Blue Rose Girls

B&N vs Amazon

2012-02-02T09:22:00.001-05:00

As a follow up to this post, this article explains what B&N is doing in response to Amazon's business tactics (essentially refusing to carry any books published under Amazon's imprint). In a way it seems only fair; if Amazon is going to try to undermine brick and mortar book stores, doesn't it make sense that they fight back? What do you think?

Interpreting editorial letters

2012-02-01T11:00:00.006-05:00

As an author, I get editorial letters; as an editor, I write them.
How do you handle them when you're the author? How do you want the author to handle them if you're the editor?

As the author, I usually ask for clarification if I don't understand something. If an editor suggests a change, I feel that I have to do something -- that I can't just leave whatever it was as it is. But even if the editor has made a suggestion, I usually feel that I can solve the problem my own way. If I really like the editor's solution, I'll use it; if I don't, I'll think of my own. I always do something.

But I've heard of authors who just leave things as they are!

As an editor, do you think the author has to fix what you've commented on, or is that optional? And what about how the author fixes it? Are you annoyed if she doesn't do what you suggest, but solves the problem her own way? And what would you do if an author (this happens to me as an editor sometimes) interpreted everything you said as praise and didn't want to change anything?

Not to be sexist, but this does happen to me more with male authors: I'll send a letter saying what I liked, and then suggesting changes, and the author responds,

"Oh, you liked it! Great!"

When I'm the editor, I'm in a different situation from most people reading these pages, I think -- I'm being paid by the author to get the ms. into publishable condition. So what I do in that case ("that case" being when I've sent a long letter and the author responds only to the praise) is get blunter -- painfully blunt, sometimes.

So you'd think I'd be good at reading editorial letters, but not always! When I'm the author, letters from an editor I don't know can be really hard to interpret, and I've gotten it wrong more than once. So, anything anyone has to say would be helpful....

Lastly, I'm talking here about books that are under contract. Alvina's post (was it called Rejection Letters 101) on submissions was hugely helpful. It's easy to misinterpret those letters, too.

Amazon and Publishing's Ecosystem

2012-01-31T20:50:00.000-05:00

If you haven't seen this article yet, it's worth a read. Depressing yes, but lays out how Amazon has influenced publishing in clear terms. I knew they were a threat to brick and mortar booksellers, we all know that, but I didn't realize to what degree.

On a side note, the article says there are a mere 1500 independent booksellers left in this country. So finite! That just makes me want to cry.

NY SCBWI conference

2012-01-30T08:30:00.000-05:00

This past weekend I spoke at three different break-out sessions at the NY SCBWI conference on "Narrative Fiction". As I said during my speech, I was a little perplexed about the topic, but decided to focus on the three aspects of the narrative I felt were the most important: 1) narrative voice, 2) structure, and 3) plot. I basically summarized options and gave some examples, and some things to think about when choosing your narrative voice and structure. For the plot section, I talked about Libby's post about plot from last Fall, which I had always really liked, and read a few of her plot summaries and had attendees guess the book, which was fun. For a great write-up of my session, check out the SCBWI blog here. (that's where I borrowed this picture from)

I also participated in the GLBTQ&A session, where we discussed the market for GLBTQ (gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and questioning) literature. It was a wonderful discussion led by my buddy Lee Wind who I met at the Nevada SCBWI conference. Also participating was author Ellen Hopkins, agent Jennifer Laughran, and my former colleague T.S. Ferguson who is now an Associate Editor at Harlequin Teen. One disheartening thing we discussed was that even though T.S, Jenn, and I have all stated that we're open to and looking for submissions with GLBTQ characters and content, the truth is that less that 5% of the submissions we receive fall in that category (Jenn originally estimated just 1%). We discussed the fear that writers have for writing outside their own experience, and one writer very aptly said something to the effect of, "I don't live in a dystopian world, yet people don't criticize writers for writing about that kind of world." We encouraged writers to write outside of their own experiences, but to do so sensitively, and when in doubt, make sure to get beta readers who may be more intimately familiar with the content.

We capped off the night with some Karaoke (of course). It was a wonderful day, and I had fun making new friends, seeing some familiar faces, and talking books! (although considering the three-hour nap I took in the middle of the day on Sunday, I was pretty worn out.) But, I would highly recommend the NY SCBWI conference for writers of all levels. The keynote speeches are always wonderful, the break-out sessions enlightening (I hope!), and it's also a great networking opportunity to meet editors, agents, authors, and illustrators of all different levels.

Books and money

2012-01-28T08:27:00.017-05:00

Someone made a comment on Meghan's post yesterday that she was concerned not so much about the awards, but about "limitations that are put on new artists and authors BEFORE their work goes into print."

Changing the rules of awards wouldn't change that, though it would change the lives of the (few more) people who won. Publishing is moving more towards books the publishers think will sell large numbers of copies. For those of us who don't write those books (though to be optimistic -- who can ever really predict which books they are?), awards have huge financial consequences. Unless we win a major one, we can't make a living from our books. We have to work at other things if we and we alone are responsible for supporting ourselves.

Yes, it would be nice to win a big, life-changing award (when THE PENDERWICKS won, the author was able to buy a house for the first time in her life!) and live on advances and royalties. Who wouldn't love it?

But if you're a published author, is not being able to support yourself from writing really that bad? Anyone who is passionate, disciplined, and creative enough to illustrate or write books can think of other ways to earn money and make them work. Yes, it takes some time and energy away from books; and for most of us there isn't as much money in it as there would be in a "good" full-time job -- but it gives you more freedom than a full-time job does.

Maybe working at other things is even good for writing in the long run? Unless we have something to pull us out into the world, for many introverts (and most writers I know are introverts! Most illustrators too for that matter!) it's all too easy to stay home, do your writing, and only see a small number of people. And what do you have to write about if you spend your life doing that? Most novelists whose work has lasted were intensely engaged in the world in some way -- sometimes in really fascinating ways (Somerset Maughm and John Le Carre both worked for British intelligence, to name just two).

THE AWARDS SUGGESTION

2012-01-25T12:52:00.003-05:00

I suggested this on my blog and now I'll do it here. We'll see how it goes. Here's my thought: What if a person could only win an honor or win twice or three times - I think twice would be enough actually. Then this would leave room for new artists to win instead of the same people winning over and over again. This is not a comment on the winners' talents or anything like that... I just think the awards would be more vibrant and fun if there was a limit.

What do you think?

Happy Chinese New Year and Thanks for Coming!

2012-01-25T09:15:00.000-05:00

Phew! I made it!

It's the Chinese New Year, which means I had my Dumpling Days Book Launch! If you haven't noticed, my postings on this blog have been a bit spare lately. That is because every spare moment has been used to make over 100 Pocket Pacys:

the two large pocket pacys are the special "winning" ones; the people who got them won an original piece of art at the book launch

These are the special edition Pocket Pacys I did just for the launch. They are all wearing pink dresses because in Dumpling Days, the three sisters are forced to wear matching pink dresses when they travel to Taiwan (to make it easier for their mother to keep her eye on them). This is based on a real-life experience:

We put one of each of these Pocket Pacys in the booklaunch goodie bags, along with a red envelope that had a special URL to download exclusive deleted chapters and a dumpling recipe card. Because the Pocket Pacys were a bit time-consuming + having even less time then usual (work, visits + Rain Dragon!), I wasn't able to bake special cupcakes this time around. In fact, the baking had to be given up altogether and replaced with Japanese gummy candies.

And after assembling 100 bags (much thanks to my sister, niece & Sasquatch) I was a little worried to wake up on book launch day to snow. The most snow we've had all winter! Would people come?

Yes, they did!

I talked a bit incoherently--I did not prepare my talk as well as I would've liked (those Pocket Pacys took a long time!) and I admit I am more self-conscious than usual with my baby bump:

But it was lovely to meet so many of you! I think most people liked the Pocket Pacys so making them was definitely worth it! I hope to see many Pocket Pacy travel photos in the future!

Thanks so much for coming! Happy Year of the Dragon to all!

PS--Congrats to all the ALA Media Award Winners! Glad to see some of my favorites made the list!

It shows up

2012-01-24T13:11:00.003-05:00

I've been back at writing regularly post-baby for a few weeks and feeling frustrated that it's taking so long to get in the flow. I feel like I've been writing and writing, but not getting anything done. Now this is not the first work I've done since I had Tilly a little over a year ago, but it's the first time we've had a babysitter. So I've had concentrated amounts of time to focus, which is totally different. I've been so anxious to get to this point, it feels like there is a big bubbling pot of ideas that will explode if I don't give it a way out.

But then there is the terror of that big blank screen. And as I said above, miles and miles of writing that seem to go nowhere. So I was chatting with Libby and she said, "don't worry, if you keep showing up, the work will show up." I've repeated that to myself several times in the past week and decided to just show up. It's all I can do to get back on track and it's what I have to do. So I have. And then, last Thursday, it showed up. I got so lost in writing that I barely noticed the baby coos and shrieks of excitement coming from downstairs. The hours flew by. And now I remember how it feels, and why I needed to get back here.

Even if my career goes in a very different direction now that I'm a mom, I'm committed to showing up and seeing what happens.

(Graphic from Ben Silbermann, the founder of Pinterest, photo by A Practical Wedding)

The results are in!

2012-01-23T11:17:00.001-05:00

Newbery Medal:

“Dead End in Norvelt,” written by Jack Gantos, is the 2012 Newbery Medal winner. The book is published by Farrar Straus Giroux.

Two Newbery Honor Books also were named: "Inside Out & Back Again," written by Thanhha Lai and published by HarperCollins Children’s Books, a division of HarperCollins Publishers; and "Breaking Stalin’s Nose,” written and illustrated by Eugene Yelchin, and published by Henry Holt and Company, LLC.

Caldecott Medal:

“A Ball for Daisy," illustrated and written by Chris Raschka, is the 2012 Caldecott Medal winner. The book is published by Schwartz & Wade Books, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, a division of Random House, Inc.

Three Caldecott Honor Books also were named: “Blackout,” illustrated and written by John Rocco, and published by Disney · Hyperion Books, an imprint of Disney Book Group; "Grandpa Green" illustrated and written by Lane Smith, and published by Roaring Brook Press, a division of Holtzbrinck Publishing Holdings Limited Partnership; and “Me … Jane,” illustrated and written by Patrick McDonnell, and published by Little, Brown and Company, a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc.

Michael L. Printz Award:

“Where Things Come Back,” written by John Corey Whaley, is the 2012 Printz Award winner. The book is published by Atheneum Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing.

“Why We Broke Up,” written by Daniel Handler, art by Maira Kalman and published by Little, Brown and Company, a division of Hachette Book Group; “The Returning,” written by Christine Hinwood and published by Dial Books, an imprint of Penguin Group Young Readers Group USA; “Jasper Jones,” written by Craig Silvey and published by Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, a division of Random House, Inc.; and “The Scorpio Races,” written by Maggie Stiefvater and published by Scholastic Press, an imprint of Scholastic Inc.

Coretta Scott King (Author):

Kadir Nelson, author and illustrator of “Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans,” is the King Author Book winner. The book is published by Balzer + Bray, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.

Two King Author Honor Book recipients were selected: Eloise Greenfield, author of “The Great Migration: Journey to the North,” illustrated by Jan Spivey Gilchrist and published by Amistad, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers; and Patricia C. McKissack, author of “Never Forgotten,” illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon and published by Schwartz & Wade Books, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, a division of Random House, Inc.

Coretta Scott King (Illustrator) Book Award:

Shane W. Evans, illustrator and author of “Underground: Finding the Light to Freedom,” is the King Illustrator Book winner. The book is a Neal Porter Book, published by Roaring Brook Press, a division of Holtzbrinck Publishing Holdings Limited Partnership.

One King Illustrator Honor Book recipient was selected: Kadir Nelson, illustrator and author of “Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans,” published by Balzar + Bray, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.

See the rest here. Congrats everyone!

from the BRG archives: Does anyone do both brilliantly?

2012-01-22T09:30:00.001-05:00

Quite often when adults hear that I write for children their first question is,
“Are you going to write an adult novel?”
This is always said very nicely, even eagerly, or in a slightly encouraging tone – as though children’s books are training wheels for the real thing.

