Learn From the Best

Wendy Mass writes books kids love to read. I've followed her progress since she first stepped into the library where I worked with a reference question (she's a fellow Jersey Girl). I've have seen her books grow in popularity--Jeremy Fink= Major Motion Picture?--and I've been a fan since the very beginning.

While writing this blog, I clicked over to her blog and discovered the most fun thing! Wendy from A to Z. 
One of these days I may have to do this myself. I love her L thought, in particular.


Here's a bit of advice she gives to beginning writers, via the always interesting and helpful Cynthia Leitich Smith's blog:

Besides the usual advice to read, take classes, keep a notebook for story ideas, go to conferences, network with other writers, I'd say to tell the story you want to tell, the story that only you can tell. Don't give up unless it's not fun anymore.


Related post: Outlining or Not?

Thoughts from Home

 Mississippi, that is. Bolivar County, to be exact.

Thank you to my friend Ivy for pointing out the Mississippi Museum of Art's blog. I love this thought:

"...while you can get lost on any corner of the globe, when you take a wrong turn out of Yazoo City or cut through the little town of Shaw, in Bolivar County, it ceases to be a detour and becomes part of the destination.  Things will spring out from the world around you, whether sunken cypress knees, deserted churchyard cemeteries, or, most often, manifestations of art in all its many forms."

Related post: Mississippi Summer Re-Reading

Quote of the Day

The palest ink is better than the best memory.

(Chinese proverb)

Another Thing I Love

Looking forward to a reunion of our original New Jersey critique group next week. We moved in different directions when one moved to MA, one to TX and I mostly to FL.

But I learned so much and have so many terrific memories from our weekly meetings. GLORY BE was born on those Wednesday mornings.

Our primary mover and shaker, Leslie Davis Guccione, will visit via travels from her tenure at Seton Hill's MFA residency. Can't wait to hear all she learned, all she taught,  AND hear more about the upcoming publication of her book.

This quote, made perfect by Leslie's gift, on a razor clam shell (Did I say she's very creative?!) is the thing I'm loving today:

"Whatever our theme in writing, it is old and tired. Whatever our place, it has been visited by the stranger, it will never be new again. It is only the vision that can be new, but that is enough.”  

~ Eudora Welty

And that's seaglass, collected from a visit to her Massachusetts beach. What a treasure- all three!

This is getting exciting! GLORY BE...

Big UPS box arrived this morning, filled with GLORY BE.

I'm going slowly through this stage of edits. But it's pretty exciting to see what the actual book's pages will look like.

I'm up to Chapter Four.

So far, so good...

Good Blog is Hard to Find: Luna Madness

That's the name of my group blog made up of some amazing Southern writers. Yesterday was my turn to post. We are given assigned topics, totally voluntary. This time it was "living with a lunatic."

When I told my husband what I was writing about, and that I was certainly not a lunatic writer, there was silence from the other side of the car. Sometimes that means he didn't hear what I was saying. This time he totally heard. "Well, sometimes..." he started to answer.

You mean those days I locked myself in my room and glared if he dared disturb me? Hauled all my stuff to the quiet of the library? Read aloud to my computer? Scribbled crazy sayings on the back of our checkbook? What, me a crazy writer?

In my post I did not admit to true craziness. Click here if you'd like to see what I confess to.

And thanks, Julie, for the Luna inspiration. Not to mention for understanding creative craziness. Maybe it takes one to understand one?

Related posts: Blizzard!
Lime Curd

What's on Your Stickie Notes?

Back to work, re-thinking/ working a new/old storyline. Needing all the advice I can get.


So, what am I thinking about? Right now? 


These words of wisdom from my Glory Be editor and a writer friend, both creative geniuses. If I can only live up to my stickies.

And last but not least, by any stretch of my widening imagination:

 

What's on YOUR stickie note?

Things I Miss

Which, yes, could also be labeled Things I Love.

My favorite bridge. It's breathtakingly beautiful. At the end of my journey across the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, I'm greeted by my friend Janet. We meet often, eat a mostly healthy lunch and discuss our writing projects. She tells me when I'm being illogical (in my writing, of course) and I tell her when she needs more description. We are two sides of the writing craft puzzle.

It helps to have a writing buddy who complements your style. She even reads Tarot cards! And best of all, she lives on the other side of this structure.

Do you have a writing partner? A critique buddy? A bridge this beautiful to pass over occasionally?

What I'm Reading Now...

I'm contemplating a post about Summer Reading. But really, isn't everybody writing about books doing that this month?

Instead, for now, I'll tell you what I'm reading.  For once, there's not a single kids' book in my stack. That will soon be remedied when I pick up Fanny Billingsly's CHIME later today.

I'm reading three books at once. Which I don't truly recommend. It just happened.

