer and a book reviewer. I keep thinking about whether what I'm reading and writing would appeal to actual kids, would help them understand the world, would entertain them, introduce a place they might not know. All those good things.

I especially love it when a book helps readers make sense of what's going on in the larger community. What better way to do that than through a good story.

That's why Kimberley Griffiths Little's new novel touched me so.

The Healing Spell centers around young Livie and her family who live in what we always thought of as Cajun country. Her father makes his living fishing. Her relationship with her mother has always been strained. Livie is what was once called a tomboy-- she likes fishing with her daddy a lot better than she likes shopping for Sunday School shoes with her mama. When an accident sends her mother into a coma, her dad insists on bringing her home, hoping for a miracle recovery. The entire family is impacted, but especially Livie who fears she was somehow responsible.

There's a lot for young readers to wrap their minds around in this novel. The magical realism near the end presents a good talking point that an adult might want to explore, or perhaps that kids will accept with the thrill of a shiver up their spines.

Kimberley Griffiths Little has done an amazing job making her characters believable. They are complicated and confused. Just like a lot of real kids we all know and love. Livie's guilt, her relationship with her sisters, her love for her dad, her ambiguous feelings for the aunt who moves in to help and sets the family off kilter-- all great characters, well done.

But truly the amazing thing about this story is the setting, the Louisiana it evokes. There's a little bit of voodoo magic, there's music and dancing, there's the swamp. After reading The Healing Spell, you understand how wrecking this one very important part of our environment will change so many lives.

Right now over at A Good Blog is Hard to Find, where I congregate with a whole bunch of really excellent southern writers, the optional blog topic is setting. A lot has been said by greater authorities than I on the topic of setting as character, and I really can't add much to that subject except to say how true it is.

But I like the way Man Martin ended his blog post over there last week:

I’m thinking of a line from C S Lewis or somebody that a fish does not believe in water until it’s pulled out of it. Lewis meant to suggest by analogy the existence of God, but I wanted to apply it to the concept of setting, that setting is not only background, but foreground, above-ground, and underground. That it envelopes, surrounds, and infuses us.

That's exactly how I feel about this new middle grade/ young YA novel: the setting surrounds, envelopes and infuses. Which brings me right back to how important, right now, this book should be to teachers and librarians trying to help their readers make sense of southern Louisiana, the Gulf Coast, life in a fisherman's family.

And what an unexpected treat- it has one of the best trailers I've ever seen in a book for young readers. Great music, well done. Check it out:

Summer Time...

It's been so hot, even in New Jersey, this week that all I can do is sit still, dreaming up ways to stay cool. I know, I know. Writing while sweating is supposed to be good. After all, didn't my home state of Mississippi produce more accomplished writers than almost any other? And that was pre-airconditioning.

Although I'm not writing, I am reading- a perfect summertime activity if ever there was one. And just now I stumbled across this posting from my group blog A Good Blog is Hard to Find. Rereading it made me think this hot June day would be a perfect time to share it here. If the picture doesn't send you searching for a cold frozen treat, nothing will...


Photo credit: Scott Keeler, St. Petersburg Times


Details, Details (or What Sno-Cones Have Taught Me About Writing)
This season’s blog theme is What Writing Has Taught Me About Life. No, we don’t have to do the assignment. We can blog about anything that catches our fancy. After all, it’s not 8th grade math class. But I was always a bit of a teacher's pet, even did the extra credit stuff. I take these “voluntary” assignments seriously.

But not too seriously. So in honor of summer, I’ve turned my assignment around.

By the time I took to writing professionally, giving up another career to write, I had already learned a lot about life—and not from writing. So today I’m thinking instead about what life has taught me about writing.

Specifically, what eating Sno-cones teaches me about writing fiction.

Stay with me here. By studying Sno-cones carefully, I understand the importance of detail, the use of emotion, the seriousness of research, and the tricks to finding the perfect image in every word. And getting it right.

First off, is it Sno-cones or Snow Cones or Sno-balls? (Or some might make a case for Italian Ice, but if we are setting the story in the South, they would be dead wrong.)

In Mississippi, where I grew up, kids ate Sno-cones, spelled like that. And I didn’t think much about it. Then a couple from New Orleans opened a Sno-ball (spelled like that) stand a short drive from my Florida neighborhood. My transplanted Louisiana relatives were ecstatic. I was confused.

