What's Been Going On

I blinked and then it was May.  Just like that.

I am trying to slow down and enjoy moments this Spring, but instead it's more like diggings my heels into the ground and attempting to skid to a stop while being pulled by a rope attached to a crazy bull.

It's not that effective.

But it's quiet here on this Sunday morning so I can take a sip of tea and be a bit reflective before everyone wakes up and the roller coaster starts up again.

So, here's life as I know it:

1. At the end of April, I found out that THE SEVEN TALES OF TRINKET was a finalist for the California Book Award.  I was blown away and very honored.  The gold medal ended up going to THE ONE AND ONLY IVAN, which I could not complain about because, well, IVAN was awesome.

2.  My team of teachers just won an "Outstanding Education Program" award for that cow eyeball dissection lab we organized. The award includes funding so that we can continue the project next year. 

3.  I have two graduations looming (eighth grade and college), which begs the question, how does one make fajitas for fifty people without losing one's mind?

4. I've been thinking about writing more than I have been writing.  This has not necessarily been a bad thing.  Since I am in the midst of reworking a chunk of a middle grade book, I kind of feel like I am laying each word down, brick by brick, ever-so-slowly, so that they don't topple over.  I know the weight that they need to hold up, I know the pattern they must make so that the structure will be sound and stable. It is a gift that the only deadline I am under to make it work is self-imposed.

5.  Everyone keeps asking me what I am doing or where I am going this summer, but I don't want to really go anywhere or do much of anything. What I really want are huge blocks of unstructured time. Here's hoping.

6. I've read some great books:

This is such a beautifully written book--very reminiscent of Rudyard Kipling--at least to me--and I love Kipling.

If you want to write middle grade and you are not reading Rebecca Stead, you should stop everything you are doing and read one of her books.  I insist.

Creepy. Scary. Gritty. Hopeful. Wow.

So, there's life as I know it.  How are you getting yourself ready for Summer?

hrh

Influences: Star Trek

When I was a kid, one of my favorite things to do was to watch reruns of Star Trek* (the original) with my dad.  Sometimes we would stay up late, waiting for a special episode to came on after the ten o'clock news, sometimes we'd find one broadcast on a Saturday afternoon, but regardless of when, for that hour I was a TV zombie.  I couldn't take my eyes from the screen.

And naturally, I daydreamed about it all later.

Except, I always had a small problem with the whole Star Trek mythology.  Well, maybe not so small.

You see, I never identified with the female characters.

I wanted to be HIM^.

Now, don't misunderstand, I liked Uhura.  And I thought being a communications officer on a starship could actually be a fun job.  But seriously, she never got an adequate amount of screen time nor an acceptable amount of adventure. As for Nurse Chappell, well, she kind of annoyed me, so I didn't want to be her.

And then there was some lady with blond basket-weave hair that was on from time to time, but I can't even remember her name...Janice? Maybe?  I am going to google blond basket weave hair lady from Star Trek and see what comes up.  Give  me a moment.

VICTORY!  

Whooop!  There is is!  I found her.  Google, you are amazing.

Seriously she wasn't on that often, and if you wanted to go adventuring across galaxies, then that hair would take way too much upkeep.  (Remember, these were my thoughts as a ten year-old...and I was not far off the mark!)

See, if you wanted to go "where no one** was gone before" then the character you HAD to be was Captain Kirk.  I loved him.  Not in a "I have a crush on you" kind of way, but in an "I want to be you" kind of way.  I mean, he always seemed like he had a plan, even when he didn't.  And he lived for adventure.  

(I didn't pick up in his jerky womanizer tendencies as a kid. I suppose that made him a flawed, multi-dimensional character, who knows? Regardless, I am glad my dad didn't tell me I should be identifying with basket weave head. She didn't  get to do much of ANYTHING!)

But oh, the adventurous Kirk!! 

This need for adventure has influenced my stories greatly.  My characters need to go somewhere, do something within their tales for me to be able to follow their stories to the end.  Every one of my characters has a teeny bit of James T. Kirk living inside of them.   (However, NONE OF THEM ARE JERKY WOMANIZERS!)  

Yes, I am dying for the next Star Trek movie, in case you were wondering.

Is there a childhood show or book that influence your writing?

hrh

*I always had to explain to my friends that it was Star TREK, not Star TRACK.  Sheesh.  Didn't their dads stay up late to watch it with them?

**Yeah, yeah, I know, on the old series he always said, "Where no MAN has gone before."  So glad when they changed it for NEXT GENERATION.  I'll have to post another time with all of my love for Captain Picard!!  Love you, Jean-Luc!!

What I've Been Reading

Confession: Sometimes I am afraid to read books that tell you How to Write in fear that I'll find out that I am doing it all wrong.

Really.  It's true.