1. John Hart's new thriller/ psychological mystery. IRON HOUSE.
So far, all I can say is Wow. Page turner!

2. BEACH TREES by Karen White.
Set in post-Katrina New Orleans and Biloxi. Enjoying it a lot. About halfway through.


 
3. THE PHANTOM LIMBS OF THE RALLOW SISTERS
Reading this one on my Kindle because I downloaded the beginning for "free" and got hooked. I've just started so not sure whether I'll be recommending it or not, but here's another reviewer's take on it.

The weird thing about Kindle books? You never know what the jacket looks like. So when I googled the book to get that link just now, I see the cover. Do I love it? Hmmm.
Then again, the cover on CHIME made me think I didn't want to read it. Then I read all the raves.

So not putting cover art on my list of ways to choose books.


Related post: Welcome Summer! 
Edgar Awards: John Hart

Historical Hair

Lots of interesting discussion happened when I posted a recent blog pondering what really is Historical Fiction anyhow. One commenter brought up how kids parse out the meaning. To them, a book such as Mixed-up Files could be classified historical because it took place in a time the young reader might not understand. Prices, hairstyles, clothing, music= all part of the past to a child born in 2000.

I know, I know. I'm still (over?)thinking the topic.

But speaking of hair...

When a group of friends gathered last weekend, something about a certain movie confounded us. We all lived in Mississippi in the early 1960s, the setting of one of the most popular books in recent memory, The Help. Soon to be a major motion picture, the movie's rendition of Skeeter's hair is bugging us all. I know, I know. It's a small detail. And we've only see the trailer for the movie. I can't wait to see the movie and I'm sure I'll love it, as I loved many things about the book. But I wish they'd consulted somebody actually alive during the time for hair advice.

Like us maybe!
Since our small gathering was hosted by fabulous cooks and very creative women, the party favors were "church fans" featuring a likeness of each of us, circa 1963.

About the hair. Do you see a single picture without straight hair? Flips predominate.

We ironed our hair, people! We slept on big rollers to get the curls to straighten out!
We were not alone. Check out any college yearbook, even those outside the South. 
I doubt you will see many hairstyles of Emma Stone's/ Skeeter's movie frizziness.

While I'm sharing pictures, and since it was so delicious, here's one of our many gourmet meals. Pictured- shrimp salad, artistically accented by blanched asparagus spears. Key lime pie, chocolate mousse. Wonderful bread. I could go on.

(Photos by Eileen Harrell, Artline Graphics)

Related posts: Kathryn Stockett
The Help, The Movie

Seen on a Bumper Sticker

More Seens:

Girls! 
Dogs!
Lots More Here

2 More Favorite Things

This huge scented geranium and the normal sized pot of lavender grow in a sunny spot in my not-so-big garden. The scented geranium was a gift from my mother-in-law's garden, over 20 years ago. She claimed it kept mosquitoes away. If it gets any larger, it will keep everything away. Last spring I cut it back so much that I thought it would never return. Ha. I live in a tropical rain forest. It came back.

It loses something in the photo. I wish you could stick your nose into the computer and breathe deeply. Then you would appreciate why I love this.

Oh, and I also love this because lavender and scented geranium are two of the main ingredients in Fairy Soup...

Related Posts: Things I love.

Fairy Soup

What the heck is historical about it anyway?

Somewhere in the deep dark past.

Okay, let me start over.

A few years ago when I was still a working school librarian, my fellow teachers and I had a lot of fun teaching together. One of my favorite things to do with the third grade was historical fiction. I dutifully taught them what exactly was historical fiction. I had a very erudite definition, gleaned from some college professor. One of the requirements, so it seemed, was that the history surrounding the story happened at least 50 years ago. That was also what I'd learned in my study of children's literature, a few decades earlier. The students loved it. Fun times.

That was then. Fast forward to one of my favorite recent Newbery winners, When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead. Loved the book. Read it twice (at least). But historical fiction? Huh?

Turns out, maybe it is.

In her review on Goodreads, Betsy Bird considered the possibility:
Heck, you could even label this book historical fiction since it takes place in 1978-79. And not the fake 1979 that you sometimes seek invoked in bad television shows and movies either. This is an accurate portrayal of a time period when a person really could spend their days helping their mom prepare for a stint on the $20,000 Pyramid. A time when a girl could be handed books with pictures of spunky-looking girls on the covers... and subsequently reject them because they are not A Wrinkle in Time.

I mused over this very dilemma when I reviewed it for The Christian Science Monitor, pondering what genre the book was. The story had no true historical events tied to it. But it was set in the past. Turns out lots of folks were pondering that very topic, including this blogger about historical fiction. She, like many of us, realizes that perhaps history is in the eye of the beholder. To children, that just isn't that long ago.

And now, from what I'm learning, you can make most anything "historical" if it happened before the reader was alive, or even aware. For kids, that would be anything pre-1990. Wow.

Check out an interesting blog discussion happening over at Caroline Starr Rose's blog on the topic.