These Sno-balls looked like the summer treats of my childhood—the paper cups, squished to overflowing, that turned to soupy liquid when most of the ice is munched away. But then the proprietor of the Sno-ball stand asked if I wanted cream on top. Cream? On a Sno-cone? No, here they’re selling Sno-balls and sure, I’ll try the cream.

So right off the bat, Sno-cones have taught me the importance of research and fact checking, even in fiction. Not to mention spelling. Most of the time, you can’t fool your readers with mistaken details. Especially if the details are part of their history.

Now I’m working on a kids’ novel set in Florida, in the summer. Small-town Florida, a place where kids ride their bikes to the Sno-cone stand. Where they drip orange and purple all over their white shorts, just like my friend Eileen remembered when I asked around for Sno-cone stories.

Life— in the form of a frozen treat-- teaches me that memories are an important component of fiction.

Remembering in all five senses makes a scene come alive. The cold sticky colors dripping down an arm as we squeezed the paper cup. And white shorts, the worst thing to wear while slurping a Sno-cone. Watermelon and cherry and banana— whether the Sno-cone flavorings actually smell like the fruit they are named for, they taste that way and they evoke a scent. So I’m having my character eating a cherry Sno-cone, always my favorite.

Hot nights under the summer sky, Little League games at the park, the sound of the bell on the truck, the worry over the quarters—saved to pay for a lemon Sno-cone— that slipped through the pocket and are gone forever. Memories seep into stories and emerge as something else, another thing life has taught me about writing.

So I’m including a cold summer treat in my story, and I’ll get the details right. I’ll have to think about what to call it—a Sno-cone or a Sno-ball— but a few more trips to my new Sno-ball place, and I should have it all figured out.

Word After Word After Word

What a fine title!

Click here for a great interview with Patricia MacLachlan. I'm a big fan of a lot of her books. They are well loved by kids and the adults who share them. The 3rd graders at the school where I last worked read Baby, the 4th graders Sarah, Plain and Tall. We had some memorable discussions about those books. I'm looking forward to reading this new one.

When Publishers Weekly interviewed her about the novel being published just this month, Word After Word After Word, they asked how it happens she writes so sparely and can squeeze so much into her shorter works. I love her answer, maybe because having grown up in the South, I tend to use way more words than I need! Revision/ reduction is key. But wouldn't it be nice if I could start off knowing just the right words to use...

Here's her answer to the question about writing sparely. Be sure to read the entire interview. Good stuff.

I think what happens is you write how you grew up. And I was born on the prairie and so everything is kind of spare on the prairie. And so I’m just used to writing in that way. Sarah, Plain and Tall was that way. And most of my fiction is. I like writing small pieces. Somehow it just suits me. My writer’s group laughs that I start to faint when I get to 200 pages—so that’s kind of a standing joke.

The Sky is Everywhere

I've already gone on enough about how much I liked this young adult novel. I especially like when a book surprises me like this one did. So I won't add much to my previous post, except that there's a terrific interview with Jandy Nelson up over at the Tollbooth blog. There are 4 parts, 4 different blog postings. Be sure to scroll through and read them all.

A few things she said will stick with me today as I talk writing with my smart, original, amazing critique group.

Here's a bit of that interview, with Jandy, quoting a book I plan to check out very soon
(And I'm thinking what he says about voice might just hold true for a few other Life Things!):



Obviously not because I wrote it quickly, but because I wrote it like I was talking to myself or a friend and it never occurred to me that voice is just that—who you are but on the page, and so it is who your character is too, right? It’s so simple! That floored me! There’s this fantastic and very helpful and inspiring quote about this by Les Edgerton who wrote Finding Your Voice. He says,


". . . no matter what you write, there’s a good chance that someone else may do the same thing better. There’s only one thing another writer can’t do better than you. And, it only happens to be the most important thing a writer can possess. Yourself. Your voice. They can’t get your personality on their page. And, since a personal voice is the single most important component of writing and the single most important element leading to success, no matter how good the competition may be, you’ve got an edge on them by simply being you."