I thought it was just something about me – but on NPR a few days ago Katherine Paterson said that people often asked her that, too. Why do people do this? Obviously, they think it's easier to write for children -- but do they realize how insulting the question is? That it implies that people only write for kids because they aren’t good enough (yet is often implied, too -- that's where the encouraging tone comes in) to write for grown-ups?

It’s not easy to write ANYTHING good – but I don’t think the age group that you’re writing for has anything to do with a book’s difficulty. It just takes a different kind of talent, or set of interests – and if anyone doubts this, think of how few people there are who have written great children’s books AND great adult novels. I really can’t think of anyone!

The closest is probably C.S. Lewis – I at least really like That Hideous Strength and Out of the Silent Planet; but are these books as good as the Narnia books? Louisa May Alcott and E.Nesbit both wrote trashy books for grown-ups, I’ve never been able to even finish any of them, and I’ve read their kids books over and over and over.

If you think this just proves the point that kids books are easier: Thurber's adult stories make me laugh (and still are read in literature classes), but I don't think anyone would still read the book about the Princess who wanted the moon(Many Moons ) if it weren't for the great illustrations. And Dickens and Thackeray would be out of print today if their children's books were their only books.

Robert Louis Stevenson did write for adults, and actually, some of his adult stories are pretty amazing (if you like well-written, well-plotted adventure stories) – but are they as good as the best poems in A Child’s Garden of Verses? I don’t think so. If you count YA, then I can think of one person: F.Scott Fitzgerald. His Basil and Josephine stories still make me laugh out loud. I especially love the ones about the ten-year old, totally obnoxious Basil (based on Fitzgerald himself), with his best friend who – no matter how crazy and impossible Basil’s ideas were -- responded to each one with an immediate:
“Let’s do it!”

But those aren’t BOOKS. Maybe there are people who write brilliantly for both age groups that I just haven’t read. If you can think of any, please put them in the comments! And another question: what do YOU say when adults ask if you’re going to write for adults? I usually just mumble no. No child has ever asked that question, by the way: they just say “Have you written any other books?” and of course, “other books” means – for kids. As it should.

Originally published February 24th, 2007

Proof! Reading fiction makes you smarter!

2012-01-17T14:54:00.008-05:00

I've argued sometimes with friends who think novel-reading is a waste of time that reading makes you more empathetic. People who can't imagine how someone else feels on their own, or in a social situation, CAN when they read a novel, in which all the clues are laid out for them.

Now there is scientific proof that this is so! In fact, some social scientists have gone father and said that reading fiction makes you smarter.

readingfiction makes you smarter (STAR)

reading fiction hones social skills (SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN MIND)

Also too (as Sara Palin would say), great artists have great insight -- even Freud said that his theories had been known to "great artists" for hundreds of years. Do you remember the scene in Emma in which Mr.Woodhouse keeps telling his son-in-law what his, Mr. Woodhouses's, doctor thinks the son-in-law should have done -- until finally Mr.Knightley loses his temper?

Jane Austen then says that Mr.Woodhouse had been "unconsciously attributing his own feelings" to the doctor.

Though it's true that Jane Austen also once described somebody reading "the sort of novel that makes people think reading novels is a waste of time."

So maybe it has to be a good book for the magic (or science) to work?

Happy New Year (belated)

2012-01-16T08:30:00.000-05:00

Wow, it's been a while since I've posted...my apologies for the silence. I would say that I've made a New Year's resolution to blog more regularly, but it hasn't worked for me the last few years, so I've decided not to resolve that for once and will see if THAT works.

At any rate, regular readers of this blog and pretty much everyone who knows me (and even those who don't) know that I'm very much into making New Year's resolutions. Let's see how I did last year. My 2011 resolutions and results (in blue) were:

-Don't stay in the office past 9 pm, and if I do stay until 9, no more than twice a week
I believe I stayed past 9 pm 2 or 3 times last year, and not TOO much past 9, so all in all, I would say that I did well with this one.
-Have my work email inbox at 20 or under at the end of each day I'm in the office
I was an absolute FAILURE with this one. Was overwhelmed by my inbox last year.
-Achieve Inbox Zero at least once a month
Nope!
-Read an average of 1.5 published books per month
Yes! I read many more published books last year.
-Do more cultural activities (shows, museums, etc.)
Um, nope.
-get 4,000+ followers on Twitter (follow me! @planetalvina)
Yes! I surpassed 5,000 followers by the end of the year.
-post on bloomabilities at least once a month (I actually have a new post up now. And yes, I know I resolve this one every year and fail...but hey, it's a new year!)
Fail!
-clean my office (and apartment) a little bit once a week
I think I can safely say that I achieved this very modest goal. Love the "little bit" part.
-de-clutter my apt and office
I moved offices, and so completely decluttered at work. Not so much at home.
-focus on acquiring Middle Grade and picture books--acquire at least two projects in each genre

Well, my focus shifted in May, but if you count the two MG novels I co-acquired with my assistant Bethany, I'd say I achieved this one!

Here are a few pie-in-sky goals that I didn't have much (if any) control over:
-Have five of the books I've edited become NY Times bestsellers
No, but I had three! The paperback of Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin, You Will Be My Friend by Peter Brown, and the paperback of The Candymakers by Wendy Mass all hit the list.
-Have the books I edit collectively get at least 25 starred reviews
I believe my total was closer to 15 stars.
-Win an award for books I've edited in every category: picture book, early reader, MG, and YA
At ALA Midwinter last year, I achieved this for every category with the exception of MG. I never did end up winning a MG award--but hey, I can't complain!

So for my first blog post of 2012, here are my resolutions (personal and work-related), a few carried over from last year:

-Get rid of atleast 365 items (includes clothes, books, etc.) (Libby came up with this one, and I liked it so much I've adopted it, too.)

-Have fun at mywedding and don’t stress too much about the planning

-Work on betterposture!

-Learn moreabout how the business and financials of publishing works

-Don’t stay past9 pm in the office EVER

-Achieve InboxZero at least once a month

-Get at least 8,000followers on Twitter (follow me! @planetalvina)

And what the heck, I'll repeat my "dreams" from last year:

-Have five of the books I've edited become NY Times bestsellers

-Have the books I edit collectively get at least 25 starred reviews
-Win an award for books I've edited in every category: picture book, MG, and YA (I have to take out early reader this year, since I haven't published any since Ling & Ting!)

Meghan already shared some of her resolutions--what are some of yours? Any good ones I can appropriate for myself? :)

***

I'm heading to Dallas at the end of the week for the ALA Midwinter conference. Award announcements happen a week from tomorrow. My company had a great showing last year and the year before, and so I'm feeling pretty Zen about things this year. Of course, we have some hopes as a company, but it's out of our control now, so que sera! If you'll be in Dallas, I hope to see you there!

I'll also be speaking at the NY SCBWI conference on "Narrative Fiction" at the end of the month. I'll be at the VIP Cocktail party and the Kidlit Drinks night on Friday, January 27th. All are welcome to the latter, so if you're in town, hope to see you there! As a refresher, check out my post from last January, "How to Mingle at Publishing Events." The info:

When: Friday, January 27th, starting at 8pm. We'll have the space until around 11pm.
Where: Public House (http://www.publichousenyc.com/) on East 41st Street, between Lexington and Third. For non-NYCers in town for the conference, this is one block south and half a block east of the Grand Hyatt.

Happy 2012, all!

don't Forget!!

2012-01-15T10:26:00.002-05:00

The Dumpling Days Book Launch is this Saturday, at 1 pm EST (not PT).

You do NOT need a ticket to come. Please tell your friends and family! The more the merrier!

I've been mad at work preparing for it and I have a sneaking suspicion that this will be the last book launch that I do. My publisher has been talking about sending me on tour for "Starry River of the Sky" (which will come out in October) and with Rain Dragon coming, I think my time for planning big parties with elaborate goodie bags might be over. So, I'm trying to make this one a good one (I've made over 100 pocket pacys!) and I hope everyone comes!

2011 Cybils Finalists Announced!

2012-01-13T13:09:00.001-05:00

The 2011 Cybils Finalists were announced on New Year’s Day. I was away in the White Mountains of New Hampshire celebrating with friends and wasn’t able to post anything because I had no Internet access. Then it was off to my daughter's to provide "nanny granny" services. I'm finding it difficult to post as frequently at Blue Rose Girls and at Wild Rose Reader because I spend so much time away from home taking care of my granddaughter. I hope I'll be able to get into a better blogging routine in the near future. That said, I LOVE taking care of little Julia Anna. She is the sunshine of my life!

Here is a picture that I took of Julia with my 93-year-old mother on Christmas Eve.

Here is a picture of Julia on Christmas Day.

Here are a few more pictures that I took of my little darlin' recently.

You’ll find links to the titles of the 2011 Cybils finalists in all the categories here.

Once again, I served as a first round poetry judge. Click here to read descriptions of the six poetry books that we selected as finalists.

The 2011 Cybils Poetry Finalists

Cousins of Clouds: Elephant Poems by Tracie Vaughn Zimmer

Dear Hot Dog by Mordicai Gerstein

Emma Dilemma: Big Sister Poems by Kristine O’Connell George

Requiem: Poems of the Terezin Ghetto by Paul B. Janeczko

Self-Portrait with Seven Fingers: The Life of Marc Chagall in Verse

by J. Patrick Lewis and Jane Yolen

We Are America: A Tribute from the Heart by Walter Dean Myers

**********

Over at Wild Rose Reader today, I posted an original fairy tale poem written in the form of a FAX from Cinderella to Prince Charming. Click here to read it.

Writing a best seller

2012-01-09T19:34:00.009-05:00

I've heard of three people who set out to write best-sellers and actually did: Ian Fleming, Robin Cook -- a doctor who measured his own pulse as he read best-sellers to see where it rose, and now, Amanda Hocking.

Amanda Hocking, according to that interview on NPR, had written about twenty novels, but was unable to get them published -- she thought maybe she was writing the wrong kind of book. So she went to Walmart and studied the best-sellers to see what sold well that she would be good at and enjoy writing. She came up with para-normal romance and has now joined that small group of authors whose books have sold over a million copies.

The analysis she did, I'm guessing, was only one (fairly small but maybe important?) part of her success. She sounded like a born storyteller--and certainly a hard, hard worker.

But the idea of taking that realistic look at what's selling and matching it up with your own writing strengths sounds like a really good one to me!

Even if most of us did that, we might not sell that many copies--I think to do that, you need to be not only gifted when it comes to creating characters people really care about and coming up with stories that keep readers turning the pages (those seem to be the main thing books that have sold super-well over time have going for them) but be lucky with your timing. It seems to me though that her analysis took some of the luck out of that: she didn't just keep writing -- she matched her strengths to the market and I think that was smart.

BEST SELLING BOOKS OF ALL TIME (impossible to know for sure--this is just one person's guess/estimate)

The Daily Telegraph's List

Etsy re-launch

2012-01-09T15:44:00.003-05:00

It's been exactly one week since I've begun having official office hours again. It's been so great to be able to focus without distraction while little Tilda plays happily with her babysitter downstairs. Already I have gotten more done in the past week than in the past six months. Phew! One of the first things I had hoped to cross off my lengthy to-do list was a re-launch of my Etsy store. I've just filled it up with bunches of new prints from nearly all of my books for your shopping pleasure. Take a peek and let me know what you think! Below are a few of the my favorites...

from the BRG archives: down to the cupcake level

2012-01-08T09:30:00.000-05:00

This is an attempted group photo we blue rose girls tried to take of ourselves this weekend. The goal was to "take a picture with all of us and the cupcakes."

I made the cupcakes. Before I made them, I had grandiose schemes of piping professional-looking blue roses, awing everyone with my culinary expertise. However, as I began the attempt, I realized frosting roses were beyond my capabilities so down-graded to simple blue flowers. Yet, even trying to create the "simple" flowers was a challenge--the frosting was too soft, my kitchen too warm, my control was shaky and my time was limited. I remember being distinctly disapointed, feeling that my blue flowers resembled ameoba-like blue octopi. Yet, when I brought them to our blue rose girls weekend, it seemed as if everyone loved them and even I had to admit they were delicious. So, in the end, a nice warm sense of pride filled me.

