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.

Names! (again)

Just in the nick of time, my book has a title!

GLORY BE!

(That's the title, not just me shouting hallelujah.) Glory is my narrator's name. The book just cried out to be titled GLORY BE. I'm so happy!

As much as I dread Titles, I love names. I love place names, character names, street names. I don't even mind Chapter Names.

Here's a name that surfaced in my newspaper and I totally love it. Goliath. I can just picture a boy in a book named Goliath. Our local Goliath is called Go by his friends. Love that also.

A recent church bulletin I tucked away for safe-keeping celebrated the lives of those who'd died in 2010 and those who were born that year. The name comparison says a lot.

Edna Mae, Shirley, Murray, Norma Betty, Doris, Hazel, Glen, Homer.

Kinsley Grace
Connor
Sarah Lucy

Can you tell which are the babies' names?

Come to think of it, maybe the old names are new again. There's also a Lola Marie on that list of babies born in 2010.

Names, names, names. Inspirational. Naming a character so makes me want to write about him.

Picking titles? Not so much. It's good to have help in that department.
Glory Be! I do love it.

Related post: Picking Titles

Things are Better With Dog...

All alone. Quiet house.
I should be writing.
Instead, I'm trying to think of clever captions.

The dog ate my homework?
The dog did it?





I can't figure out your edits. You get to work!

Show Don't Tell!


What are all those red marks anyhow?

OK, enough of this fun. Back to work.

The Dry Grass of August

Today is the official publication date. Already Amazon has a great deal on both the original paperback and the Kindle edition. Scoot right over and get a copy. Or even better, if you don't have an eReader, hustle out to your Independent Bookstore and buy it.

(I have no affiliation with the author or the publisher and knew nothing of the book until I opened it. Just so you know. ☺)

Delta Magazine sent me this book to review. And I loved it.

From what I've read, the author is a first-time novelist who has been writing, revising and starting over again for quite a few years.

Good for her!


Click here for a great interview, up now on Amazon. Or check her website, here, and maybe you'll be lucky enough to hear Mayhew speak about writing the novel in Atlanta, Greenville, Chapel Hill- all over the South. Wow, AJ Mayhew is one busy lady!

Easily compared to Secret Life of Bees and Queen of Palmyra because of the young narrator and the subject matter, The Dry Grass of August is set in the 50s in Charlotte, Pensacola, and South Carolina.

Here's a bit of my review, posted on Amazon and Goodreads:
The narrator's voice is perfect, not so innocent that the events around her are missed. But so much of what happened in that part of the country was just plain hard to figure out for anyone. What at first glance might seem like another "Help" knock-off, is far from it. A lot happens to the family, in deep denial that anything is wrong. A summer trip to the beach has many layers, the characters are so real, the story, ultimately, heartbreaking. I predict you'll want to read this more than once.

Although some of the events are certainly sensational and remarkable, they are never sensationalized. Just a terrifically told story about race, family, first love and so much more, set in troubling times.

One Week and Counting

One week till I fly to NYC (make that Get Flown). One week from tomorrow= My Scholastic Speech.

So I'm getting organized. And all those years of hanging out in elementary schools taught me a thing or two.

Like- Bring props! We only have 5-10 minutes to talk about ourselves and our debut books. I'm going to squeeze in a little Show and Tell. Sharing Time. Visuals.

This is my Buster Brown shoebox (Thanks for the fab purple ribbon, Amanda!). My main character, Glory, and her big sister created a game, basically Blackjack, that they call Junk Poker. Of all the things in my middle-grade novel that are really true, Junk Poker is possibly the truest. My sister and I saved old skate keys, wax lips, bubble gum--all sorts of treasures-- and we bet against each other. My parents did not object. In my novel, Glory's daddy, the preacher, probably would. If he finds out. Which he won't.

Inside this shoebox are true artifacts that Glory might really have had in her Junk Poker box.

Stay tuned! I'll share soon! (hint: Elvis has not left the building.)

Cookin' With the Oldies

Today, for some strange reason, I had an overwhelming desire to pop my iPod into the speakers and listen to Oldies while making my mother's chicken spaghetti casserole. (Aside: in the South, we do NOT call our sauces "gravies"- those are saved for what tops rice, served with fried chicken or country fried steak or pork chops.)