Related post: The Sky is Everywhere

Countdown

Deborah Wiles' amazing new middle-grade novel about the 60s, her first in a planned trilogy about the decade, is in my hands, and my book review was just published in The Christian Science Monitor. I've grown quite fond of the narrator, Franny. What a totally appealing 11-year-old! I hate to leave her and wonder if she'll make her appearance in the next two books. Somehow, I'm not so sure.

At the heart of this story is the Cuban Missile Crisis. On this topic, I've consulted my siblings, my best friends, anybody I can think of who was in school in Cleveland, Mississippi, with me at the time. We just don't have the memory for the event that Wiles writes about, although many of my contemporaries who lived in other places sure do. Maybe the Mississippi Delta was too isolated to consider itself a target.

But Deborah Wiles has done such a remarkable job of recreating a summer in one family's life, how these historic events touched them, that I feel like I was there ducking and covering, worrying about whether the world was about to blow up. When in fact, I was oblivious. How about you?

Wiles has written so wisely in her blog about the creation of this trilogy-in-progress. I heard her speak a few years ago about Hang the Moon, the next novel in the series, how hard it was to write. I love what she says about that upcoming book:

It was larger than my talent -- and my skills -- when I discovered it.

And how she finally had to trust her own instincts, give up on help, and just write:

And what I have learned in the intervening years is that there is a time to move beyond your teachers and take up your unique voice. It's a little like leaving home. It's a starting-over. You take what works and leave the rest.

I truly understand what she means.

Barbecue!

OK, so I love barbecue. Those trucks by the side of the road. Even the chains, especially if they originate in Memphis. Well, maybe not all the chains. To tell the truth, I want my barbecue to come from a place with a screen door letting the flies in.

I loved reviewing this book. And the Culinate website is filled with all sorts of good things for foodies. Check it out. Sign up for their email. And don't forget to read my review while you're over there.

Memphis Barbecue vs. Carolina 'cue. You be the judge...

And remember a while back when I was making and commenting on coleslaw? I was trying out recipes. All for a good reason. Reviewing a cookbook requires more than just reading and writing.

The Comma Queen

I was once known as the Grammar Queen. I shared that honor with my friend Leslie. We knew the rules, which is important if you want to break them. The comma thing is particularly vexing. Rules change at the drop of a hat. Ditto for dashes.

But writing fiction, and especially creating dialog, requires that you hear where commas are needed and leave them out where they aren't. No matter what Mr. Strunk and Mr. White might think, sometimes, in fiction, you have to break the punctuation rules.

That's why I love this blog post from Cheryl Klein about using commas. It's taken from a book she's about to publish, and I'll be first to check that one out! As Ms. Klein, super editor at Scholastic says:
The ENEMY to sentence rhythm: the wrong punctuation..

Recently I received a critique from a highly regarded agent (not mine!) commenting that I should check for "typos" in my manuscript. Me? The Grammar Queen? I was insulted. But I knew exactly what he referred to-- those commas that separate compound sentences. I'd left them out intentionally. It just didn't sound right.

Joan talked and Julie listened. Glory raced upstairs and Frankie followed her.

Now I know those could use a comma, but it destroys the rhythm of the sentence. At least the way I hear it in my own head's voices! And Cheryl Klein gives even more excellent examples.
It's a short blog post. Click on over there and read. And whether you like serial commas or not, at least we writers need to know what they're intended for in the first place.

You do remember serial commas, don't you?

De-Rotting the Brain

My friend Julie just shared something she heard at a recent lecture by a neuroscientist at Princeton, about staving off brain rot:
Exercise! Exercise! Exercise! And doing things that REALLY challenge your brain - like brushing your teeth with your non-dominant hand. (Try it - not easy.)

As I'm pondering jolting the brain cells, getting back into a writing state of mind after a brief sojourn, I think it must be a message (from whom?) that today my Trader Joe's cash register receipt featured this quote, from Dr. Seuss:

I like nonsense. It wakes up the brain cells.

Now off to bed, to dream of who-knows-what, right after I attempt brushing my teeth with my left hand.

Cake!

Now this is what I need for my midnight snack/ writing diversion.





I bet my friend Lee could whip up some of her famous cookies decorated with favorite book covers...



Click to see more of these delicious books-
Cake Wrecks! Yum!


(Cake picture from Tiffany H., made by The Whole Cake and Caboodle)

Welcome Summer!