Carolyn Yoder, editor of a whole lot of historical fiction and someone I'd consider an expert on the matter says this:

At a recent Illinois writing workshop sponsored by the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI), Yoder encouraged all historical writers to make their stories real by anchoring them in time and place. Your reader should be able to tell when and where the story is set from the details you give. More than that, your story should not be able to happen anywhere or anytime else.

And here's a bit of what James Alexander Thom, in his book The Art and Craft of Writing Historical Fiction says on the topic of Is My Story Old Enough?

When you have a story in mind, you might ask yourself whether it's old enough to be historical.  Among those of us who write of historical events, there's a joke. "The last eyewitness is dead at last! Now we can tell it the way we know it was."...

You'll decide if you're writing a historical novel if it seems "past" to you... It's history if you say so.

If a book has an "old fashioned" feel to it and is set in the 1950s or the 1970s or even the 1990s, say in a small midwest or southern town where they might still say things like bloomers and what in tarnation-- can we call that historical fiction?

Shall we throw my old definition of historical fiction right out the window?

Related posts: Historical fiction?
and Historical Fiction, Maybe

Not sure when I've read a more amazing story than this one of Victoria Ford who grew up in Memphis, part of the political Ford family.

Click on this link to read it in today's New York Times. And there's also a link to one of the poems by the winner of a $10,000 scholarship and a Scholastic Art and Writing Award, an honor previously won by Truman Capote, Joyce Carol Oates and Sylvia Plath.

Here's a bit of her poem. You can read it all here.



To a Restless Little Brother Calling for Mama in His Sleep

You may not understand this now, but she isn’t coming back. Not tonight. Not tomorrow. Day after that. And no, she hasn’t left anything behind — a sticky note on the refrigerator door or a quick message for the answering machine, her voice a distant echo calling your name and mine. Nothing.

Summer Reading

What's on your list?


I'm finding a lot of the same books showing up on these "beach reads" lists. So far, I think I'll give Jennifer Haigh's novel, FAITH, a try. Having read The Condition, her previous novel, I think I'll like this one. I know I'll like it better than some of the other oddities on the NYTimes list...

Click right here for a link to the New York Times' Summer Reading List.

Hmm. And I'm not so sure about John Grisham's kids' book listed in the "Old Pros" section. His first in the Theodore Boone series was pretty widely panned.

Maybe I need to make my own Summer Reading List. Recommendations, anyone?

Oh, and Happy Beginning of Summer Memorial Day Weekend!

Learn Something New Every Day

A urinal? Really?

I love to learn new oddball facts. Especially while reading the newspaper.

Like today's New York Times article about a new statue of Pope John Paul II. 

I can't really tell from the photo provided and I'm not sure if I care enough to delve deeper or to join in the "crescendo of outrage," but I do like learning new words and factoids.

Here's my Fact of the Day:

"The starkly spare sculpture by a Rome-based artist, Oliviero Rainaldi, depicts the pope condensed into a massive mantle as if to envelop the faithful. It has been alternately described as a sentry box, a bell and a papal vespasiano, as Romans call a urinal. (Vespasian was the first-century emperor who levied a tax on urine, which was used for tanning leather.)"



Who Knew?
(Or maybe Who Cares?)

Possibly Related Post: Word A Day

Glory Be! COPYEDITS!

 Hooray! Done!

At least I hope they are done. I've been working hard all week on copyedits for GLORY BE. (copyedits? copy edits?)

Here's a pictorial look at my week.

Day 1: I'm optimistic. I have taken over the dining room table. I will not be distracted. I have a neat work space. I'm putting pink stickie notes on places that need my attention. So far the genius copyeditor for Scholastic hasn't forced me into too many unwanted commas. (Okay a few...)
I'm even thinking she may have a Southern granny somewhere in her history. She's getting it!

Day 2: I will especially not be distracted by those binoculars on the side of my workspace. I don't care what kind of bird moseys up to my window...

Day 3: Wow, look at this. Ms. Fab Copyeditor has some questions about my Time Frame. Aha! I have June and July 1964 calendars. Chapters noted. Dates and times. Counting down to July 4, 1964, Glory's birthday.

Day 4: My workspace moved back into my office. (Messy desk, I know.)

I'm inspired by that picture frame that says WORDS-- a gift of a favorite student-- and the cute little girls inside it, and by my rock paperweight made for me by Molli. It says WRITE ON.

Day 5: More mess. But that pile of pink stickies grows smaller with each day that passes. (Note to copyeditor: PURE D is so a word. It's different from PURE... And lightning bugs LIGHT on your hand. They do not ALIGHT. Sorry, Mr. Webster.)

Copyeditor asks if it's really three blocks from the park to Glory's house. In chapter two, I said across the street. GRRRRRR.

This is the map I drew of Hanging Moss, Mississippi. (Don't laugh, Eileen...)

And yes, I corrected the manuscript. Now all the houses, the pool, the Courthouse, the football field are in the right place!


Day 6: I head to the only library in Pinellas County open on Sundays. I've spent a lot of time in quiet rooms at my local libraries this spring.