My childhood pasta dishes combined chicken or ground beef, canned pimentos, lots of cheese. Oh, and spaghetti broken into little pieces before cooking. (OK, Lisa, I can see you out there cringing. You the Pasta Purist who warned us not to put pepper on our dishes that night at Rocco's... You were right. I promise I don't pepper the spaghetti or break it up any longer.)

The casserole recipes in my mother's church's cookbook (c. 1969)  mostly call for canned soup--mushroom, celery, etc.-- depending on the cook. But I don't keep that dreaded ingredient in my cupboard these days so I decided to upgrade. Or downgrade, depending on your POV.

Here it is-

Mama's Good-for-You Chicken Spaghetti Casserole.

Cook two chicken breasts, bone-in, in stock until done. Cut in bite-size pieces.

Cook a handful of thin whole wheat spaghetti until al dente, preferably in the leftover stock.

Saute one onion and a couple of small sweet peppers.

Mix the whole thing up, adding stock to keep it moist. Add a can of Rotel tomatoes if you're lucky enough to live where they can easily be found. Throw in some cheddar cheese, if you'd like.

Season to taste.

Put in casserole dish, top with more cheese. Bake till the inside is hot.

That's it!

(These days a lot of my recipes remind me of the first cookbook I ever owned. My grandmother gave me a copy of The I-Hate-To-Cook Cookbook. The grandmother who had no clue how to cook.)

Of course, there's a writing connection to my forthcoming children's novel. Chicken spaghetti makes an appearance at the dinner table, along with this, spoken by the young narrator:

"She'll like your chicken spaghetti. 

Don't all Yankees like spaghetti?"

10 Days and Counting

And yes, I'm counting.

In ten days I'll fly (make that BE FLOWN ) to New York for a presentation to the sales people at Scholastic. My editor and my agent tell me this is a coveted invitation. I'm sure I would have totally coveted it had I known about it. But now that I've been invited, I'm preparing. The theme is "Debut Authors" and I am one of four honored guests. And yes, I'm thrilled and impressed. More on this as we count down ten days.

Here's my first step: New business cards. My old ones looked like ladies' calling cards, circa 1950s. No blog address. Old snail mail address. Would not do.

(This is not a commentary on whether business cards are obsolete, about to be replaced by cellphone info or those little bumping logo things featured in the newspaper last week. For now, let's just say I need a few cards with my current info, okay?)

For these new beauties, I can thank Eileen Harrell of Artline Graphics in Atlanta and my fabulous Living Social offer (meant for the DC market but mistakenly came to me).


Eileen had earlier responded to my worries that my cards were blah and outdated by fiddling around and coming up with something quite spiffy. The problem was, I didn't understand a word she emailed, re: design. Color bleeding? Paper stock? Huh?  So how on earth was I to order new cards on my own? All I told her was that I'd like a design thingey, very lowkey.

She responded that design thingey is not really an art term.

Oh, dear.

Then, as I was cooling my heels waiting for a flight,  a coupon for Vistaprint arrived in my email box. I googled Vistaprint. There were some sketchy remarks. But I shot the email to Eileen and she played around with their website and mastered it completely. Yay for commercial artists!

So we did all this via email and they arrived today and I'm sure I'll be passing them to anyone who asks at the Scholastic luncheon. They are gorgeous. They feel just right. Thanks, Eileen!

Here's her funny emailed comment, when the order seemed to be going swimmingly and computers were actually working as promised.

It is pretty damn cool, when you can DO a business card with a friend from Mississippi in Fla, and NJ while in an airport on a Sunday morning, with a coupon from Washington purchased from Atlanta to be sent to a different address!

On some days, I do love computers.

Doodlebugs?

Yes, there is in fact a doodlebug. And Harvard University documents the usage.

In their terrific, oddly fascinating  Dialect Study.

Complete with map.
Here are all the connections to Mississippi. In case you were wondering.

I needed to be sure my childhood memories of calling doodlebugs from their homes was truth or fiction. Truth!

Now, don't ever ask me whether I'm doing scholarly research. Of course I am. Click that link up there and see if you don't think it's scholarly.
Writing historical fiction for kids requires a lot of research. Promise.

Started Early Took My Dog

Yay! Today's the release day for the latest in this series of mysteries featuring detective Jackson Brodie and very fine writing by Kate Atkinson.
 Janet Maslin reviewed the book last week, but I avoided reading the New York Times review. I prefer to form my own opinions on this one!