I hope writing in the summer isn't like that assigned Summer Reading List some of the students in my realm complained about.

In June, they usually looked upon it with enthusiasm, a new project, a clean slate. Titles much discussed, purchased and carefully laid out, perhaps packed in camp trunks. By mid-summer it had barely been tackled, but the goals were still in place. Then, a few weeks from the dreaded deadline, a sudden push to complete the requirements: three books read in a week!

Actually, most of the readers in my world, myself included, loved nothing better than to curl up with a good book. It was just the required reading of Silas Marner we dreaded.

So with that in mind, I tackle my summer writing project, vowing it will be more Gone With the Wind than Robinson Crusoe (never a favorite of mine). At least in my enthusiasm to embrace it!

Do you have summer writing goals? Or is summer just another season, with more diversions? Is your stack of Writing Books To Read handy? Ready with pristine notebooks to embrace a new idea? Write away! And here's hoping you find a nice hammock, a cool upper bunk, a big shade tree while you're at it.

Historical Fiction, Pt. 2

I seem to be reading a lot of historical fiction lately. Two books written for kids were sent to me by their publishers to review. Countdown, set in the early 1960s, could be one of my favorite books of the year. Turtle in Paradise, a midde-grade novel which takes place during the Great Depression in Key West, features a really fun young narrator whose view of life is perfect for the story.

Historical fiction provides a terrific view of other cultures, other times. Without a book like One Crazy Summer, how would kids experience riding across country when flight attendants were known as stewardesses and phone booths housing pay phones, needing actual money or maybe "reverse the charges" messages, predated cellphones? All the details of past lives and times, right there for them to question and smile over.

The first history I remember came from the Childhood of Famous Americans series. Remember those turquoise or orange books with titles like Abigail Adams: Girl of Colonial Days, Jane Addams: Little Lame Girl, or Robert E. Lee: Young Confederate? Never mind that these people may have actually accomplished something other than their childhood adventures, I loved reading about their escapades as children.



Imagine my dismay when, as a working school librarian, I realized that these books were not truly biographies but were better cataloged as historical fiction. Alas! My own childhood knowledge base, tainted by story.

Truly, it's the story that fascinated me most. Still does. Put it in the context of English kings and queens or the American Civil War, and you have the added benefit of learning a little history while tearing through a terrific tale.

Related post: Writing History

Turtle in Paradise

Here's a fun summer book for middle-grade readers. I posted my review to the Reading, 'Riting & Research Blog before I left on my trek northward. Not much blogging time on the long drive to New Jersey.

TURTLE IN PARADISE is a terrific novel, set on Key West during the Great Depression. I'm a big fan of historical fiction and of Turtle, a wise narrator whom kids will love.

Click on over to read the whole review. And if you have a young reader, looking for a topic not that familiar and a story that's truly fun to read, check out Jennifer Holm's newest book.

Great cover, no?

The Great Fig Fiasco

I'll admit it. I'm a fig fanatic.

My sister just emailed me that her figs are almost ready. Since I've searched my own Florida neighborhood and see nothing but bushy trees and tiny fruit, I'll look forward to traveling to Mississippi in time for fig season. If I hurry, and she's vigilant, I may beat the birds to the feast.

With that on my mind, I just reread my funny fig fiasco story, the first essay I wrote for A Good Blog is Hard to Find. If you need a good laugh, or love a good fig, check it out.

Southerners have a thing for the fuzzy fruit. Whether it's the memory of playing under a grandmother's fig tree, a nice glass of something accompanied by a tasty fig and goat cheese appetizer, or a scary memory featuring glass jars of preserves lined up in the pantry, love 'em or hate 'em, we can't seem to escape figs.

Fig thoughts, anyone?

Quote of the Day

In keeping with my quotation theme from yesterday, can't resist sharing this one.

I think it is good that books still exist, but they do make me sleepy.

-Frank Zappa

(Thanks to kids' writer Barbara O'Connor's blog for that quote!)

My Favorite Quotes

Blogging about them today over at my Southern Writers Group Blog. Here's a sample, from a truly terrific writer, Rick Bragg:

Someday…some Yankee photographer will drive past, see it as quaint, and put a picture of it on a coffee table book. That’s where a big part of the Old South is, on coffee tables in Greenwich Village.