I do better there than at my neighborhood Starbucks. Though the green tea is nicer at Starbucks. If I don't get to the library early, I may have to share a table. I do not like sharing tables...

(Note the crumpled up Kleenexes and cough drop papers. A good way to be sure nobody tries to sit with me?)

I got a lot done yesterday at the library. Funny, nobody wanted to share my table.

This is the serene view from the big comfy chairs in the library that's open on Sundays. Lots of birds. A lake. Spanish moss.

I do not sit in the big comfy chairs. I sit by myself upstairs in a straight chair at a table facing empty metal shelves.

And that's how I was able to hit the send button this morning.

Yay!

And the Winner Is!

Neighborhood kid doing the drawing.

And the winner is!

Sheila- email me or Facebook message me to let me know who you are and how to send your books!
(gsgood2@hotmail.com)

(I also have a backup winner, in case Sheila doesn't materialize.)

Thanks for entering, everybody. Enjoy the book, Sheila.

Last Chance! Gary Schmidt's new book!

OKAY FOR NOW. Going, going, gone. Check earlier posts for details.

Late tomorrow, I'll track down a neighborhood kid or a friendly pet, stuff all the names in a brown paper sack and draw one of my lucky commenters. Winner announced on Saturday.

Facebook and blog comments- all count!
Good book to read, donate to your library, give as a gift. And I'll include an extra bonus book or two from my ever-growing stack of review books!

Consider it a celebration of Summer Reading.

National Nurses Week

 In celebration of National Nurses Week, I'm celebrating local author, nurse, and researcher Theodora Aggeles' book about the nurses of World War II- ANSWERING THE CALL: Nurses of Post 122 .   
Click here to find the book on Amazon.

And if you're looking for a reading list or a gift suggestion, here's a list of books on nursing and medicine.

Moon Over Manifest

The most recent Newbery Medal was announced in January for a work of historical fiction- Clare Vanderpool won this prestigious award for her debut novel MOON OVER MANIFEST.

Lucky me- I got to interview Clare. My interview and my review are both posted over at The Three R's Reading 'Riting and Research blog.  Click here to go there.

Thanks to Joyce for sharing and to Clare for agreeing to speak to us.

Reading the Paper... OKAY FOR NOW

Today's New York Times Book Review features a special section on children's books. Libba Bray's Beauty Queens, books about cats and dogs, picture books, YA, quite a variety-- including Richard Peck's review of OKAY FOR NOW.  (For those of you who don't care to click over to his review, bottom line--he liked it a lot.)

I think this quote speaks to the only criticism I've heard about any of Gary Schmidt's books-- that he has too much far-fetched activity swirling around his protagonists.

“Okay for Now” is crowded with more incident and empowerment than any eighth-grade year or novel can quite contain. Events stretch credulity. At one point, Doug turns up briefly on the Broadway stage, playing a female role, no less. But Schmidt is a master of the unlikely.

Love that "master of the unlikely" thought!

Next week, I'll be drawing names for a copy of this book. Just leave a comment on this blogpost, or the previous post about OKAY FOR NOW. Or on my Facebook page. Your name will be entered.

You can decide for yourself if Schmidt is a master of the unlikely.

FREE FREE FREE FREE

My first ever giveaway!


I have a hardback, brand new copy, graciously supplied by the publisher, of Gary Schmidt's new novel.

Here's my review, just published on the Christian Science Monitor.

If you leave a comment here or in a comment to this post my facebook page, I'll put your name in a brown paper sack (see cover) and-- in a week or so-- you could be the winner.

Writing Inspiration: A Bit of a Poem

Instructions for living a life:
Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.

from Mary Oliver. "Sometimes"

Related posts: Billy Collins

Mary Oliver

Historical Fiction

 I signed up for the Historical Fiction challenge, following the lead of my fellow blogger and writer of the genre, Joyce Moyer Hostetter.  I knew it wouldn’t be much of a challenge— especially since I wimped out and signed up for the basic requirement: read five books in one year. I can do that.

I love the genre. I read anything I can get my hands on. After picking it up and putting it down for several years, I even tackled Pillars of the Earth last winter, all 973 pages of the paperback version.

So reading five Young Adult or Middle Grade historical fiction won't be hard.

Especially if I keep rereading books I’ve already read. Does that count? I decided it does, if I’m reading them in a completely different light. Which I totally am.

Take A CORNER OF THE UNIVERSE by Baby-Sitters Club writer Ann M. Martin.  When I was a school librarian, this book was one I loved to talk about with fifth graders. Now, I’m tearing it apart like a writer seeking guidance. Great characterization. Physical description that makes you think you are right there—Fred’s Funtime Carnival, Adam’s room, last year’s Summer Cotillion. A story that will break your heart if you let it or make you laugh if you’d rather.