And I realized, that is the epitome of my creative process. I always begin with dreams of creating a literary masterpiece; and, when faced by my own limitations, realize I can only do the best of my ability, which always seems to falls short. However, despite its flaws, it still finds ways of pleasing its audience; and even I appreciate what I've accomplished. And, in the end, I am proud of my creation.

But this weekend I realized one more thing. Perhaps all those imperfections are not flaws. Perhaps, like our failed, imperfect group photo, those are the things that make me love it even more.

Originally published September 25th, 2006

NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS

2012-01-05T17:34:00.003-05:00

People always have ones and I never do. I always just try my best to do what I can do. This year, however, I have a few.

1) to go back to publishing 2 books instead of 1. I've been feeling better these days (knock on wood) so I think I can do it. I still have my ups and downs but the downs seem manageable.

2) to publish my bully project

3) to figure out how to make my electricity graphic novel - maybe not graphic novel - idea happen once and for all

4) to be a neater more organized person. I AM organized when I want to be (kind of OCD in fact)... but only in certain parts of my life - can I stop losing my keys and dropping things and being a mess? We shall see.

5) to go to the gym more consistently

6) to post on the fireside chat more often

I could make this list longer but that's enough.

odds and ends

2012-01-05T16:57:00.000-05:00

I'm getting more and more excited for the Dumpling Days Book launch! Though, unfortunately, my attempt to get a headcount using tickets is not working so well. Many enthusiastic young fans from places like Florida and California misunderstood that this was for an actual event and signed up for numerous tickets and I don't know how to adjust the ticket availability. So, even though it says tickets are sold out, please still come!

I plan to make extra goodie bags, just in case! Because of the limited quantity, goodie bags will be given to children first, adult ticket holders second, and everyone else after. Thank you for your understanding.

In the meantime, I've been enjoying reviews of Dumpling Days! At Jama's Alphabet Soup, there is particularly delicious one! Yum!

And recently, the LM Montgomery Society interviewed me for their Shining Scroll newsletter. Just in case you aren't familiar with the name, LM Montgomery* is the author of Anne of Green Gables, maybe my favorite book of all time. Needless to say, I was honored to be a part of it! Here is an excerpt:

As you continue to write, do you notice any other opportunities to return to Montgomery for inspiration?

From a technical standpoint, I continue to look at her writing as inspiration for writing description (most recently, I've been studying how she writes sunsets) but her overall work and her thoughts as an author also inspire me.

A lot of children's/young adult books these days are "dark" and many feel as if that gives them more weight and seriousness. So every once and a while, I'll worry if my work is not dark enough. But then I will think of the Anne books and Montgomery herself, who (in response to reviews of her work) wrote, "..one which sneered at my ‘sentiment.’ The attitude of some English critics towards anything that savors of sentiment amuses me. It is to them as the proverbial red rag to a bull. They are very silly. Can’t they see that civilization is founded on and held together by sentiment? Passion is transient and quite as often destructive as not. Sentiment remains and binds."

And I will remember that a book with a true heart is the one most worth writing.

You can read the rest HERE!

*Lucy Maud Montgomery is such a favorite author of mine we were considering naming Rain Dragon Maud. Then, we realized that with my last name, she would be Maud Lin....maudlin...we'd have to have her room Edward Gorey-themed...

The Montague Bookmill

2012-01-03T16:17:00.003-05:00

Happy new year all! This New Year's Eve we ventured out to a cozy spot I've been wanting to explore for awhile, The Montague Bookmill. I'd been spotting bumper stickers around town that said "books you don't need in a place you can't find", so naturally I was intrigued. The place lived up to it's great tag line.

Montague is an adorable little town tucked away on the Sawmill River. The old mill building turned book store/restaurant/art gallery is just what you'd expect; gorgeous exposed wood beams, giant windows looking out over the rapids, and great little architectural details all over the place.

We had brunch in The Lady Killigrew Cafe overlooking the water.

After brunch we explored the book store with it's large stacks and little reading nooks tucked away all over the place.

I picked up a new title by friend Leo Landry, can't wait to read it to Tilly when she's older.

She couldn't wait to get home to start reading.

I wonder who she takes after.

On our way out we went by The Night Kitchen Restaurant. They were closed but we're excited to check it out on our next visit!

Dumpling Days Book Trailer!

2012-01-03T12:37:00.001-05:00

I'm so pleased to announce my newest novel, Dumpling Days is now available!!

What is it about? Well, here's the book trailer:

Happy Book Birthday, Dumpling Days!

last day of the year

2011-12-31T14:10:00.000-05:00

2011 is ending! I plan on starting my resolutions and yearly conclusions at Chinese New Year (to give me some extra time) but today, I feel I must...

answer my reader mail!!

I know many authors discourage snail mail and would rather answer e-mail, but I am the opposite. I prefer the handwritten letter. I feel that if a child went through the bother to sit down and handwrite me a letter, they really want to hear from me. I try to respond back to each one, as I truly do value them. Not that long ago, a plethora of reader mail was a problem I could only dream of.

However, it is extremely time consuming and I've been letting the letters pile up since the summer. I also know some authors use a kind of form letter but I've been reluctant to adopt that. But that leaves me with what I am doing now, spending the entire last day of the year writing belated replies.

How do you handle your reader mail?

Solstice

2011-12-25T15:00:00.004-05:00

I always like to celebrate the Solstice, and this year I did it with a children's party. The plan was to meet at the beach early enough to be there when the sun went down

and then go back to my house for snacks. The children and I had discussed these: pizza, we all thought, would be perfect -- round, the right colors. So I made three different kinds of homemade pizza. I am trying really hard not to always go overboard on everything, and in general, be less anxious -- to, as Alvina advised recently to "assume the best and let it go." I had a lot of work to do, too, so I had promised myself to stop at home-made pizza and sparkling lemonade for the kids, Prosecco for the adults -- but the morning of the party, found myself in my car, about to scour the countryside for preserved lemons. I didn't go, though: I remembered my promise to myself in time. Then I thought -- well, maybe I can just make some scones and get some lemon curd....but I said no to that one, too.

I worried about not having done enough until one of the mothers came with homemade cornbread (from yellow local stoneground curd) and lemon curd!

We met at the beach in time to watch the sun set -- the plan was to each come with one idea for saying goodbye to the dark and one for welcoming the light. Fiona (9) made sun necklaces for us -- BEAUTIFUL Rothko-like things (orange, yellow, red) she'd painted on a kind of salt clay she makes. We all put them around our necks.

Everyone dressed in either sun (orange, yellow, red, pink) or dark (black) colors.

Jake (5) had been looking forward most to his idea: throwing rocks into the ocean. We all did this with great gusto. I had written all the thing I wanted to get rid of on one side of a piece of paper, starting with anxiety, and what I wanted to replace them with on the other. The idea was to do a puja: tip the paper in half, twist one half tightly and throw it into the ocean to burn..... but we couldn't get it to stay lit. So I just said the pairs out loud and then threw the dark, unburnt ones into the ocean. I kept the others (that's part of the puja).

Then we tried to light the candles I'd brought in little glasses--but they wouldn't stay lit, either.

So we did the next thing: ran up and down the beach taking turns carrying the Sun Banner (in reality, a sailing flag for a small island nation).

Then we went back to my house, where Fiona and Ethan had made one chain for the dark and one for the light. The PLAN was to rip down the dark one, which was hanging up in the kitchen downstairs (to a Celtic tune "Gone Away" about bad spirits being gone), and then march upstairs all carrying candles to another song.

But, we didn't -- I was a little disappointed, but glad that the kids all liked the idea of the candle-lighting contest -- I had put candles all over the downstairs and each child got a taper to light them with. But,this too got modified -- when I mentioned the word "contest" one child's whole face fell, so I said,
"Would it be more fun to just light the candles and not keep track of who lights the most?"
He looked relieved and said yes. They all did that, with parents helping sometimes -- one of the kids was only three.

We were also planning to do sun salutations, led by one of the mothers who used to teach yoga, but not everyone wanted to do that, either. I remembered my mantra and just let it go. Instead, we sang a song Fiona knew and after that I just went with the flow and served the food-- and (although I admit at first I was a little disappointed, and worried that the kids would be bored without things to do) they seemed happy with the yellow and orange snacks and candlelight (I don't know how many candles, more than 40 I think). It was fun, just talking and eating and drinking the Prosecco (so pretty in the candlelight!). Some of the kids went upstairs and jumped on the couch (which I had covered with yellow and white quilts just in case this happened); one of the fathers went with them-- and I relaxed. Going with the flow was easier than I thought!

Then after some people left we did some yoga after all, by candlelight, and ate the homemade truffles one mother had brought:
"Dark and light snacks!" she said -- she was the one who also brought the cornbread....the first hint at the party that sometimes "enough" is a lot less than you think. This is the song we didn't sing marching upstairs holding our candles:

"May the longtime sun shine on you
All love surround you
And the pure light within you
Guide your way on!"

(And if that sounds too new agey for words to some people -- it's actually a really old Celtic blessing, which *I* first heard when the Incredible Stringband did it in the sixties or seventies.)

Happy Christmas!

2011-12-25T13:02:00.002-05:00

from the BRG archives: Christmas Poems

2011-12-25T09:30:00.000-05:00

CHRISTMAS IS A-COMING
English Nursery Rhyme

Christmas is a-coming,
The goose is getting fat,
Please to put a penny
In an old man’s hat.
If you haven’t got a penny,
A ha’penny will do.
If you haven’t got a ha’penny,
God bless you!

FOR ALLAN
Who wanted to see how I wrote a poem
by Robert Frost

Among these mountains, do you know.
I have a farm, and on it grow
A thousand lovely Christmas trees.
I’d like to send you one of these,
But it’s against the laws.
A man may give a little boy
A book, a useful knife, a toy,
Or even a rhyme like this by me
(I wrote it just like this you see),
But nobody may give a tree
Excepting Santa Claus.

DAY BEFORE CHRISTMAS
by Marchette Chute

We have been helping with the cake
And licking out the pan,
And wrapping up our packages
As neatly as we can.
And we have hung our stockings up
Beside the open grate.
And now there’s nothing more to do
Except
to
wait!

CAROL OF THE BROWN KING
by Langston Hughes

Of the three Wise Men
Who came to the King,
One was a brown man,
So they sing.

Of the three Wise men
Who followed the Star,
One was a brown king
From afar.

They brought fine gifts
Of spices and gold
In jeweled boxes
Of beauty untold.

Unto His humble
Manger they came
And bowed their heads
In Jesus’ name.

Three Wise men,
One dark like me—
Part of His
Nativity.

From MARMION
by Sir Walter Scott

Heap on more wood!—the wind is chill;
But let it whistle as it will,
We’ll keep our Christmas merry still.

CHRISTMAS
by Marchette Chute

My goodness, my goodness,
It’s Christmas again.
The bells are all ringing.
I do not know when
I’ve been so excited.
The tree is all fixed.
The candles are lighted,
The pudding is mixed.
The wreath’s on the door
And the carols are sung.
The presents are wrapped
And the holly is hung.
The turkey is sitting
All safe in its pan,
And I am behaving
As calm as I can.

I HEARD THE BELLS ON CHRISTMAS DAY
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

I heard the bells on Christmas day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good will to men!

And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along
The unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good will to men!

Till, ringing, singing, on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime,
A chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good will to men!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Originally published December 22, 2006

Things to Do If You Are Santa Claus: An Original List Poem

2011-12-23T10:17:00.003-05:00

The year 2011 has indeed been a great one for me. I became a grandmother--which was truly a thrill! I also sold my first book--a collection of "things to do" poems--to Chronicle Press. I signed the contract in the fall. I thought I'd wait until now to make the announcement.

One of the most interesting things about the sale of my poetry manuscript: I didn't submit it to Chronicle. Grace Lin did! She sent it to her editor there--who liked the collection.

I also wrote a biographical poem about Jonas Salk that will be included in a Kane Miller anthology that is due to be released next fall. The book is to be titled Dare to Dream...Change the World. You can read about the anthology at this Wild Rose Reader post: Dare to Dream…Change the World: A Poetry Anthology Coming in 2012.