As I said in an earlier post here, be sure to start with Book #1.

I've been anticipating this book for over a year. It's been out in England for that long. Can't wait.

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

Letters of Flannery O’Connor: the Habit of Being

Recently a friend and I wondered together what will happen to the study of history—be it literary or social—with no letters to document what we think of the world. She and I are were letter writers. So it’s probably not much of a stretch for us to bemoan the loss of letters that were a reflection of the times (John and Abigail Adams, etc.) or a commentary on writing.

This conversation sent me right to a fat book sitting on my shelf: the letters of writer Flannery O’Connor. Although there isn’t a lot of mulling on world events, or even local goings-on here, reading about O’Connor’s writing and her editing and submission process makes me think how the more things change, the more they remain the same. (As my grandmother used to say.)

Also noteworthy, Flannery O’Connor was a poor speller, and she knew it. Even if we save our emails forever, there’s not much chance the spelling won’t have beeen corrected. Reading some of this writer’s (and there truly weren’t many) funny, Southern, exaggerated spellings just made her seem like she was somebody you knew well, writing to a friend. And that friend could be you.

So I offer up a few tidbits, written between 1948 up to her death in 1964, back and forth with her agent, publisher, friends, strangers. Straight from O’Connor’s letters:

After submitting her manuscript to a publisher:

“I had a note…asking how the book was coming. This seems to be a question that extends itself over the years.”

Later, upon her publisher re-issuing the novel, asking if there are revisions she’d like to make:

“I can’t even make myself read the thing again. I am just going to say NO there ain’t any. You can’t rewrite something you wrote ten years ago. And there will be no introduction, as I can’t even read the book, I sure can’t write an introduction.”

Remarking on a student’s letter saying she would appreciate it if Miss O’Connor would explain what enlightenment she should get out of the stories assigned by her professor, as she couldn’t read them:

“This is the kind of letter that leaves me beyond exasperation. I finally wrote her a note and said that my expectation of anyone’s getting enlightenment out of them was mighty limited and I’d be glad if she could just enjoy them and not make problems in algebra out of them.”

Of course, the student showed the letter to her professor.

“Apparently they had a big argument about it…I had this same trouble in Texas. Every story is a frog in a bottle to them. I suppose it has to be that way…”

With the absence of TV and internet in my house this week, I’ve been filling my time with reading. I highly recommend this giving up of technology for a few days, though in the interest of full disclosure, I do have an emergency iPhone. I have been checking occasional emails and Facebook posts.

But mostly I’ve been reading and writing. And loving it.

Tales from the Standby Lane

My recent travel adventures have not been noteworthy. No missed flights, no unplanned overnights in exotic locales. Mostly good stories of standing by for flights or pass riding and actually getting where I want to go. It wasn’t always that way. But that’s not this story.

This week’s travel was all good.

My college classmate, letter- (now email) corresponding friend Patty lives in Chicago. Her mother’s delightful abode is in Charlotte, N.C. The perfect halfway point for us. And when an invitation to the Queens University Friends of the Library Book and Author Dinner arrived in Mrs. DeLaney’s mailbox, Patty called.

Our meeting was auspicious on many levels. The 40^th anniversary of an event that Patty’s mom had been instrumental in organizing. Cherry blossoms in bloom for a flower-deprived Chicago dweller. Best of all, a St. Paddy’s Day birthday for one witty, gorgeous, energetic 91-year-old lady!

And the event’s speaker? My Mississippi friend Minrose Gwin, to talk about her novel Queen of Palmyra. Minrose’s book was published last summer to terrific reviews and high praise. Our table mates had all read it, discussed it in book groups, loved it. One said she sat outside the dining room, finishing the last pages before the dinner began because she couldn't put it down. Another felt it was very sad, but so beautifully written she didn't mind. If you've missed this book, this is your reminder: you are missing a real treat!

Before Minrose read (from my favorite part—how did she know?— early in the book, when Florence and her mother make their trip to the bootlegger for two tallboys), she spoke about “voice” in writing. A topic editor Cheryl Klein once remarked is sort of like the air of the story- hard to define, yet necessary. Minrose reflected that voice is located in time and place. So obvious, yet that’s really it, isn’t it.