This book is no Baby-Sitters Club. Far from it. But is it really historical fiction? Yes, the setting is 1960. Still, I wonder if every kid who reads the novel even realizes that. Martin says it, right off the bat. In the opening scene, Hattie Owen sits in her living room watching reels of family movies, in black and white. The canisters are marked with dates, and Hattie notes that the one she’s interested in is the summer she turned twelve. The summer her uncle appeared in her life.

But there’s not much mention of life in the 60s. Yes, her family runs a boarding house and the characters who live there are important to the story. But I just read a recent newspaper article about how boarding houses, now often called rooming houses, are making a big comeback. So that’s not exactly a dead giveaway for historical detail.

In the end, it doesn’t really matter. Unless you are trying to make your goal of reading five historical fiction middle grade or young adult books this year. I’m already up to three and I’m about to begin Black Radishes. And if I could count Pillars of the Earth, I’d be there.

But truly, what is historical anyhow? I'm inclined to go with this straightforward definition from the National Council of Teachers.


I'm intrigued by this line:
In historical fiction, setting is the most important literary element.

So, A Corner of the Universe? I think I'm fudging to count it.

Related post: Historical Fiction

More Tales from the Standby Lane: Baltimore/ Washington

A trip to Washington and my old stomping grounds of Baltimore turned out to be a terrific way to spend the last weekend in April. Lunch plus a moment to share my upcoming book's story with old friends and colleagues (Thanks, Julie!), two museum opportunities, family suppers, and spring flowers.

Here's what a sunny Saturday at Hillwood Gardens, the home of Marjorie Merriweather Post, looked like.

Here is my all-time favorite line spoken all weekend:

One young teen to her younger sister, strolling down the azaleas paths:
"Just wait till you're in 7th grade next year- Shakespeare Rocks!

Now how often do you hear a kid say Shakespeare Rocks? Do you think she knew we'd just celebrated his birthday?

For those of you who aren't familiar with the lingo of my former hometown, Baltimore, Maryland, "Hon" is a term of endearment spoken in certain parts of the city. There's a whole culture around the word. You can read more about this on a previous post, here.

So the bumper sticker seen on Roland Avenue near Eddie's did not surprise me. But it did delight me, especially on a day that the whole world hoped peace wasn't far away.

This trip via the Standby Lane was a good one, even with a bit of a wait at the airport-- Newish manuscript to revise. Kindle book to read. All good.

Although I often seem to pick the most challenging days to travel on an airline pass, Monday's return trip was surprisingly anxiety free.
Southwest, like Shakespeare, rocks.

Another good revision tip...

From an excellent blogpost by Anita Nolan-

Last is most. Check the last sentence in every paragraph. It should be the most important. Check the final word in every sentence, and particularly the last word of the paragraph. The sentence should end with an important or strong word to pull readers forward. (This is tedious work, but becomes automatic the more you do it.)

Tedious but surprisingly fun to do...

Said is NOT Dead

Part 2, a continuation...

You know how once you start noticing something, it seems to be everywhere you look?

That's what happened today with SAID as a dialogue tag. I'd been reading a perfectly good middle grade historical novel. The debut author has received praise and glowing reviews. I actually love the story, so far. But today, I had to put it aside until I get this whole SAID thing out of my head.

Here are a few of her dialogue tags, from a random opening of two consecutive pages:
Instead of said, the (fairly young, I think) author has written

stormed
snorted
cried
murmured

And actually that's just under two pages, because it's the beginning of a chapter.
The funny thing is, I really didn't notice when I picked the book up last week. Today? Couldn't help it.

So maybe that was just those pages. I'll check two more:
explained
went on
asked (ok, that's no big deal)
added
And three saids on those pages.

There are also a lot of LY adverbs. I'm not talking about using these words in description or interior monologue or anything other than pure dialogue tags. Hmm.

Are there editors out there who are suggesting these revisions? Because this book was from a major publisher. So maybe this is the new trend, and not just with school kids. Maybe this young writer went to school in a Said Is Dead school district? They're all over the place. A quick google will turn up a whole boatload of lists, lesson plans, books-- you name it.

Maybe I'm missing something.

He Said, She Said

My fingers tremble as I write this. I'm almost afraid to open this debate. Do I dare?

But, fellow writers, do you know there's a move underfoot to teach young writers the importance of using dialogue tags other than SAID????

Okay, I know there are exceptions to every writing rule. But, especially for young readers, the dialogue tag "said" is mostly best. Not exclusively, perhaps. But mostly.

Characters hissing and pouting and grumpily saying their lines-- this so goes against my grain.

I have Darcy Pattison's book Novel Metamorphosis open in front of me this morning:

"The actual words of the character should already reflect tone, emotion attitude."

In other words, SAID is just fine. Perhaps if used exclusively, it would get boring. Mix it up maybe? But do not overdo the adverbs attached to your SAIDs either.

Pattison goes on: "Also, avoid adverbs and present participles."
ex: She said quaintly.
He said, gently scratching his nose.