As the year 2011 comes to a close, I'd to thank two good friends who helped critique and give me suggestions about my "things to do" poetry collection: Janet Wong and, of course, Grace Lin. I also want to thank my daughter and son-in-law for giving me the most adorable granddaughter in the world!

My Granddaughter Julia Anna

I thought I'd write a special "things to do" Christmas poem to celebrate the sale of my poetry manuscript. I still have to work on the ending. Note: I don't have as much time for blogging and writing now because I spend half the week providing daycare for Julia Anna. She's the gift that keeps on giving!

Things to Do If You Are Santa Claus

Have a big round belly,
Cheeks rosy red.
Wear a furry cap
On top of your head,
A wide black belt
With a buckle of gold.
Live at the top of the world
Where it's cold.
Grow a bushy beard
That's white as snow.
Be jolly and laugh
With a Ho-Ho-Ho!
On Christmas Eve,
Set off on your sleigh
With a red-nosed reindeer
Leading the way
Through a midnight sky
On a chilling night
When a guiding star
Blazes bright.

The Poetry Friday Roundup is at Dori Reads.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Good News x 3

2011-12-19T07:57:00.002-05:00

I'm leaving for California for the holidays on Wednesday. Lots of things to wrap up at work and at home, and lots of editing to do over the break. There has also been lots of good news coming in at the end of the year. Last week, there were three fantastic things in particular that happened for books I've edited that I'd love to share.

Bird in a Box by Andrea Davis Pinkney was announced as the next Al Roker's Book Club pick for February!!

Universal Studios optioned film rights for Laini Taylor's Daughter of Smoke and Bone! Read Laini's very calm (ha!) reaction here.

And last but not least, Wendy Mass has officially become a NY Times bestselling author! The paperback edition of The Candymakers debuted on the list at #10. Wendy has written eleven novels, and this is the first to hit the bestseller list.

Hip, hip, hurray!

Also, if you missed it, I was interviewed by Malinda Lo about diversity in books here. I answer such questions as: "There is also a perception out there that putting people of color on the cover of a book leads to lower sales, which implies that books about minorities are a tough sell to readers. What do you think?"

Click on the link to find out what I say!

Happy holidays, everyone!

LIVING WITH AN ILLUSTRATOR

2011-12-15T18:27:00.003-05:00

My new roommate (Christopher Darling) is an illustrator too. It's really fun so far. We get to talk shop. We have an understanding! Here's some of his work:

(he didn't illustrate this but he redesigned the cover when working at FSG)

I wrote a lot more about this on my blog, which you can read here.
Living with him is great: I go to get something to eat in the kitchen and he pops his head in to say hello and we talk shop. I need that, you know? We all need that. We illustrators can go crazy if we don't get to talk about our work and the business!

Waiting and letting go or just timing?

2011-12-14T07:50:00.008-05:00

Some of you may have noticed that I've had the same book on the right for the whole history of this blog (and for quite a few years before that, too). I've written books for other people, and some of them have done quite well; but despite 6 mss. out there, no published books of my own.

At first, this bothered me a lot, and even affected my confidence -- I didn't think I was a bad writer, but I did think I hadn't found my niche and never would. And then, I just let it go. I wrote what I wanted, when I wanted to, and -- aside from an occasional pang about a novel that never sold -- I came to refer to it as "poor ______" (heroine's name) -- poor Camm. She was a neglected child in the book and now is in real life too -- I really and truly stopped minding, even about her.

This was all I am sure helped by having had freelance work -- enough to live on. I feel grateful and lucky and (last week) finally felt financially secure enough to give some money to causes I believe in. One was CASA, a group that recruits and trains people to be court-appointed advocates for abused or neglected children. Children who have such an advocate, statistically, are much more likely to finish high school, stay out of jail, and stay with the same foster family. The site doesn't say they are also less likely to be abused again: maybe this is assumed? If anyone knows of other good groups that help abused children, and homeless children, please tell about them in the comments....I'm trying to find a group that just gives money to homeless families so they can get apartments or move into hotels. AS someone said and it makes sense to me:
"What poor people need is money."

The other group I found that seems really great is in the UK. They're called SOS and what they do is gather groups of 6 or 7 orphans, build them a house, and hire someone to be their mother. The ideas is that they will stay together as a family unit for life. This group was recommended by the Dali Lama and that's good enough for me!

The day after I made the donations, I got a call saying someone was going to publish one of my manuscripts.

It may be just timing (friends have said, and truly, I think, that getting published is a lot about that -- the right editor at the right time). I believe that these events (the letting go and even the giving and then getting the call) could be causally related, too -- that the shift in attitude helped it happen. Whether it was or not, I am going to keep trying to let go of things, keep giving, and (when I have something to say, not otherwise) keep writing.

Getting ready

2011-12-13T11:08:00.002-05:00

Apologies for the lack of posting, it's been a busy few weeks while we get ready for family visits and the holidays. This weekend we got our tree at a neighboring farm. It's been a lot of fun starting new traditions with a little one in tow.

On the work front I am most excited that we have just found a wonderful babysitter to come to our house so that I can at last have concentrated work hours again. Until now, Bruno and I have been trading off with the baby (he works at home too), and it's been nearly impossible to finish any of the projects on my list. I am hopeful that the new year will bring lots of productivity!

Until then, hope the coming weeks are filled with lots of holiday fun for you and yours...

Price comparison apps

2011-12-12T08:30:00.000-05:00

Last week I read Josie Leavitt's blog post "A New Low for Amazon" about Amazon's price comparison app and was immediately outraged. The gist of it:

The promotion: quite simply, to walk into any store, take a picture of the item with the price with your Amazon price checker app, and get $5 off on that item when you order it from Amazon. You’re allowed to do this three times on Saturday.

So, Jeff Bezos has decided or at least approved this scheme that all bricks and mortar stores should be visited, left empty-handed so folks can shop on Amazon while giving them price info from other stores. Wow. The thoughts I’m having about this promotion cannot be printed here. If I weren’t so riled up, I’d be despondent at such a horrible attack on stores. Perhaps folks will go to chain stores, and not arrive at small, independent stores, scan a QR code and leave.

Savvy shoppers are sure to compare prices, and no doubt I've chosen to buy something online or elsewhere because I know it's priced lower, but this does seem particularly predatory against brick and mortar stores. Then again, price comparison apps have existed for a while, and of course, Amazon claims this is good for consumers. According to the LA Times:

"The goal of the Price Check app is to make it as easy as possible for customers to access product information, pricing information and customer reviews, just as they would on the Web," the company said in a statement.

Mark Reback, a consumer advocate with Consumer Watchdog in Santa Monica, said the Amazon app could benefit shoppers. "It could definitely be good price competition for consumers," he said.

Big discounts are always a problem for independent bookstores--if it's not online, there's Walmart, Costco, and of course B&N to contend with, but asking consumers to go into a store, scan a product, and then leave to buy it elsewhere does seem pretty unsavory. But in this tough economy, it may all be about price. What do you all think? Do you comparison shop when it comes to books? Is price the end-all/be-all when you're making a decision on where to buy?

Here's a plea for shopping at your independent bookstore:

Here’s what I do: I pay sales tax, I donate thousands of dollars to local schools, charities, Little Leagues, church pie suppers, school trips, Geobee prizes, etc. I support my community and that means going to local stores and buying things there. Price is not the only factor for me. I know there are lots of folks on budgets, and to them I say: lots of children’s books are not discounted at Amazon. And does Amazon bring authors to your children’s schools? No.

Independents have also fought back with an "Occupy Amazon" movement, giving away buttons that show Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos as the devil.

The American Booksellers Association also issued an open letter to Jeff Bezos:

We’re not shocked, just disappointed.

Despite your company’s recent pledge to be a better corporate citizen and to obey the law and collect sales tax, you created a price-check app that allows shoppers to browse Main Street stores that do collect sales tax, scan a product, ask for expertise, and walk out empty-handed in order to buy on Amazon. We suppose we should be flattered that an online sales behemoth needs a Main Street retail showroom.

Forgive us if we’re not.

As a publisher, we do rely on ALL of these booksellers to stay open--our industry has definitely felt the loss of Borders closing this year. I will continue to buy books at my independents (just bought two books at Greenlight Bookstore on Saturday), but I do also buy books from B&N, Amazon, Target, etc.

Where do you all buy your books?

from the BRG archives: boy do they have some kids' book ideas for you!

2011-12-11T09:30:00.000-05:00

Calling all kids' book folks--writers, illustrators, booksellers, librarians, editors, etc. What has been the most OUT THERE story idea you've ever heard? I'm talking about those times when you're at a gathering and someone overhears that you have something to do w/kids' books. Then they immediately launch into the "I have a GREAT idea for a kids' book that I KNOW will get published soon..." and all you can do is sigh.

I'll start -- I was at a party a while back and a seemingly normal guy told me about his story idea. It was about a selfish child who loses her precious red shoes. She needs to be taught a lesson... (so far okay) and THEN things got interesting. "The girl whines that she can't find her shoes and Jesus comes in the form of a giant hand which comes from a cloud to tell her she doesn't need the shoes and she should learn her lesson..." This guy with beer in hand blabbed on and on about Jesus and shoes and even bunnies may have been involved, though I'm not sure. Then he said "So, you think you could help me with it?" "Help you?" I said. "Yeah, he replied, "help me get it published....

Originally published September 26th, 2006

Dumpling Days Book Launch!

2011-12-10T09:01:00.001-05:00

I know we are all consumed with December holiday shopping (btw, if you want books by moi, you can order autographed books from Porter Square Books 617-491-2220 or online--put to whom you wish the books to be autographed to in the special comments section) but there's something in January I'd love for you to keep in mind, too...

Dumpling Days, as I may have mentioned once or twice, is coming out in January. With Tex Lin on its way, this might be the last public event I do in a while so we're going to make this one a big one!

So, please come celebrate Chinese New Year and the book launch of my new novel, Dumpling Days! It's going to be a grand celebration!

The you-don't-want-to-miss-goodie bags might include:

-a red envelope with an exclusive URL to read deleted chapters and behind the scene images (find out what was true and what wasn't!)

-special edition Pocket Pacys (www.pocketpacy.com)

-a chance to win an original piece of art (by me)

-and more!

Tickets to the book launch are FREE! But please obtain one so that I know how many guests to expect. Even if you don't sign up for a ticket you are still welcome to come (but no guarantee for your goodie bag!).

WHEN: Saturday, January 21st at 1pm

WHERE: Porter Square Books (617-491-2220), 25 White St. Cambridge, MA

HOW: Obtain your tickets HERE. These tickets are FREE, but getting a ticket helps me know how many goodie bags to prepare!

**Are you not local? Not sure if you can make it? If you pre-order your book from Porter Square Books (617-491-2220 or order online--make sure you write to whom you wish the book to be autographed to in the "special comments" section), I'll autograph it at the Book launch PLUS include the red envelope exclusive (and maybe more!)

RIDICULOUS SEXIST ADS

2011-12-09T17:30:00.003-05:00

I've been doing some research for a new book. And, of course, I've found some crazy ads. Times were certainly different!

Here's an example:

To see some more go here.

The Nanny Granny Goes to Work

2011-12-09T12:25:00.006-05:00

I'm going to apologize for lack of posting in the past month as Alvina did earlier this week. I, too, was in Chicago for the 2011 NCTE Annual convention...then came the preparartions for Thanksgiving at my house, a sinus infection, and I recently began my "nanny granny" duties. I'm living with my daughter and son-in-law half the week and providing daycare for my little granddaughter Julia Anna--who is now four months old. I love spending time with my daughter and son-in-law. My husband and I help prepare dinners for them because they work long hours.

Julia is a joy to take care of. She always wakes up smiling and rarely fusses. In addition to my granddaughter, Jack the Yellow Lab and Rudy the Cat keep me company. Jack is a bit of a rascal--so I have to be ever watchful of where I put things...like the remote control for the television. He's truly a challenge.

The Boys--Jack & Rudy

My Sunshine--Julia Anna

I had a grand week with Julia and "The Boys"--but I am a bit tuckered out today.

I think a nap is in order!

Things you believed as a kid

2011-12-05T08:30:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the lack of posting--two weeks ago I was in Chicago for NCTE/ALAN, and last week was right after Thanksgiving...and of course, I've been busy editing!