(That’s why it’s hard to write until you know exactly when and where the tale is set. Something I’m struggling to uncover in a new story. I know where, but when? Harder to pinpoint this time.)

So these Tales from the Standby Lane, are very happy ones.

Unless you count that my seat was 26F, the last seat in front of the lav, in the back. Or that the TSA guy was clueless. And there was no gate available when we landed.

But I’m not complaining. I had my Kindle, my seatmates slept, the flight was on time. And what a treasure waited at the other end!

 Related post: Writing About the 60s

Touch Blue

I love it when a book delivers a little something extra!

I've been following the Story Sleuths' current discussion of Cynthia Lord's book, TOUCH BLUE.  In this this post they write about non-fiction elements in fiction. What the Sleuths are pointing out is how intriguing facts planted seamlessly into a story make a book so much fun that kids don't even realized they've learned something. Unless, of course, they wanted to know that particular fact. Like what are those birds and why do they sit with their wings open to the sun? (Cormorants, drying wings.)

Such a bonus! And such a good thing for a book. And for the lucky kids who read those books.

The Story Sleuths always give me a lot to ponder, as a writer. Like this one, from the author of One Crazy Summer.




Related Post: Cynthia Lord, speaking at the Maryland SCBWI event about the Pluses and Perils of Writing What You Know.
(An event I have very good memories of, since it's where I met my agent!)

Crooked Letter Crooked Letter

I was all set to review this book. I finished it last night, closed it with a big old sigh, remarked to myself-- it was very late at night-- how much I really loved the book. Then this morning, I saw this review:
Tom Franklin: Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter Review :: Books :: Reviews ::


It's really all you need to know about the novel, literary fiction, additional reading choices.
But of course, I'll add my two-cents worth in case you don't feel like doing a lot of clicking and reading.

Most school children should know exactly what the derivation of the title of this book is. That rhyme we all learned: M-i-crooked letter crooked letter- i- crooked letter crooked letter- i- hump back hump back - i.
Right?


So Tom Franklin sets the story in south Mississippi, with such amazingly appropriate characters.
Larry Ott, a sorry character if I ever saw one. Mechanically disinclined.
Larry's automotive-shop owning father, irked by his seat-belt wearing brother-in-law, with his "low sighs, how he'd shut his eyes and shake his head at the idiocy of something. Or someone." Just an all-around unpleasant fellow, in my book.
And of course Silas, the high school jock back in town all these years later. Now a constable with plenty of police work for him to stick his nose in.

Oh, how differently Silas and Larry's story could have turned out. If a mother had made a different choice. If Silas had spoken up. If Larry didn't need a friend, and make all the wrong ones. If I'm making this book sound like a downer, that's wrong. It's a mystery. Detective story. Family saga (though a short one). Southern literary fiction at its best.
Not one unnecessary word in that entire book.
And did I say it's a mystery? Highly recommended.

Now I guess I'll return my copy to the library. But I'll keep my eyes open for something else by Tom Franklin. Great Mississippi writer. Great writer!

Kirkin' o' the Tartans

Now I'll just wager if you saw that in your local newspaper's listing of activities for a Sunday afternoon, you might pass right over it. Or perhaps you'd stop and say Huh? But I'm a bit of a bagpipe freak, so I ripped out the notice and showed up yesterday at the First Presbyterian Church for a kirkin'.

My family has lived in Mississippi for longer than any of us could remember. But as I child, when I asked about our heritage, if the answer wasn't "Virginia," it was Scotch-Irish. I was too young to know or to care what that meant. I assumed it was across an ocean, a country called Scotch-Irish.

Recently, I read Curtis Wilkie's account the history of that immigration, and it cleared things up considerably. In DIXIE, Wilkie theorizes how southerners may have come by their rebellious nature. In Chapter 2, "Natural Rebels," he traces the area's connection to the Scots.

Which is a long way of saying, I now know why I love Scottish bagpipers. It's in my blood.

In fact, there's a clan named for my family: The Russell Clan. We have our own tartan. Who knew? But I saw it on parade yesterday at the Kirkin' or should I say, at the Kirk.
It's that 4th Tartan in line, marching to be Kirked.

Yesterday I learned a Kirk is a church, and the Kirkin' ceremony started during World War II at the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in Washington DC, to honor our comrades in the British Isles.