(OK, I do that last one a lot, she types, reading along with the book. I'm working on it, but it doesn't bother me so much.)

Pattison goes on to say that these work occasionally but don't let them become a habit.
But I agree it's often better to "omit the action or use a separate sentence with the action more direct or more interesting."

And Anita Nolan, another very wise blogger/ editor, re: revising:

Look at the dialogue tags. Stick to "he/she said" for most tags. Use beats (actions) when possible to eliminate a tag. For example. instead of:
      "Shut the window!" she yelled.
      Try
      "Shut the window!" Her shrill voice ricocheted around the room.       
Or:       
       "Shut the window!" She crossed the room and slammed it closed herself.
 
     •    Eliminate adverbs when possible. Search and destroy "-ly" words.

So, teachers, please. Do not over-emphasize the dialogue tags.
No to HISSED, especially. It's hard to hiss a simple declarative sentence with no ssss sounds in it.

I'm not even bothering to put up a link to this movement: "Said is Dead." But it's out there. Google it and you will get lesson plans, tips, serious attempts to rid the world of SAID. A writer friend tells me she's received letters from students, re-writing her award-winning novels using different verbs for said. 

I envision the next generation of books for kids, written by these very same youngsters studying this movement. They are filled with dialogue that is hissed, spit, sighed, giggled, cried sadly, laughed loudly...

Started Early Took My Dog

  If you want a really terrific, complete review of Scottish writer Kate Atkinson's latest Jackson Brodie mystery, check out this review from last week's New York Times Book Review.

I couldn't say it any better myself so I won't even try.

Besides, the book is overdue at my library and has a zillion others waiting, so I'll make this brief. Check out one of my prior posts here if you don't know these books. Gentle reminder: Read the books in order for maximum enjoyment.



Book 1- Case Histories
Book 2- One Good Turn
Book 3- When Will There Be Good News?





Here are a few places I stickie-noted because they made me laugh and made me sigh. She's such a terrific writer.

(Jackson's observation)

In the half century of his life, a tick on the Doomsday Clock, he had borne witness to the most unbelievable technological advances. He had started off listening to an old Bush valve radio in the corner of the living room and now he had a phone in his hand on which he could pretend to throw a scrunched-up piece of paer into a waste bin. The world had waited a long time for that.

(Tracy describing a scene.)

It took Tracy a second or two to realize that she was trying to flirt with Arkwright. She was deluded. It was like trying to flirt with a wardrobe.

(Jackson and his dog on the run.)
He didn't want to incur the wrath of his hostess for the night by waking her from her beauty sleep. She needed all she could get.

And if you're curious, like I was, the title comes from an Emily Dickinson poem, which you can read in its entirety by clicking here.

What's Nature Got to Do With It?

It's my turn this month over at my group blog: A Good Blog is Hard to Find.

Which, in this case, really isn't. Such talented Southern writers! Many of your favorites. Check them out.

Click right here for my take on using nature in your writing.

And here's a preview of my inspiration!

April is Poetry Month

 

Check it out! (http://www.poets.org/index.php)

 And I almost missed it. (Though I did post this great link, filled with ideas for teachers, from the School Library Journal Blog onto my Facebook status. Does that count?)

Luckily for me Greg Pincus didn't forget that April is Poetry Month. He's been posting a Poem A Day over on his blog. I caught up with a few today.


Click here for one of my favorites.
Who could resist that title?
Here's a taste:

The Playroom Floor Writes a Novel
by
Heidi Mordhorst

Chapter One: A Fine Day for an Outing

a cozy Kleenex box

a stuffed caterpillar

a plastic slice of cucumber

three pennies

and a Spiderman motorcycle

 Go ahead. Click that link up there and keep reading! And Happy Poetry Month everybody.

The Wednesday Wars

Not a new book. But such a great book!
I'm rereading Gary Schmidt's Newbery Honor book from 2007 in anticipation of reviewing his brand new, which he's calling a companion to this one. More on that soon.

If you've a middle-grade kid in your life, rush right out and get your hands on this book. I'm laughing a lot. But there's also the writing- oh the writing!

Let's just start with the main character's name: Holling Hoodhood. Now I'm a sucker for names- the wackier the better. (I recently named, unnamed, and renamed a character Sister Cockersole, but that's another long story...) So right off the bat, I'm crazy about Holling. Then he gets stuck with a teacher, all by himself, in her classroom every Wednesday while the rest of his class is carted off to Hebrew School or the local Catholic Wednesday afternoon Catechism classes. Not Holling; he's a Presbyterian. So what does he do? Or rather, what does the teacher decide he's to do? Shakespeare.

Here's his take on that:
(convinced he's missed a sporting event he really had his heart set on because he's bargained to play a role with the local theater company)

I almost cried. Almost. But I didn't, because if you're in seventh grade and you cry while wearing a blue floral cape and yellow tights with white feathers on the butt, you just have to curl up and die somewhere in a dark alley.