Yesterday I came across this fun post about "11 Silly Things You Probably Believed as a Kid". I think we may have posted something like this in the past, so forgive me if this is a repeat, but some of the things tickled me, like "All cats were female and all dogs were male" and "Blankets served as an impenetrable barrier from monsters."

When I was a kid, I had it in my head that forks were female (for me, the tines represented long hair), and spoons were male. When I was washing dishes, I would keep this in mind when putting them into the drying rack. Sometimes I'd put them in as little "families"--one big fork, one big spoon, and some little ones to represent the kids.

I also made sure to always pull the covers up around my neck at night so vampires wouldn't bite me.

Some other things I believed as a kid:
-That Adam and Eve were possibly monkeys. (I was trying to figure out how my religious beliefs and scientific beliefs could coexist).
-That if I loved my stuffed animals enough, they would become real (yes, I read The Velveteen Rabbit a few too many times).
-That someone was listening to my thoughts.

One of my friends believed that if you unplugged the TV while it was on, when you plugged it back in it would start from where you had unplugged it.

What were some of your silly (or not-so-silly) beliefs when you were younger?

Red Threads Calendar Now Available!

2011-12-03T08:04:00.000-05:00

It's December, which means it's time to buy a new calendar! Why not buy this one? 100% of the proceeds (after printing costs) will go to assist orphanages in China!

I'm proud to have my art featured along with happy faces of adopted children in the lovely Red Threads Calendar, a product of the Central Ohio's Families with Children from China chapter. I'm so proud that I am actually in Columbus, Ohio right now! We're having an event to celebrate the calendar's release. If you are local, come on over:

WHEN: TODAY, December 3rd from 2:30 PM - 4:00 PM
WHERE: Orange Library in Delaware County, 7171 Good Blvd, Delaware, OH

Free and open to the public!

Books and calendars will be available. If you can't make it today, but want to have something to be personally autographed to be picked up later, call Fundamentals at (740)363-0290. Not local, but still want a calendar? Order HERE!

EYES

2011-12-02T00:17:00.003-05:00

If you'd like your own page of eyes to print out to play with go here!

WAITING

2011-12-02T00:14:00.002-05:00

I just want to say, as a somewhat seasoned author, that waiting doesn't get any easier. Right now I'm waiting to hear back on some projects. I'm really not sure what to do with myself at the moment. Do I work on the projects I sent out and am waiting on? Do I start new stuff? Do I mess around with my music stuff? Do I waste more time on ebay bidding for miniature salesman samples?

from the BRG archives: marathon painting

2011-11-27T09:30:00.001-05:00

I am a week short of a deadline and painting like a maniac. Recently a 9 to 5er pointed out that as freelancers we don't HAVE to do everything at the last minute... painting into the wee hours, and ignoring any and all other commitments to make a deadline. Its true and a really good point I think that many times there is an option, that a carefully planned out schedule could prevent the last minute crunch that often happens. Now granted there are times when a publisher will rush you, spend a long time with revisions and then expect that you can magically cut your work time in half to make the deadline. But that is not always the case.

Often times I think we illustrators (and writers perhaps too?) let this situation happen on purpose. There is something about the momentum of focusing ALL your time, energy and attention on one thing that is really gratifying. Its like a little break from your ordinary life where everything becomes really simple and your paintings become the only thing that is important. Even when you are doing other things... eating a meal, talking with a friend, making the occasional venture outside the house, your creative mind is still engaged. Sometimes in the middle of a conversation about, I don't know, the weather or something, I will bust out with "WAIT, thats what I need to do, a little more green!" Usually the comment is met with silence. Or if the person knows me, they'll just say "Go."

This kind of feast or famine intensity is something I've struggled with over the years. There is something satisfying about it, and yet as I get older, sometimes I don't want such an extreme lifestyle. Sometimes I want to be able to disengage and go to the movies, without obsessing about the project at hand. But its a tough balance to strike. Sometimes I just think this is the nature of the beast.

Originally published October 10th, 2006

the cake we made

2011-11-26T09:50:00.000-05:00

For Thanksgiving, my mother asked me if we could bring the dessert. The Sasquatch and I had thought about making pie but I saw a recipe in Martha Stewart's magazine for a gingerbread cake. It looked yummy, so we made that:

We decorated it with gingerbread cookies (that is the Sasquatch's specialty. He makes amazing gingerbread cookies).

And we added a surprise....

Surprise!

Hope you had a happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

thanks!

2011-11-24T12:20:00.000-05:00

As we all rush off to turkey dinners (or in my case, most likely, some sort of sushi or Chinese fried fish), I wanted to take a quick moment to thank all of you for being our readers! I know I haven't been good about blogging lately, but I DO appreciate your interest and support--as I know all the BRGs do. Happy Thanksgiving!

A birthday

2011-11-22T10:36:00.002-05:00

Clearly we've all got a lot going ton right now, as is evident by the lack of posting, it's such a busy time of year with the holidays looming and lots to wrap up by the end of the year. Today, at my house, we take a step back to do some celebrating; it is little Tilda's first birthday! Over the weekend we had a few friends over for cake and singing. Today we'll go to lunch and open presents. What a wonderful year it's been.

Here are a few pictures from the weekend. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

OOPS

2011-11-19T20:44:00.002-05:00

I have/had two booksignings this weekend. One was today... only I thought it was tomorrow! I had posted on facebook that it was tomorrow. Thank goodness another illustrator (Lauren Castillo) came to the rescue and informed me that it was today! I was an hour and a half late but I made it (it was an event from 12 -4 so I made most of it). So 1) thank goodness we help each other out and 2) thank goodness for ... eek ... I can't believe I'm going to say it ... the entity that is Facebook.

My next signing is with Julia Sarcone Roach at 11 am on Sunday at Bookcourt if anyone wants to come on down.

Vote!

2011-11-18T15:56:00.000-05:00

Remember the Bookie Woogie's video review of "Where the Mountain Meets the Moon?" School Library Journal has chosen it as a finalist for the 2nd annual Trailee Awards! The winners are selected by public vote. You can see all the finalists and vote for your favorites in 6 categories HERE!

Voting ends December 16th!

Mish mash

2011-11-15T12:27:00.002-05:00

Last week we lost our internet, a result of the big storm, so this week I am digging out of emails and catching up on this and that. Highlights of the week include a Skype visit with some first graders in Pennsylvania, beginning the somewhat daunting task of sewing a new slipcover for our sofa (my fingers bear the battle wounds of pinning velcro all night), and finally finishing a pair of baby legwarmers for Tilda.

On the agenda for this week: finishing the relaunch of my Etsy store, making some web site updates, and finishing the party decorations for Tilda's one year birthday.

Play On: Picture Books

2011-11-14T08:30:00.000-05:00

Breaking news: Peter Brown has grown a beard!

Also, he's done a great series for the Etsy blog about picture books. I adore etsy.com (most of my jewelry comes from etsy). And I adore picture books. And I adore Peter Brown. This is the perfect combination! Check it out here.

And in case you missed it, here's the trailer for You Will Be My Friend:

my bully project...

2011-11-10T13:42:00.005-05:00

I'm starting a project. I want get author/illustrators together to make a really great graphic piece of work of short graphic novel pieces about being bullied and being a bully. This has been on my mind for a long time and I finally feel that I really must just go for it. I didn't want to "announce" any of my plans except that I need a little help - I want to invite teens to submit their stories. My idea is for some of the stories to be chosen and illustrated. Then of course I'd like to try to get this thing published.

I've made a webpage for this that isn't "launched." None of the links work except for the "about the book," and, of course, there is no book. Ha. Anyway, I do plan on making the whole thing work shortly.

What I want help with is spreading the word. If you know of a published author or illustrator who has a good story about being bullied or being a bully then send them my way! I do want this to be fully illustrated - no just text so if an author is involved then somehow their text would have to be illustrated. I'm also now thinking that it would be cool to put some photography in the piece here and there. Also, the biggest part I want help with is looking for teens. If you know of a teen who has a story have them write it and send them to me!

thanks!

THE BULLY PROJECT

Halloween 2011, plus Occupy Wall Street

2011-11-07T08:30:00.000-05:00

It's no secret that I'm a huge fan of Halloween. For the past few years, we've had work celebrations, and it's become tradition to come dressed as characters from the books we publish. This year was no exception.

Last Monday, I dressed up as the chimaera Madrigal from Laini Taylor's Daughter of Smoke and Bone:

(Madrigal has antelope horns--which were surprisingly hard to find. I had to make do with the devil-like horns I bought on etsy.com. The bat wings are also from etsy.)

Here are a few of the other costumes:

Connie Hsu at the kid on the cover of Todd Parr's The I'm Not Scared Book

Andrew Smith and Ames O'Neill as the young Jane Goodall and her monkey Jubilee from Me...Jane by Patrick McDonnell

Allison Moore at Birdie from Birdie's Big Girl Shoes by Sujean Rim

Liz Casal as Barry Lyga's I Hunt Killers.
(more of a creative interpretation than literal)

Leslie Shumate as author Laini Taylor! Hard at work.

This is a cake. Dressed up as a skull. Really.

me, "Laini", Faye Bi as the marionette Zuzana, and Zoe Luderitz as Karou, all from Daughter of Smoke and Bone

There are more pictures from L,B and other publishers over at Publisher's Weekly. Love all the creative costumes. Did any of you dress up?

***

Also, in case you missed it, check this out: "Thirteen Observations made by Lemony Snicket while watching Occupy Wall Street from a Discreet Distance"

And also see Daniel Handler's interview with Rachel Maddow. Good stuff.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

A QUESTION

2011-11-04T13:47:00.002-04:00

What do you guys think about putting a weapon in a picture book? I'm working on a book about how to become a police officer and at first I thought I wouldn't include the gun part at all but then I thought... well... all kids know that police officers carry guns. It's the elephant in the room. I may as well deal with it. My plan is to simply list it as a thing the police officer carries on his belt.

What do you think?

Julia Anna Comes to Stay...for a Few Days

2011-11-04T11:33:00.001-04:00

Anna wrote about the snowstorm that hit Massachusetts last weekend. Her area got much more snow than mine. My daughter and her husband lost electrical power on Saturday evening. It was too cold for them to stay at home with my little granddaughter Julia Anna—so they packed up and moved in with my husband and me for a couple of days. They arrived on Sunday morning—and left on Tuesday afternoon. Then they returned again early Wednesday evening because they lost power again.

I so enjoyed having the three of them as house guests. It was such fun having Julia Anna around for an extended stay. In addition, it got me prepared for December when I’ll begin my “nanny granny” duties. At that time, I’ll start living with my daughter and son-in-law three days a week. I'll be providing daycare for Julia from Tuesday through Thursday every week.

It was really strange when I arose Sunday morning. I looked out the window and saw snow on the ground…and green leaves still on the trees. It has truly been a strange autumn where I live. Usually most of the leaves on the trees have changed color and fallen from the trees by late October...and we rarely have snow at this time of year.

I didn’t take any outdoors pictures like Anna. I was too busy snapping photographs of my adorable granddaughter.

********************

At Wild Rose Reader, I have a post about Dare to Dream…Change the World—a poetry anthology that will be published by Kane Miller next fall. A poem that I wrote about Jonas Salk will be included in the book. In my post, I have a letter poem that I wrote to Jonas Salk that will not appear in the anthology.

Laura Purdie Salas has the Poetry Friday Roundup today.

The comments from hell

2011-11-02T12:25:00.005-04:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COCmaZA3d08&feature=player_embedded

I couldn't help comparing this set of "notes" on a ms. with Alvina's careful,thoughtful approach!

I've received comments that weren't helpful (not from you, Alvina) but never anything like this.

Snowed in

2011-11-01T08:31:00.002-04:00

New England got hit with a big storm this weekend, some of us are still digging out! It took us a bit by surprise, it is October after all, so we were a bit underprepared for loosing our power and water. Still, it was very pretty out here in the country. Tilda just stared and stared.

That lump in the yard is a picnic table.

It was surreal seeing the yellow and red fall leaves underneath all that snow.

Hope you all are staying warm and cozy!