Here's a clip of these same bagpipers, from a few years ago, at another church. Same music, same ceremony.









And here we all are, among the palm trees, yesterday at the concert they gave outside the church.

Somehow my family must have diverted along the way, married into English, Anglican stock. Because I only know about the Presbyterians and my Scottish connection from what I've read, from friends I attended PYF with because they totally outnumbered us Episcopalians in the tiny towns of the Delta. And their meetings were a lot more fun than ours, though not nearly as much fun as what was going on over at the Baptist or the Methodist youth groups.  But that's another story. And I've digressed, big time, from my love of bagpipes.

If you're a fan, if you've a Scottish bone in your body, maybe you'll happen upon your own bagpipers lining up with tartans, all ready to be Kirked. If so, you're in for a treat.

 (Procession of St. Andrews Pipes and Drums, and tartans, First Presbyterian Church, St. Petersburg, FL)

Related post: A Walk on the Beach

Historical Fiction Challenge

I'm taking the bait. I hope it will not be difficult. My To-Be-Read stack is toppling over, but I notice there are at least two on there that will qualify for this Book Challenge, so I'll bite. My first review will be of a middle-grade Newbery Honor book of recent vintage: The Wednesday Wars, by Gary Schmidt. Set during the Vietnam War.

Stay tuned.

And wish me well.

Wordle!

I'd totally forgotten what fun Wordle is. Then it turned up on a search for Titles. As in, HELP! I need to find a title! One suggestion was to put your entire manuscript in Wordle and see what emerges.

Well, nothing emerged. Title-wise.
But I sure wasted enjoyed a lot of fun time changing colors and fonts all afternoon. Here's the Wordle for my novel:

Go ahead. Click on that Wordle link. And see what fun you'll have. Try it for a chapter. Your kid's book report. An essay you've just written for The New Yorker. ☺    Whatever strikes your fancy.


Related post: Title Picking

Delta Magazine

Those of you who don't live in the Deep South may not have seen this one. I review books and write the occasional backpage essay for the magazine.

Occasionally, I've noticed they post content to the internet. So, if you don't know Delta Magazine, here's your chance. Book reviews! Including a really good read you'll have to wait a month to buy.  Recipes! (and also a link to where you can buy the magazine.)

What Did We Do Without Blogs?

Scouring my resources for blog info this anniversary week, I've been thinking about my Pre-Blog world. Or, more precisely, the Writing World Before Blogs.

The first writer I hosted at a school book fair, very early in my career (S. Byran Jennings Elementary School, Orange Park, FL, in case you're wondering) was Elaine Konigsburg. She signed books, talked to kids, breezed in and out and was absolutely terrific. She also lived nearby. Even in a public school where a large portion of our students didn't have a lot of pocket money to buy books, the Book Fair was very successful, an exciting day for kids and teachers alike.

Back then, computers were unheard of, except where they filled an entire room on a college campus, so there was no internet. No Blog Tour. No websites for authors. Still, success in terms of books sold.

Later, in other schools, other authors visited. Katherine Paterson (I lived in Maryland, and so did she), Cynthia Voigt, Gail Carson Levine-- my list could go on and on. I moved again; my library was a train ride from New York. Our resources were plentiful.

But that's not the case with all school libraries. And thankfully, blog tours have emerged, right up there with Skyped author visits. Schools now have the ability to know writers via cyberspace. How exciting that must be for kids!

But somewhere, deep down inside, I wonder if it's the same for kids. Is sitting on the edge of their desk, peering up at a manuscript stack as tall as the author (granted, Cynthia Voigt isn't terribly tall!), listening to her explain how many times she revised Homecoming, the same as seeing her on a computer screen? Will students miss the sparkle in Wendy Mass's eyes as she rolls out a zillion rejection letters, now laminated and turned into a long stretch of "Nice but not for us" letters, to show young writers how hard she worked? Can anything match being in the very same room with Katherine Paterson as she apologizes for missing the annual 5th Grade Newbery Lunch the previous week-- because she had to fly on the scheduled day- to the real Newbery announcements. Now that's excitement!

Still, I suspect blog tours are a close second to those real live visits. A great way to get to know a book. Terrific publicity, especially for a new writer. Would I like to move back to the pre-blog world? No! Would I trade sitting next to a real-live author, in a classroom, with kids lining up to have actual books signed? Never!