And what he has to say about Much Ado About Nothing? Hilarious!

This is not one of those reviews that gives the story away. Oh, no. The story's much too good for that. Let me just add that it's hard for me not to like a book about Diagramming Sentences. Or a kid whose take on diagramming sentences includes the phrase "No native speaker of the English language could diagram this sentence." Yes. Mrs. Baker is a teacher with complex participle phrases on her mind. For that alone I'd love her.

Great book. Read or reread it. For those of us participating in the Historical Fiction challenge? The Wednesday Wars is set during the Vietnam War era, significantly so. I think surely it qualifies.

SIBA Awards

I always love seeing the OKRA picks (no resemblance to my lunch the other day. Well, maybe.) Great Southern books.

Now SIBA (Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance) has announced the finalists for their 2011 Award. I am so reading these books, as soon as I whittle my Must Read list down a bit. But I've already read a couple, and all of the YA Nominees.  (There were only three, but still.)

Has anyone read Pete the Cat- a picture book my friend Patty loves?  It's on the children's list.

Click here for the complete list.

Here's the Fiction (Includes two of my favs!):

Bloodroot by Amy Greene (Vintage Books)
Burning Bright by Ron Rash (Ecco Press)
Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin (William Morrow)
On Folly Beach by Karen White (New American Library)
Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman (Penguin)

Getting Closer

How appropriate that today's word is Denouement.

That's just where I hope to be very soon. Not yet, but soon. 

As soon as I finish tinkering with the middle, polishing up the climax, then on to the denouement...

And originating from KNOTS? Hmmm.  Also appropriate. Knotty!
(I also like that "thought of the day.")


 Wordsmith.org    The Magic of Words
Apr 12, 2011
This week's theme
Words originating in knots
     
A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

denouement

PRONUNCIATION:
(day-noo-MAHN)
[the final syllable is nasal]
MEANING:
noun: The final resolution of the plot of a story or a complex sequence of events.

ETYMOLOGY:
From French dénouement (outcome or conclusion; literally, untying), from dénouer (to unknot or undo), from de- (from) + nouer (to tie), from Latin nodus (knot). Ultimately from the Indo-European root ned- (to bind), which is also the source of node, noose, annex, connect, ouch, and nettle. Earliest documented use: 1752.

USAGE:
"But in Japan's narrative, the denouement is elusive. This disaster story keeps building, growing worse."
Japan's Crucible; Chicago Tribune (Illinois); Mar 15, 2011.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and strong. Because someday in life you will have been all of these. -George Washington Carver, scientist (1864-1943)

Research!

I find history in the most unexpected places.

Like lunch.





Today we stopped in at one of St. Petersburg's oldest dining establishments: Munch's. I looked at the photo above our booth.

This is the elementary school down the street from the diner.  Lakewood Elementary School, 1964. That little girl in the front row so could be the heroine of my novel. Hello, Glory!

Or maybe this is better. Again, in the front row. Long hair. With her friend Frankie sitting behind her. Except where are his glasses? How about the boy with the Safety Patrol sash? Remember those?

While pondering the pictures, I ordered lunch. Fried green tomatoes --the specialty of the house. Yum. And they were out of french fries so Adele the waitress offered me FRIED OKRA. I thought I'd died and floated to heaven.

 What a perfect culmination of eating and learning.

Certainly okra must be brain food, right?

Just what I need, to revise and polish.

Show Don't Tell!

(Which has nothing to do with Show and Tell)

My editor put a lot of this in her revision notes. I'm really working hard on the Showing thing. Or as my friend Leslie reminded me when I called in a panic from outside my cave in the library-- and I think she said this is straight out of one of my favorite craft books, Self Editing for Fiction Writers-- RUE!

Resist the Urge to Explain.

I'm not even sure how I landed on this blog early this morning. I think I followed a link from the very helpful Writers Knowledge Base. But it's something I'll keep in the back of my brain as I re-write to SHOW and stop this pesky TELLING.

Click here if it's your problem also. Tips and Tricks for editing your novel.
A quick list of words to avoid, red flags that you are about to go into telling mode.
(hint: When, As, Could see, Realized)

Scholastic, NYC. Post #2.

One last post about my fabulous trip to New York, and then I really do need to stop floating, get back to earth, and dig deeper into my final polishing of GLORY BE. (But really, I was at the library at 8:30 this morning, working working working.)

Four of us were invited to be part of the Debut Author luncheon at Scholastic. Our instructions were clear. Talk about ourselves, how we came to write these novels, and do a short reading. 10 minutes max for the entire presentation.

Advice from friends and family included

1. Use your Southern-est voice
2. Be funny
3. Speak slowly and breathe deeply
4. Equate yourself with Eudora Welty.

Yeah, right.

Well, the drawl comes naturally.  ✔ Check.
Funny? Hmmm. And Eudora Welty is my hero, but I'm not about to climb on that high mountain.