How I edit (2.0)

2011-10-31T08:30:00.000-04:00

I've been meaning to update this post about my editing process for a while, as it's changed a bit in the last five years, mainly having to do with technology. Of course, in many ways my process has also remained the same, so I'm following the same general format/text of the original post. So, here goes:

The author will think I'm a horrible editor. They'll think the changes I'm asking for are absolutely stupid and unnecessary.

I get the same anxiety when I send off an editorial letter to an author as I've heard an author gets when he/she sends off their manuscript to an editor or reader. (Okay, well, maybe not "the same" but similar.) I don't want to hurt authors' feelings or anger them. I don't want them to think I'm incompetent, disrespectful of their work, or crazy. I have the highest level of respect for the creative people I work with, because I could never do what they do. I know they're putting their trust in me, trusting me to understand their work and help them make it better. And that's a lot of responsibility!

This anxiety is lessened significantly after I've worked with an author or illustrator for a while, because by then mutual trust has been established, but I do get that same anxiety when working with someone for the first time. I will say that overall, the anxiety has lessened the more experience I have. Although I do always think, "Just because an author has never called me up crying or screaming after receiving my edits, doesn't mean there can't be a first time!"

I hope that my editorial letters have the right balance of praise and constructive criticism. I know that it can be intimidating to receive an in-depth edit, which may include requests to overhaul the manuscript significantly, and to also make lots of annoying nit-picky changes. But I hope my authors know that I love their writing, love their work, and know that we're on the same team.

The task of writing an editorial letter to me is daunting, and I certainly had no idea how to go about doing it when I edited my first novel (sorry, Libby!). But I learned as time went on; I learned from my mentors, and I learned from reading the correspondence files that circulate in my department: each week, everyone in editorial (when we remember) places copies of our editorial letters and other outside business correspondences into a centralized folder which is then circulated throughout the editorial department so that we can be aware of other editors' projects, problems that other editors are having that may be similar to our own, and also so the junior staff can read many different editorial letters to start to understand how to write them. I found this to be a crucial learning tool when I was first starting out as an editorial assistant.

I think every editor develops his or her own editing style, and I've certainly honed my own throughout the years. My process is always changing slightly and is adjusted for specific books and authors, but here's my general process:

1) First, I read through the manuscript (this is my favorite part of the process!). I generally do this on my eReader, and therefore I make very few notes--I'm just reading for the experience. On occasion I'll jot down things I notice--usually broad, over-arching things--but I'm really looking to get a fresh read, and am reading for the overall experience as a final reader would. Is it enjoyable? Am I pulled into the book right away? Is the pacing off? Do I care about the characters? Does the plot make sense? Is the ending satisfying?

2) Then, if I can, I'll let it sit for a few days. Sometimes, right after the first read I think, "there's nothing I could do to improve that novel!" But inevitably things will come to the surface during that "sitting" time: issues with the plot or believability, questions about certain characters, solutions (suggestions, I should say) to problems I've been having with the book, resolution to how I've been feeling about the ending, etc. I also want to see if the book "stays with you"--do I remember it several days later?

3) After a few days, I'll sit down again with the manuscript on my computer and read through it carefully again, line by line. I do some line-editing now, although I think I'm generally pretty light overall in this regard. I'll call out sections or underline sentences that feel clunky or awkward and just aren't working for me, but rarely will I actually reword things myself--I'm not a writer myself, so I like to give the author the freedom to work it out themselves. I use the comment function in Track Changes the most, and on occasion I'll make a quick note and say "see letter" if I know I'll expand on my thoughts further. While I do this, I'm also jotting down notes in a separate Word document that I'll expand later into an editorial letter. If a section strikes me as particularly lovely or memorable, I'll make sure to mark that as well--praise is always good!

4) I'll go over my comments again while drafting the actual letter. This step not only allows me to clarify my notes for the author, but to also review my edits and decide if I still agree with them. I expand on issues I need to in an editorial letter, trying to offer several suggestions for how I think an issue can be solved as I go. I'll add and delete comments/edits as I go along. In terms of the editorial letter, I'll usually just type things out into a Word document chronologically (as they occur in the manuscript) first, and then later go through and reorganize it by topic--characterization, plot, pacing, believability--whatever I think the main issues are in the manuscript.

5) I tweak the letter a lot. Get it to the structure I want, and add the opening and closing. I always start and end the letter with praise and encouragement--this is very important! I also make sure to include a section making sure the author knows that these are my suggestions only, not demands, and that he/she should only make changes he/she is comfortable with. I print my letter out and edit it on paper two or three times until I think it's ready, and then send it off. If there's time, I'll ask my assistant to read over my letter before I send it to catch any typos or sections that are unclear. Then I email the letter and the marked-up manuscript to the author.

Now that I've moved to electronic editing, I've found that my editorial letters have gotten shorter--on average, 2-3 pages (in the past, I'd say the average length was 5-7 pages). This is mainly because of the freedom of Track Changes and comments--it used to be easier to put everything in the letter because of my atrocious handwriting, but now that I can type those comments, I find it easier to expand on my thoughts directly on the manuscript.

I fully expect authors to disagree with me sometimes, and if they offer me an explanation later to why they disagreed and didn't revise something, that's fine with me. Occasionally there's an issue that I feel especially strongly about, and in those cases, I'll keep requesting the change on subsequent revisions, reiterating why I think it's a problem. I'll bring in fresh readers to see if they have the same issues--if so, I'll bring it up with the author again. If not, I'll let it go. Generally, I won't ask more than three times. Ultimately, it's the author's work, and we can't force the author to make changes he or she is not comfortable with, or in agreement with.

This process repeats until the manuscript is "done." I'll usually bring in my assistant to edit the book alongside me for one or more rounds, depending on the project and how busy we all are. In this case, we'll both make comments directly on the manuscript, and I'll incorporate her comments into my editorial letter. Generally, the first editorial letters are more general, and as we go I get more nit-picky about the little things, and the last edit is just "clean-up" of all of the little things that are left. I've never taken less than two rounds, and on average it takes three or four, oftentimes more. Sometimes it feels like it's never really done to the author--they want to keep tweaking and revising. But I do get a sense that a manuscript has been taken as far as it's going to go, and can declare it done and get it into copyediting. I also like to get another editor who hasn't read it before to give a "fresh read" of the final or almost-final manuscript to make sure that we didn't miss anything glaring--at that point, both the author and I are so close to the manuscript, so a fresh read is an important step.

So, there you have it: my editing process. Of course, depending on the time crunch, sometimes this process is cut down--in later drafts, I'll combine 1 and 3 and delete 2 (when I'm reading a revision, unless there were many structural changes or major plot-point changes, the "fresh read" isn't as crucial a step). Or I'll combine steps 3 and 4. Or I'll cut down on how many times I edit my own letter.

I am an editor, and although editing is probably one of the most important parts of my job, I feel that it's only 10-15% of my job description/time put in. But as daunting as it sometimes is, I do relish it--it's my favorite part of my job. I love examining these works of art carefully, trying (and I emphasize "trying") to get to know the book as well as the author does. I do respect the work, even as I seemingly "rip it apart," and ultimately I just want to help the author get the work to the next level and get it ready to introduce to the world.

For you editors out there, is this close to your process? And for you authors out there, any comments or suggestions on how to improve the process would be welcome! How do you edit your own work? Also, has technology improved the process for you? Grace revealed at our IBBY panel that she preferred the old way--editing on paper. I may have to switch back for her! Do the rest of you prefer getting your edits on paper or electronically? Or over the phone or in person?

from the BRG archives: first books and relationships

2011-10-30T09:30:00.000-04:00

I was looking for the exact quote but I think it's long gone. A few years back (I think!) I'd read in PW about Mark Brown's first book memory. He said his editor sent a limo and Champagne to his door on the book's release date. I was SHOCKED when I read this. Was publishing THAT much better back then? When a book of mine gets released, it gets zero fanfare. I've grown accustomed to this fact. But boy would a little fanfare be nice! Picture books have also changed a lot since then. They've gotten bolder... edgier. Is this a good thing? A bad thing? When I was little there weren't any books like the ones I create so I must wonder what *I* would have thought of them. Hopefully I would have liked them.

A friend of mine just gave me Dear Genius: The Letters of Ursula Nordstrom. It's clear from reading the letters that Nordstrom really valued her author/editor relationships. So here's another random question-editors and authors out there: what are your relationships like with the people you work with? Do you think having a close, friendly relationship helps? I've talked to so many authors who've told me they've never met their editors! Wow. I don't know how I would operate if that were the case. I like the face-to-face contact. I like to know who's on the other end of the computer/phone. Do you think face-to-face contact matters? Does it make a book better?

Well, those are my rambling thoughts for now.

meghan

Originally published Septemeber 28th, 2006

happy feet

2011-10-29T18:34:00.000-04:00

There's a Chinese saying that all journeys begin with the first step. Well, I've been stepping and am glad to have hit a rest stop. Because The Starry River of the Sky manuscript is finished! I've been furiously working on revisions and now it's off to copyediting! Phew! I treated myself to a pedicure as reward.

But my pretty toes have got to start walking soon. Not only do I have to start the illustrations for the book, I have a full calendar of events coming up. Next week (Nov. 4th!), I'll be in Tulsa, OK as part of the Tulsa-County Library Books-to-Treasure event and then Nov. 19th, I'll be in Florida at the Miami Book Fair! Hope to see you!

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, before and after

2011-10-24T08:30:00.000-04:00

As Grace mentioned, we're in Fresno together for the IBBY regional conference. They asked us to speak together about Where the Mountain Meets the Moon. To prepare, we dug up all of the old drafts of the novel, and also my editorial letters/edits (to my horror, I discovered that although I had saved the different drafts with my edits in Track Changes, I had neglected to save any of my editorial letters, as they had been in emails and not saved as separate documents. Luckily, Grace was able to find them in an old email account. Whew!)

Some of the fascinating (at least to us!) things we found:
The 1st draft was 22,859 words; the final draft was 42,840 words, almost twice as long!
The 1st draft had 26 chapters, and the final book had 48 chapters.
The green tiger was not in the original draft.
In the original draft, the parents didn't try to follow/find Minli.
In the original proposal, Minli was named "Cai" (and then "Kai").
The first working title was God of the West. The next title was Never-Ending Mountain.

I also read a portion of my first editorial letter for the book. As I mentioned at the panel, my letters with Grace tend to be a little more casual than to some other authors who I don't know as well. With Grace, I cut to the chase quickly--but I always start with praise! Here's a sampling:

Hola!

So, I thought I'd get down in writing some of the things we discussed over the phone. But just to reiterate, I loved it. I think overall, it's extremely well crafted with a wonderful story arc. The novel is moving, magical, and engaging. I think this is in really great shape! I have a few main comments, most of which we've discussed:

1) The novel feels a little slight right now, and things overall feel a little too easy for Minli. I'd like to add at least one more big challenge for her, and also make a few of the existing challenges a little more difficult/drawn out. For example, she seems to find the King in The City of Bright Moonlight too quickly--she should struggle with this more. I like the idea you mentioned, of having her spend one night with the boy and the buffalo.

Overall, don't be afraid to put your characters in peril! I don't think I worried once about whether Minli would succeed in her quest, or feared for her safety or her life. This made for a comforting, pleasant read, but I think more conflict overall would go a long way toward making this more rewarding.

...

3) It's not believable that her parents would just wait around for her at home for her to come back--have one or both of them go after her? Or have them send someone else after her? If they do stay behind, you need a convincing reason why, and also her reunion with them at the end needs to be more dramatic. Wouldn't they cry? And what did they do while she was gone? Did they set up a shrine to her? Pray for her every day? Maybe they sent the old man selling the fish after her, or maybe a man from the village, or a kind traveler passing through?

It was interesting looking back at the publication history of this very special book--and we had fun telling the story, too. We should be on more panels together, don't you think?

***

If you're in the Los Angeles area tonight (Monday, October 24), head out to the Mysterious Galaxy Bookstore at 7:30 for Laini Taylor's signing of Daughter of Smoke and Bone. I'll be there.

2810 Artesia Blvd. Redondo Beach, California

Check out the glowing New York Times review here. "[A] breath-catching romantic fantasy about destiny, hope and the search for one’s true self that doesn’t let readers down."

Hope to see you!

down the rabbit hole!

2011-10-23T21:54:00.000-04:00

me and Alvina!