But I was browsing in Barnes and Noble a few weeks ago (yes, people still browse for books in a bookstore!  It still happens!  Please save our brick and mortar stores!) and I stumbled upon HOW TO WRITE IRRESISTIBLE KIDLIT by Mary Kole.  Mary Kole is a literary agent who runs a blog called kidlit.com which I enjoy reading.  I remember when her book came out, thinking that I might check it out, but I was a little scared--what if I found out that my method for writing children's literature is all messed up?  (Okay, really I am not this insecure about my writing all the time, but I have my weak moments.  And right now, I can't afford weak moments.  Weak moments usually involve a pity party with some form of chocolate, or maybe french fries, and walking around my house in a my-writing-stinks funk.  I am beginning some new projects and funks can kill a project dead.  Like BANG! POW! YOU ARE DEAD, NEW PROJECT!)

So, with trepidation, I put down my bag, sat on the Barnes and Noble carpet, and cracked open Mary's book to give it a test run.

Three pages in (and a quick thumb-through), I stood up, picked up my bag, and shelled out the $19.99 cover price.  (Yes, I probably could have ordered it on-line and saved some money, but I had to have it right THEN!  Also, see above^ Save our brick and mortar stores!)

I don't want to tell you too much about her approach, for I think you need to read it for yourself, but I will tell you that she does two things that I really, really liked:

1.  She gives the opinions of other editors and agents about what they find compelling in children's literature.

2.  She gives examples from real, actual children's books which reinforce what she is talking about.

In other words, she tells you what is important, she tells you why it is important, then she gives you some great excerpts, as well as suggested readings.

Well done, Mary!  YOUR book is irresistible, too!

I think this is a great book for writers who are just now discovering the desire to write for children as well as folks like me, who have written for kids for YEARS, but want to examine their own methods and delve deeper into their craft.

Highly recommend.

hrh

The Great Read Aloud Experiment Part 2

Wow.  Sometimes it's like the Earth swallows you up, you know?

It isn't the Earth, actually, it's my job.  In the past, when my work got stressful, I found I would blog a lot.  I needed to keep that write part of me alive and not let it slip away.  However, right now most of my brain cells have been overtaken by 32 third graders, and instead of needing to escape from the situation, I find I really like it.  I greatly enjoy these little people and thinking about ways to make our time together as meaningful as possible.

A part of me will always be a teacher, I suppose.

So, as I blogged about before, I thought it would be interesting (exciting, crazy, maybe stupid) to read my middle grade novel to my own class.  We are a little more than the middle of the way through, so I thought I'd share some thoughts.

1.  There is NOTHING like writing a special part of a book that you HOPE that kids get, and then seeing the light bulb go ON and hands shoot up into the air with comments!  It.was.awesome.  Today I was reading the fifth tale, A Pigboy, a Ghost, and a Pooka, and I got to the part where one of the characters may or may not be what they seem.  Oooooh! The gasps, the looks, the questions.  I'll never forget their faces.

2.  It made me hope there would be an audio-book of Trinket someday.  I actually like hearing this story better than silently reading it.  I think there are those books that lend themselves more to be read aloud, and some that are more private, and better savored in solitude. Trinket is the former.  

3.   Would I change anything about the book?  Short answer:  No.  Long answer: Truthfully, there are a few phrases that I read differently than I wrote them.  I don't know why my brain makes the change, but it does.  So there is that.

4.  It makes me itching to write!!  My writing time has been small lately, and focused mostly on revision.  I really want to write something that surprises me.  I just wish I knew what.  (Of course, then it wouldn't be a surprise, would it?)

So, I have a few minutes which are not packed with anything, so I think I will open a word document and see where it takes me....


hrh

Unless: A few thoughts about Dr. Seuss

It struck me the other day that the genius of Dr. Seuss is not his rhyme or his rhythm or his invention of the perfect word to fit into the perfect verse.  It is not his creation of unusual and almost impossible creatures in hues of pink, yellow and green.

The genius of Dr. Seuss lies in the heart of his stories--or more basically, the simple fact that his stories are full of heart.

Example #1:  I was reading THE LORAX the other day to my class. We were near the end of an IB unit entitled I Need the Earth and the Earth Needs Me so it seemed appropriate. The kids were there--right there-- with the good doctor as the Lorax bemoaned the loss of the truffula trees and the brown barbaloots.  All was lost for this corner of the world until I turned the page and in largish letters was the word UNLESS.  Our world will go the way of the Lorax's world unless we make a choice to change things.  Unless.  I will admit, I got a little teary when I read that word, mostly because my kids totally GOT IT.  They know if the world is to change, it is up to them.  Dr. Seuss knew that almost 50 years ago.  He knows that our only hope is children.

Example #2:  My daughter was in a production of Seussical  a few weeks ago.  She was the Sour Kangaroo (the villain, which she played well--almost too well:).  Anyway, there is a part in the musical near the end when the egg that Horton has been sitting on finally hatches and durn it if it didn't cause a big lump in my throat and tears in my eyes!  This was a mid-school production, and Horton was a 14 year-old boy in overalls and a trucker hat with elephant ears and I am crying!  Crying!

And Dr. Seuss would probably say:

And it should be,
     It should be,
           It SHOULD be that way.

So much heart.  Reread HORTON HATCHES THE EGG, or THE LORAX.  You'll see.

hrh

What I Did Over My Spring Break

It ends tonight.  *sniff*  *sniff*

It is not that I don't want to go back tomorrow and see my lovely students.  I do.  But I would be a liar if I didn't say how much I enjoyed not having to get up in the dark of the morning, and having nice chunks of unstructured time.