Instead, I started out with one of my favorite (non-Southern) writer quotes:

"Let your fiction grow from the land beneath your feet."

(Willa Cather)

Then I talked about my first inspiration- A talk given by Ruby Bridges, ten years ago, while I was still the librarian at the Kent Place School in Summit, NJ.  And my final joy when my agent called to tell me her dream editor Andrea Pinkney wanted to buy the book.

I went on to tell a few true things in the story:
Our streets flooded, often. I was once caught skipping church, playing in the rain, and singing 99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall with Nan and Frank and Beverly.
Robert Kennedy really came to town.
We had an amazing librarian.
My sister and I played Junk Poker, a game of 21/ Blackjack we made up.
My beloved Alice and I read Nancy Drew together.
I've seen Elvis's house in Tupelo, before it was a national shrine.

And some of what was pure fiction, based on historical research (most of the actual plot):
During "Freedom Summer," my hometown never closed the town pools, parks, schools, etc.
My daddy, unlike Glory's, didn't care if my sister and I played poker and bet our Cracker Jack prizes, Doublemint gum, pecans from the back yard, and other valuables.

The highlight of my talk, no doubt, was when I unveiled the Buster Brown shoebox, a la Junk Poker, tied with the beautiful purple ribbon. And revealed my prized possessions inside. ☺

As I said yesterday, it was a drizzly day in New York. This is what I saw from my window. I love the thought, even if it is a beer ad.

 The heavens opened up and the rains poured down, just as I started toward the Scholastic headquarters.

I was so happy to discover I'd brought my fabulous cardinal and straw-colored Spinnaker Purse Snatcher, made by my friend Leslie.

My Junk Poker box and my chapter to read aloud traveled, safe and dry, for their big moment. (And not that I doubted it a minute, Leslie, but the bag is completely waterproof! As promised.)

 After the luncheon, the sun came out. Though no flowers could be seen, the day was beautiful.





Before leaving for the airport, I had a teaparty in the big squishy chairs of the Soho Grand's lobby, with my agent, Linda Pratt. She gave me these precious little notebooks. I adore the quotes.

(Sigh....)

Wow.

What an amazing 30 hours I just had! I'll blog more about content when I've had a chance to process all that excitement. But here's a taste of my time at the Scholastic Spring Sales Luncheon and overnight in Soho.

I arrived early Monday. See that tiny guy holding a sign. That would be my driver, Frank. The sign says SCATTERGOOD. My usual mode of pickup at Newark is Al or Kay or Jay slowing down at the curb outside, so this was quite something.



Sorry about the quality of the photo. I didn't want to appear too geeky so I tried to look like I was just checking my mail on the phone. I think he knew. Turns out the last time J.K. Rowling was in town, Frank picked her up. Big head alert!



My driver immediately asked where I was from and didn't buy either NJ or FL. Turns out he spent a year at Keesler AFB in Biloxi and loves Mississippi. I was already milking my revived southern accent for all it was worth. After all, my novel is set in the totally fictional Hanging Moss, Mississippi, and the next day I needed to be ready for my reading!





The Soho Grand is an amazing hotel! Although the weather drizzled a lot and poured down one day, it didn't stop me from walking all over the place.

I loved this sign. If you look closely, maybe you can see my reflection in the window, taking another picture. I've never felt like a tourist in the city, but this trip I sure did!

Here's my first look at the Scholastic building on Broadway in Soho. It was an easy walk from our hotel.

On Monday night, I had dinner with my amazing brilliant editor, Andrea Pinkney. I ordered what I always do when at an Italian restaurant back in NY/NJ - pasta. We talked for over two hours about my book.

On the walk back to the hotel, we ran into Linda Sue Park. She was there for a different Scholastic event. I adored A Single Shard, her Newbery book. I wanted to tell her that but I was pretty much speechless.

Fortunately, by the next day, I'd regained my ability to speak!

It poured rain later in the morning on Tuesday, but by the time the occasion ended, the sun was peeking out. Alas, I took no photos of the actual event. That would have been way too star-struck! The sales people from all over the country, the publicity folks, 4 editors and their debut authors were there. We had a fabulous luncheon, in a glass atrium at the top of the Scholastic building. I met so many enthusiastic people!

More to come on that.

After a pot of tea and a long overdue visit with my remarkable and fun agent, Linda Pratt, I saw that my driver was waiting. I could so get used to this mode of travel. He whisked me through the Holland Tunnel in record time. I got an early flight home. The sky was beautiful. I was on the left side of the airplane with a phenomenal view of the sunset.

As the plane landed in Tampa, a tiny sliver of a moon was visible from my window. Jay arrived at curbside to pick me up soon after I texted him.

When I asked why he wasn't waiting at baggage claim, holding a sign, he told me to be careful I wasn't getting a big head...

Now, reality sets in. Tweaking and polishing, a lot of hard work still ahead. But for those fabulous 30 hours, I felt like a celebrity. Floating on those beautiful clouds.