Lately, I've been horrible about blogging here and at my personal blog. Ever since France, I've been completely buried.

Of course, it's a hole of my own making. When I was in New Orleans in June, I had my tarot cards read and the fortune teller told me that I seem to like to have a lot of projects going on...and I would have to start limiting them. Well, she was right--on both counts. I do have to start limiting my projects, but I also like all of them. I don't know which ones to choose! Ones that feed my soul, ones that pay my bills, ones that have the most people counting on? I think I might need a tarot card reading just to help me choose.

In the meantime, I am just trying to skirt by! Right now Alvina and I are in Fresno, at the USBBY conference where we gave a talk on the author/editor relationship. I read aloud the first chapter of my work-in-progress, The Starry River of the Sky! I guess I was trying to multi-task and work on some revisions at the same time as giving a speech.

ON READING AND PAYING ATTENTION

2011-10-21T14:07:00.003-04:00

This has taken me a long, long time to put it all together. I'd posted parts of it before but I finally put all the images on it that I wanted. This is an interview with my mom on reading, getting my A.D.D self to read, working with disabled kids, etc. Here's a sample:

I remember when I asked you to read my first attempt at a novel. You said something like: “Bridget is the writer in the family. You should stick to art,” or some such. You later explained why you said that. You really thought my writing would be terrible and was trying to save me from embarrassment. But this is why I ALWAYS ask you for advice on my writing before anyone else--because you are honest and I value your opinion. I think we have the same taste in writing and art. Sometimes honestly is hard to swallow, but it always works out for the best. What did you think of my early writing attempts? You can be honest. I won’t cry.

I think you struggled with writing in school for the same reason that sometimes made it hard for me to figure out what you were trying to tell me in everyday conversation. You tended to start telling me something as if I was inside your brain. I remember having to ask lots of questions to figure out where your ideas were coming from. This is a really simplistic example; "Mom, she was there when it happened." And I would be totally puzzled and have to say, who what where and when. Consequently your writing was confusing. I think you also had trouble organizing. Remember your little index card to help with a math test. You were allowed to bring one index card with some helpful facts to a math test. You filled both sides with microscopic letters and numbers with no spaces between them. It was like looking sanskrit .

Your notebooks came home with huge holes where you must have erased right through the paper. I used to marvel at them.

"Basically your attempts to help yourself learn, produced chaos. So I was astounded when you began to write coherently. when you were in your twenties. I think that part of your brain just matured late."

---------

This part was weird because I learned something about myself... or maybe I already knew it but didn't think that much about it. I just went looking for a notebook to use and I had NO idea that my notebooks looked like that! That is what I did in school? That notebook was from college! How did I pull off getting As o papers and tests? I'm really perplexed. I do remember completely spacing out in classes. I'd make up for it when I got home where I could concentrate. I guess when you have attention problems you have to figure out the best way to learn for YOU.

To read the whole interview go here!

Baby Pictures!

2011-10-21T10:12:00.002-04:00

Here is one of my favorite pictures of my granddaughter Julia Anna. She's wearing an adorable hat that Grace gave her. My daughter and son-in-law used the picture in their birth announcement.

I am enjoying being a grandmother SOOOO much. I hate to be away from Julia for more than a few days.

Here are a few more pictures of Julia that were taken recently:

********************

P*TAG: The First-Ever Poetry eBook for Teens

Click here to read my Wild Rose Reader post about P*TAG.

Halloween Haiku

Yesterday, I thought I'd try writing some haiku poems about Halloween. You can read a few of my "still-in-progress" haikus here.

What IS a good plot, anyhow?

2011-10-19T05:00:00.002-04:00

Plot is definitely the thing I struggle most with in writing. Sometimes I think I don't even understand what a good plot is! So I boiled some really good stories by other people down into one or two sentences. I think -- though maybe this is wrong -- that a plot that can't be summarized in one or two sentences probably isn't a plot.

So here are the ones I came up with. I was trying to get their essence -- if I've missed it, please correct me! And if you have more examples I'd love to read them.

THE PLOTS

A plane crash leaves a boy alone in the wilderness, where he survives until rescued.

A plane crash leaves a group of boys on an island where some kill others until (just as the pack is hunting the hero down) they are rescued.

A teenager who doesn't fit in travels in time to rescue her father from evil, finding love and self-acceptance along the way.

When a mother abandones her children in a parking lot, the oldest daughter leads them all on a journey that ends in them finding a home with their grandmother.

A set-in-his-ways hobbit goes off to burgle treasure for some dwarves; he comes home rich and unrespectable.

A bratty little girl loses both parents to cholera and goes to live in a house with 100 rooms all shut up and a garden. She tends the garden, makes friends, and turns into a nice child.

An adored only daughter is left at a boarding school, where she's the pet pupil -- until her father dies penniless. The girl is made into a servant until she is rescued by a friend of her father's.

Four siblings are sent to the country during the air raids; they find their way to another world, where they fight a witch, save the land from her power, and become its kings and queens -- and then come home, to find that no time at all has elapsed in their own world.

An orphan finds out he's the son of two famous wizards and is a wizard himself. He is taken to a school, where he is famous, too; there he makes friends, learns magic, and battles enemies.

A kind-hearted girl doesn't do anything to stop the other girls from being mean to a poor girl who claims she has 100 dresses--and then, when the poor girl moves away, is very sorry.

Two children who have lost their mother are excited when a woman from Maine agrees to come live with them and hope she will stay; she does.

A girl is blown by a tornado to another world, where she goes on a perilous journey to ask a wizard how to get home, not knowing that she had the power all along.

Do these sound good to you? To me, even all by themselves, they sound more promising than anything I've come up with -- but maybe that's just because I know the books have all done well!

PATTERNS?
The character can be tested, but stay the same; or the character can be changed by the adventure-- -- either can work. It doesn't matter. The character can have a goal (find that treasure!), or things can just happen to her (be sent or put somewhere by adults,often). Either way, the character is clearly defined at the beginning and then, because of who she is, one thing leads to another after the starting point.

Usually, but not always, the things that happen or that the character does -- the external circumstances -- are dramatic, exciting. But I think they can be small, too, as long as the emotional stakes are high (will Sarah stay to be our mother?).

To me, most -- but not all -- of these sound rich and satisfying. They have a kind of elegant simplicity and symmetry as well as high stakes....and most though not all of them would make me want to pick up the book.

Now if I can just keep working on MINE until it makes me feel the same way I'll be off to a good start.

Sale

2011-10-18T09:59:00.005-04:00

The fall sale on Saturday was a lot of fun as usual; the main street that runs through the RISD campus was blocked off for the day and filled with alumni selling their wares. Both Grace and I had a table and sold prints as well as books. Below is my new display all set up. Sadly it did not last long before we had to take it down, the sale was hit with 30 mph gusts in some spots that send many a book flying down the street! Thankfully Libby was on hand to help me hold things down (quite literally). We didn't have it as bad as some folks though, not the day to be a glass blower. Every so often the crowd was silenced by an explosion of shattering glass. Yikes!

I will have many of these new prints in my Etsy shop, stay tuned!

rock

2011-10-17T10:14:00.000-04:00

Hi all,

I'm in California on vacation right now and am trying to unwind a bit--it's been a grueling month or so work-wise. So, no real post today. And sorry to miss last week too. I've been a little distracted.

from the BRG archives: There's stuff outside the studio? Seriously?

2011-10-16T09:30:00.001-04:00

Thursdays are my day to write in the Blue Rose Blog. I have my own blog that keeps me very blog-occupied, but it is as scattered and variable as my life, which is very scattered and variable, and there's been no mention of children's books there in a long time.

I've been having a lot of adventures lately that seem distinctly non-illustration-oriented, but in fact, the thing about illustration, is nothing is non-illustration oriented. To be an illustrator you have to be someone who is interested in everything in the world, because at any moment you could be assigned a story about a bunny, or a Russian folk tale, or a true account of modern day mountain climbers in Tibet. There is always a lot of research to be done, but the best sources are always your own memories and experiences.

Right now I happen to be working on the true account of modern day mountain climbers in Tibet. There's a challenge there in that I've never been to Tibet, or climbed a mountain. I've immersed myself in a small fortune of pictorial reference books to get a feel for the landscape, and studied the men and the equipment used on the actual journey. But the spirit of the book will come from my own monumental journeys, such as a 3 week ride on horseback from Massachusetts to Canada when I was young, and times I came upon awesome landscapes that took my breath away-- the Utah Salt Lake, Mount Katahdin, the Grand Canyon, Italy.

This blog, being specifically about children's books, and not mine alone, will make me find the links between my eccentric out-of-the-studio activities and what's on my desk. But I'm especially looking forward to reading the thoughts of my fellow Blue Rose Girls, who are all personal heroes of mine. I'll blog about how incredible they are next Thursday. :)

Todays studio music: The Fiery Furnaces.

First published August 3, 2006

LOCAL FLAVOR

2011-10-14T19:22:00.003-04:00

I remember going to a fair during the summer. There would be the booth where you'd throw the ball and knock the guy or girl into the water and then the rows of tiny fish bowls. The player got three chances to toss the plastic ball into the bowls. Generally, the balls never landed in the fish bowls, but once in a while the ball landed and the player would win a fish. I remember winning a fish one year and it was so exciting! My dad went down to the basement and cleaned out an old fish bowl to put the fish in. I think the fish lasted a few days and then died. I guess you can't expect much from a fish at a local fair. There were crazier things I've found at local fairs, such as the dung toss game, etc.

I'm sharing this because of Libby's post. I agree with her that some local flavor can and should be added to the right books! I thought of this as I posted about my recent discovery about more advertising in kids' books. Everything is becoming so SIMILAR. All the kids wear the same shoes and little kids are wearing lipstick at younger ages. It's kind of frightening. Something a little different now and then would be nice!

ADVERTISING IN KIDS' BOOKS...

2011-10-14T13:26:00.001-04:00

As someone pointed out, the link I gave doesn't work. Oops! I need to check these things. Try this. There are two posts about this. Tell me what you think!

2011 Cybils Announcement

2011-10-14T11:13:00.003-04:00

If there’s a children’s or young adult book that you’d like to nominate for a 2011 Cybils, do it soon! The nominations close on October 15th!

Cybils Nomination Form

I’m happy to be serving as a Round One Poetry Judge this year. We have a terrific panel once again!

Click here to check out the 2011 Cybils Poetry Nominations

The 2011 Poetry Judges

Poetry has long been the genre where we've insisted on the most credentials and expertise. It may get the fewest nominations, but it's far from the easiest to judge. Many of our experts are poets themselves and bring their practiced eye to the Cybils.

ROUND ONE

Amy Ludwig VanDerwater

The Poem Farm

@amylvpoemfarm

Susan Taylor Brown

Susan Writes

@susanwrites

Elaine Magliaro

Wild Rose Reader

Bruce Black

Wordswimmer

@wordswimmer

Tricia Stohr-Hunt

The Miss Rumphius Effect

@MissRumphius

Jone Rush MacCulloch

Check It Out

@JoneMac53

Carol Wilcox

Carol W’s Corner

@carwilc

ROUND TWO

Diane Mayr

The Write Sisters

www.thewritesisters.blogspot.com

Mary Lee Hahn

A Year of Reading

http://readingyear.blogspot.com

@maryleehahn

Julie Larios

The Drift Record

http://julielarios.blogspot.com

Andi Sibley

A Wrung Sponge

Laura Purdie Salas

laurasalas: writing the world for kids

**********

I reviewed a few of the nominated poetry books for Wild Rose Reader.

Spinster Goose: Twisted Rhymes for Naughty Children

At the Sea Floor Café: Odd Critter Poems

TWOSOMES: Love Poems from the Animal Kingdom

********************

Over at Wild Rose Reader, I posted a mini collection of my original animal acrostic poems.

David Elzey has the Poetry Friday Roundup at Fomagrams.

ADVERTISING IN KIDS' BOOKS

2011-10-12T13:06:00.003-04:00

I don't want to overshadow Libby's post today (so I won't make this long) but I did a post on my blog that I think is important. I'll just post a little bit of it:

"Someone pointed out to me that in Mike Lupica's new book The Underdogs there was a bookmark advertising shoes his characters wear in the book placed in the middle of every book that was shipped to the bookstore to sell. The bookmark has a photograph of the shoe in all of the colors."