It is hard when you are a wife and a mom and a teacher and a writer to NOT feel like there is always something that you SHOULD be doing.  Every moment that I am doing one thing, I worry that I am not getting something else done that I should be.  Sheesh.  That is why Spring Break is so nice.

So, here is what I did:

1.  Saw a production of Seussical (which I need to blog about in detail, soon!)

2.  Prepared a very easy Easter dinner for my family and my visiting folks that was very tasty.  I sometimes forget how good simple can be.

3.  Shopped a little, but not much.

4.  Went to the San Diego Zoo (with about everyone else in San Diego!!!) It was so crowded.  But I saw the most adorable otter, and it reminded me of a shape-shifting otter I once wrote about.  Such a beautiful day, too.  My youngest daughter has a fancy camera, so it was really a photography excursion for her.  But for me, it was just amazing to be in the presence of wild animals.

5.  Spent time with my daughters, just goofing and watching junk TV.

6.  Wrote a lot.  I finished a completely new version of Nix the Naughty, my wacky medieval romp which stars a trouble-making boy and his adventures in a scriptorium. Think if Jimmy Neutron wrote the Book of Kells.  I also started two new middle grades (while Nix simmers and awaits revision).  Well, only one of them is new.  The other one is a rewrite of In the Kingdom of the Selkies which I have decided to take in a new direction.  It is hard when you finish writing something and know that if you made a different choice early on, the book would be stronger.  So, I have been putting off the revision until I could figure out what the new first lines of the book should be.  And finally, I think I've found them.  (Crosses fingers.)  What?  Oh the other new middle grade?

Well, I think it is sci-fi.

I know, right?

We'll see.  I plan to write two books side by side until one takes over.  I know it sounds crazy, but it allows me to write more freely if all-of-the-pressure-of-the-world is not on one book.  I guess it's like not putting all of my eggs in one basket or something.  I dunno.  I just know that it helps me to start things if I start two completely different pieces at the same time.

Oh, and I drafted a picture book, too.  (I am just waiting patiently for the right ending to come along....)

7.  And I read!!  Several books that touched my brain and my heart.  Will post a recommendation list soon.

But for now, I have to prepare myself to go back to school.

Which of course means a trip to Costco.

hrh

Accountability

Blarg.

I have a lot I'd like to blog about and just haven't had the time to do it--so soon.  I'll do it very soon.  I mean, I've got to reflect on my March goals and then I had a very insightful experience with Dr. Seuss.  Oh, and I've got to update my progress on the Great Read Aloud Experiment of 2013 (in which I am reading my book to my class).  However, today is Tuesday, the second official day of my Spring Break and thus far, I have written nothing.

Nothing.

And I'd like to finish a draft this week, begin a revision (in which the first page must be totally reworked and if I don't capture the right voice within the first few lines, the manuscript if done for) and draft a very short picture book that has been kicking around in my brain for three weeks.

It seems like a lot--but I've got a week!  A week with no extraneous work!

So, to make myself accountable for today, I am going to live-blog my progress today.  The manuscript I am working on is currently 15,222 words.  I'd like it to be around 20k (about the length of a Wimpy Kid book).  I have fortified myself with a breakfast of a blondie with browned-butter icing, topped with a piece of Irish bacon. (This may be the best breakfast ever!!)  And tea.  Always tea. I let myself have a rare sleep-in this morning, so I can't say that I am tired.  No excuses.  I think I'll start with a 30 minute timed writing and see how far I get.

Wish me luck! Start time:  11:22  Total: 15,222.

(The last line I wrote in this ms is:
     I hear the rocks and dirt crunch under his feet.

     He is coming towards me.)


End time:  11:58  New Total:  15,819

Just did a timed writing for 30 minutes.  Not a bad start.  I got through a scene that I was struggling with (as in having no idea what was going to happen.)  Yay!  Now, I am going to get dressed for the day, maybe read a little, then try another timed writing in a little while.

I decided to do a 1k1hr on twitter with some other authors.  I began at 1:30 and finished at 2:26.    A little over 1,100 words! I worry that I am moving too quickly through some scenes, but I think I can go back and flesh them out if they seem sparse on the re-read.  I am just excited to feel the momentum of the story moving forward to its climax.  I'd love to try another timed writing for an hour in a little bit.  My fingers seem too sloppy to tackle it now.  I am about to enter a battle scene with Vikings, a couple of monks and a very inept knight.  

End time: 2:26  new Total 16,925!

Spent a good deal of time reading.  It is so nice not to fall asleep and have the book hit my face, which happens most nights because I am sooooo tired by the time I finally get to read.  What a gift, to read leisurely.  I was reading Gayle Forman's new young adult novel, JUST ONE DAY,

which was really, really good.  I thought I'd do another timed writing for an hour, but life intervened (in the form of an epic lightsaber vs watergun battle right outside my window.)  I only got about 400 more words.

New Total:  17, 372!

So that makes more that 2k in one day, which is fairly awesome for me.  I might try one more after dinner, which I think will be leftovers from Easter dinner. 

More later, perhaps.