More Blogging about Blogging

Continuing with this week's Blog Theme-

Something for fellow bloggers to consider when leaving comments, this post by Writer's Digest's Jane Friedman is worth noting.

I'll lift two of her suggestions. You can click the link above to read the entire post. She always has good advice for writers, so it's worth a click in that direction.

To really impress, offer a targeted resource. Some of the best comments I've ever received pointed me to a very specific blog post or resource that I hadn't seen before.

Ask questions. If you didn't understand something that was discussed, there's a good chance someone else didn't understand either. So bring it up in the comments. Get clarification. Most people love the chance to elaborate, or they can address the question in a new blog post.


So, comment away, folks! Here, there and everywhere in Blogsville.

It's My Party I'll Invite Who I Want To!

(okay, okay WHOM just doesn't have that certain ring...)

I'm three and I get to invite three friends to this party, right?
Here are some of my Blog Buddies. My Writing Blog Buddies.

A Good Blog is Hard to Find

(Yes, that's my group blog. And here's my recent post. But if you love southern books and their writers, scroll around and you'll be delighted and impressed.)

From the Mixed-up Files of Middle Grade Authors
Great posts, always consistent. Interviews, giveaways, writing tips.

And because I never was very good at narrowing guest lists, I'll cheat and share the granddaddy of all blog lists. You can pick your favorite. Check out Jen Robinson's blog, Shelf Elf, Fuse #8, Brooklyn Arden, Cynsations- See, I could go on and on with my birthday party!

Best Book Blogs for Kids, Tweens and Teens

Blog Birthday #3: The Trouble With Blogging?

Blogging every day is hard work!
But what three-year-old wouldn't love celebrating a birthday for a whole week? So I'll keep up the pace till I run out of blog topics about blogging. At least for birthday week.
Today I'm ruminating on the bad things about blogging, the Anti-Blog post.

Three years ago when I first considered starting a blog, I consulted my writer friends. Without naming names, let me say that a certain one I love and admire shared with me an exchange with another, unnamed but articulate writer about The Trouble With Blogging...

It went something like this:

Compared to the studied seduction of the novel, blogging is literary pole dancing. Anyone can stand naked in the window of the public’s eye, anyone can twitch and writhe and emote over the package that was not delivered, the dinner that burned, the friend who forgot your birthday.

So right then and there, I decided I would never do this. Never rant about a burned dinner or forgotten birthdays. OK, so those things don't really matter to me anyhow. But I promised, as my friend and fellow blogger Lee cautions, never to navel gaze. And I've tried really hard not to.

Except I've already admitted I've had a tad too many food posts, for somebody who is not a food writer.
And I'm guilty of filling a few blank days with travel adventures, with book connections. But I honestly try to stick to my topic. With a minimum of Navel Gazing emoting.

Here are two that came close... But even these had a passing connection to writing or books.

(food)
Our Way Home

(sunsets)

A Place to Write

What's Up With Blogging?

Wishing Joyeux Anniversaire! to my blog all week, while wondering if blogging will be obsolete in another three years.

Check out this New York Times article- Facebook replacing blogging? Yes, possibly I am more likely to read a blog post if one of my Facebook friends posts the link. Kid bloggers (bloggers who are under the age of 18?) giving up and just tweeting? Hmmm.

Happy Anniversary to my Blog!

Three years old!
My, my.
And I almost missed it. But while searching for a book title in the recesses of my blog, there it was-- my very first post.

I started this blog after a discussion following a Media Bistro class taught by editor Joy Peskin on Writing for Children. All present agreed that writers needed an internet presence. Prospective agents and editors do google!

(image courtesy of Eileen Harrell, Artline Graphics)


My original intent was to write book reviews and the occasional post about writing, writing activities, and the journey to publication. And I'm still here.

Maybe I have overwritten about a few things- Food, specifically pimento cheese...
And yes, I love quoting writers. I'm a big Eudora Welty fan. Sometimes I combine the two, like in this quote from Miss Eudora:

"When asked what kind of art would be for 'everybody' there can only be one answer: the best." 

I've blogged about libraries. I've blogged about my hometowns. I've done those book reviews and I've talked about writing conferences I attended. I got a ton of hits when I blogged about The Help. I got quite a few comments when I wrote about my dad. I've mostly tried to keep on topic so every post usually has a story attached.

Thanks for reading and I hope you'll stick around.

More Things to Love

Here's a thing I really love. But it's not resting beautifully in a corner of my kitchen or blooming on a windowsill.

February is Library Lovers Month! 
Come celebrate! Click to find out more!
(I discovered this via Anita Silvey's website, Book-a-Day Almanac.)

It goes without saying that I'm a Library Lover. Right now there are at least 5 branches of my county library that I frequent on a regular basis here in Tampa Bay.

And my New Jersey librarians are no slouches. Check out this- great tweets from NJ to keep funding alive. One example?  “Grab the book. AND the cannoli."
Another? "Woke up this morning, got myself a library card..."

Love it!

I've been a fan of libraries since I was so young that I was only allowed to check out one book at a time. I've also had some great librarians in my life. So hats off to libraries and here's hoping they don't go away anytime soon.

Click here to read a post about someone who greatly influenced me to follow my career path to school librarian.

 Click here to see more of the world's most beautiful libaries.

(Pictured, Dublin College Library)

Happy Valentine's Day!

Something about those little conversation hearts has always appealed to me. So when my favorite 4-year-old presented me with this Valentine- and she only sampled a tiny taste- well, let's just say it cracked me up.

Sunday New York Times

Often I whip through the paper in no time flat. Today I couldn't stop reading. Here's what I liked most:

                                                                         (Photo by the New York Times)

How e-readers try to look like the Real Thing- Love that picture!

And so many more! Check the Most Emailed list. Check the Sunday Styles.

Funny dogs at the dog show, No cussing day in Middle School, Personal e-signatures for iPhones, J.C. Penney first in Google search?, great article on why marriage negotiation is like Adam Smith (or something like that).

And I haven't even gotten to the magazine or the Book Review.

Fictional Character

Thanks to my friend Eileen for sharing this image from the Oxford American, a terrific publication that's always filled with good things. In fact, it's the magazine that sits longest near my reading chair. And if you want to stroll around town wearing a teeshirt that says Fictional Character, go right ahead. Be forewarned, you might be followed by a writer, observing your every gesture.

(fictional character t-shirts from Zazzle.com)

Related post: Oxford American, anyone?

Google's Newest: Books Ngram Viewer

I heard about this on the radio. I'd even read a couple of articles about it. But it seemed like more of an intriguing thing to play around with than anything I'd ever actually use.

Then today, I had the perfect question for Google's word database. The idea is that you can track how often a word was used (in books), when its usage peaked, when it first came into the book world.

I needed to know whether characters in the mid 1970s would have said Backpack or perhaps Knapsack. And I sure couldn't remember.

Yes, I could have asked my newest writing friend Lisa, who tells me she was 11 just about the time my work-in-progress's character turned that age in 1976. Or maybe my long-term writing buddy Teddie will know.

But how much fun is it to check it out on this site.

Here's a short LA Times blogpost explaining everything you'd ever want to know about Books NGram Viewer.  

Here's the link to the actual google site- With some good info.

And here's a picture of Knapsack vs. Backback, for the decade of the Seventies!

OK, that was my break for research and development. Now back to my new writing project.
(And thanks again, Joyce and Jamie, for your weekend inspiration.)

Raring to Write! (to paraphrase my dear grandmother...)

Just back from an amazing, nonstop, totally productive, idea-filled, inspiring workshop with two remarkable writing coaches, Jamie Morris and Joyce Sweeney. This weekend's topic was Scene and Structure, just what I needed to make me think I won't toss my next Work-in-Progress into the bottom drawer, or worse yet, out the window. At least not until I play around with some of Joyce and Jamie's suggestions.

I don't think I've ever felt this enthusiastic about ANY writing event before. Well, scratch that. The SCBWI event where I met my agent would have to trump anything.

But as far as running a workshop with the perfect mix of writing prompts, craft lectures, sharing, advising, these two women have this process nailed. Just the best.

Here they are in a fuzzy photo, at the very end of two solid days and one long evening of coaching 12 writers sitting on the edge of our comfy chairs waiting for inspiration. And we got it in spades.

Oh, and did I mention we were at a divine beach house on St. Augustine Beach. With food and drink a mere inches away at all times?

As my dear grandmother would say to five-year-old me: You're raring to go. Slow down!

Not in a million years.