For the rest of the post go here and please tell me what you think of this!

Corn baths etc.

2011-10-12T08:21:00.007-04:00

Last weekend some of the Blue Rose Girls and our friend Alissa visited Anna in her beautiful quiet cozy country cottage. As usual, conversation was the main activity -- Tilda and Juniper (Alissa's daughter) stayed close to us, eagerly joining in with smiles and babble. Neither can talk yet, but they seemed to enjoy being part of the group.

We talked about our writing (so inspiring! and so tempting to just stay in front of the fire doing that the whole time) but one afternoon we did manage to leave the house to attend the Ashfield Fall Festival, where local children make, set up, and run the games. When we arrived, Alissa's boys had already won a small bag of marbles doing things like climbing rope ladders and ringing the bell at the top. They and the other children did this with just as much excitement as the children Grace described grabbing for the brass ring at the Tuileries in Paris or the ones I described dancing at the ceilidh in the Hebrides.

The one that seemed to delight them the most was the corn bath -- tubs filled with raw corn kernels. They rolled and dug and played and only got out when the person running it said -- several times "Come on, guys, time to go -- we have to clean up." Maybe the real proof of how much fun they had was that they helped her do it.

Since I got back I have been comparing this country pretty unfavorably to Scotland (though in fairness to me, at these kinds of festivals where I live, people mostly just buy things, eat, and sit listening to loud music). So it was really great to be reminded that there are communities right here in this country where people take just as active a part in their own amusement --and with just as much enthusiasm and energy. Maybe there are more of these kinds of communities here, and children are taking more delight in simple pleasures, than the media would have us think.

After all, as Grace pointed out, big companies aren't making money with things like corn baths -- maybe THAT'S why we don't see them in the media. But that's no reason not to put them in our books, even if some people do find such things old-fashioned. For others (maybe more than we, and some publishers, realize?), it's reality....and as much fun to read about, too:maybe more fun to read about than, say, Angry Birds. It depends how it's done, of course, like everything else in writing!

Fall RISD Sale this Saturday

2011-10-11T05:28:00.001-04:00

Grace and I will each have a table at this Saturday's RISD Alumni Sale. There will be lots of fabulous handmade goodies at the sale: from hand-blown glass to fine art to knitwear and pottery. It's always a fun day signing books and meeting the other artists. Though the real reason I go may be to shop! It's hard not to covet all the beautiful handmade lovelies I'd like to take home and put around my house.

Grace will be at table #90 and I'll be at table #149 selling books and prints. Libby has been kind enough to join me for the day, so if you are in the area and can stop by you see three Blue Rose Girls! We'd love to meet you so do come say hello.

Details:
Saturday the 15th from 10:00-4:00 pm
Benefit Street in Providence, in between Waterman and George Streets

NPR INTERVIEW - NOW WITH PICTURES!

2011-10-09T12:37:00.001-04:00

SIGNING THIS SUNDAY! FREE COLORED ART!

2011-10-07T18:49:00.004-04:00

I'm signing this sunday with two other lovely authors in Brooklyn under the Brooklyn bridge in Dumbo. Here's the link so that you can get directions and all of that good stuff.

So why I'm posting is this: I will be giving away 5 drawings of Balto to people who buy my book that day. Just buy the book and I'll write your name and email down. I'll pull the names out before I leave. And because I don't trust myself I'm going to bring the drawings with me and will leave them at Powerhouse so that you can pick them up there. I think that's best. I don't trust myself to mail them to anybody! My first thought was to give the 5 drawings out to the first 5 people but that doesn't seem fair, does it?

These drawings will be with black marker on cardstock and will be colored in if I am ambitious enough and have enough time. I DO know how to go to far with things!!!

So come! It will be worth your while! These pieces of art may be worth money! I may be doing this "give away art" thing again because I'm doing one more signing coming up soon but I can safely say that they will not be colored in.

Too many books? or too few?

2011-10-05T10:17:00.015-04:00

I have too many books, I know it, I'm trying to get rid of some. But even after filling 2 boxes, my shelves still look almost the same.

It's discouraging to think of how many more I'll have to give away or sell to make a difference.

And it's so hard to get rid of them! I'm not sure why. It's not because I love my books -- I'm not even trying to part with the ones I love. But even when I don't love a book, it's still hard -- maybe because I'm admitting that I'll never read it again (or in some cases, read it at all!),

or ever go back to the places (travel books) or finish the project (books on King Arthur -- I was once going to write a book about him; make my own clothes -- books on how to that; and even, for some bizarre reason, books on learning Gnu emacs and, less bizarre, Swahili).

Maybe that's always why getting rid of things is hard: you admit that you're never going to wear the great shoes that cost $100 on sale but never fit; or that the beloved cashmere sweater, while flattering and the perfect color, has so many holes that it looks weird-- or as an English friend more kindly put it, "as though you don't care what you look like." But by getting rid of the things you're not going to do or use or wear, you make it easier to do or get the things you really want -- in this case, go to Scotland for six months!

When my resolve to get rid of something weakens, I say:
"Every box of books I get rid of now is one less to move, pack, and store later."
(will be true of kitchen stuff as well when I move on to that category.)

Okay, that's the end of one essay....another was that one thing I find myself saying as I put books in the "to sell" pile is: "Well, if I ever want to read this again, I can read it online." This, I know from experience, though, is only true for some things -- classics, say.

The books that used to form the bulk of my reading (and the publishing industry!) are those well-written books that aren't quite classics and aren't bestsellers, either. This by the way is the category Jane Austen's books were in when they first came out "People are more likely to borrow than buy my books" she said. Now, I'm thinking of the novels of people like Angela Thirkell or Patrick O'Brien -- and many others, too many to list here. Their books don't exist as ebooks -- I know, because I tried to buy them when I was loading up my ipad for my last trip to Scotland.

What's going to happen to books like this when no one (even libraries) has hard copies of anything anymore? Will they just disappear if they didn't get made into ebooks? Maybe there are both too many and too few books -- too few of the kind I really like to read.

Being Elmo

2011-10-04T11:27:00.000-04:00

Are you going to see the new documentary about Being Elmo? The trailer gave me goosebumps.

Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life movie, plus Chris Colfer (again)

2011-10-03T08:30:00.000-04:00

Wednesday night I went to the premier of the movie Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life based on the book by Wendy Mass. Wendy had been working with another editor at Little, Brown (hi Amy!), and when Amy left the company, I became Wendy's new editor, but Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life was the transition book--Amy freelance-edited the book from her new home in Maryland, and I was the in-house editor. I love this book--it's still one of my all-time favorite Wendy Mass books, and believe me, there's a lot of competition. But it's a great example of the type of book I love most--it's sweet, funny, and challenges the reader think about life. In this case, the literal meaning of life, of course. And the movie did the same for me. It's been quite a while since I've read the book, so it was wonderful to relive it on the big screen. It made me laugh, and it made me cry. There were a few differences from the book, of course, the most obvious being that Jeremy's mutant candy collection isn't in the movie--oh well.

The movie isn't going to be released in the theaters, but is currently available as an exclusive at Walmart, and then will be released more widely next Spring. See more info on Wendy's blog here. Also, I love that almost all of the commentors on Wendy's blog seem to be children. And they're so enthusiastic and insightful. I especially loved this comment from Ingrid H:

Awesome! The trailer was really cool! I’m kind of glad that it’s not coming to every theater, since it’s sort of an off-beat book, and that would make it more main stream. Congrats Wendy!

Most of the stars of the movie, including Mira Sorvino, were in attendance. Mira's children and father (actor Paul Sorvino) were also there. The event ended quite late (almost 10 pm), and Mira's young son was crying that he needed to go "to his house" because "it's so dark outside"--of course, this was right outside the theater under bright lights--I guess this was his way of saying that it was late and he was tired. Poor kid

We did a media tie-in edition cover to coincide with the movie. We pretty much used the movie poster design, but decided to focus on just the kids:

But the original design with the keys still exists:

Congratulations to everyone involved in the movie! Thank you for bringing this book to life.

***

On Saturday evening, I went to the New Yorker Festival to see Chris Colfer interviewed by New Yorker editor Susan Morrison. There a great wrap-up of the evening here. I was especially fascinated by the audience, which seemed to be mainly young, avid fans of Glee and Chris's specifically. The Billboard.com wrap-up I linked to had a great description:

His answers were met with aws, gasps and giggles from the audience, who made a mad dash to microphones during the Q&A to express their nervous adoration and question him on a variety of topics ranging from what it's like to kiss his on-screen boyfriend Darren Criss, ("Darren's a good kisser. And he knows it.") to what parts of himself he wished were in Kurt ("He was very lonely, but I wish he didn't feel like he need someone to be loved. It was a lesson for me as well.").

And when asked about his book deal, props to Chris for mentioning Little, Brown by name!

He also briefly discussed his forthcoming novel, a children's book called "The Land of Stories," which he said he'd been thinking about since he was seven years old, when his younger sister was diagnosed with a rare from of epilepsy and he was seeking an escape.

"I had this old book of fairytales that my mom was given by her mom. I'll never forget because you opened the pages and all the illustrations were actual pictures of dolls in freeze form of the story," Colfer shared. "I remember in the moment never wanting an escape more ever, I wanted to literally dive into the book. I then came up with the story about these two twins that went to fairytale world and all the adventures they had, adventures I wanted to experience rather than what I was going through. I promised myself then if I ever had the opportunity to write it in a book, I would." Now Colfer has a two-book deal with Little Brown, with the first installment due out August 2012.

Now, I just have to finish editing The Land of Stories so all of Chris's fans can actually read it!

from the BRG archives: clearing the decks

2011-10-02T09:30:00.000-04:00

I feel a little like a squirrel preparing for winter (and not because it is once again 40 degrees in Boston). I'm about to start the paintings for a picture book and hole up in my studio, my little hollow in a tree.

This involves several stages:

1. Getting rid of all sketches, notes, books, odds and ends that are filling up all usable table space in my studio so that I won't be distracted (above was my desk at the beginning of the day).

2. Now I can start filling up all usable table space with new sketches, notes, books, odds and ends that will weave their way into the illustrations for this book (this is my desk at the end of the day- I'm in OCD paradise!).

3. Settling all unfinished business that has been hanging over my head and dragging on for weeks so that I can, without guilt, completely withdraw into my head and live in the world I'm about to try and paint.

Its a little like going away to camp when you're a kid. You feel a little nervous about going somewhere new. Hopefully I will make friends with my characters and fall into a groove quickly. Then, before I know it, I'll be emerging from this cave and blinking at the sun. I am glad I have my pen pals at the BRG to send postcards to!

Originally published November 21, 2006

presque fini

2011-10-01T09:56:00.000-04:00

Recently, I have been blogging sooo much at my personal blog that I've nothing left for this blog! But by next week, my posts about my trip to France:

Linnea (and me!) in Monet's Garden

and the adventures of Pocket Pacy:

will have ended. Though, as I've said earlier, I'm quite enjoying the Pocket Pacy project and may continue it here in the States. What do you think?

A NEW BLOG

2011-09-30T15:34:00.003-04:00

Yes yes, another new blog. This may not be of interest to some of you... but others may like it so I thought I'd mention it. It's called STREET ART NYC. I love carrying around my camera and taking photos of the art I see. People do stencils, they use chalk, they paste things to walls... and all sorts of stuff. I think it's a lot of fun. I don't like graffiti. I think it can ruin a landscape. But a little gem of art here and there can brighten one. I plan on posting a few times a week with new photos of art that I've found around the city. Check it out! Become a follower!

SAVING SUMMER: A Memoir Poem

2011-09-30T11:12:00.001-04:00

In September of 1984, my mother’s father passed away. I was devastated. I had spent many of my happiest childhood days at the home of my maternal grandparents. Two of my cousins lived on the other side of my grandparents’ duplex. We three cousins played together in my grandparents’ yard, made a clubhouse under their porch, picked apples and pears from their trees. We also had great times inside their house celebrating holidays like Easter and Christmas Eve. My grandparents took great joy in their granddaughters and loved watching us have fun together.

Dzidzi, my grandfather, had a big vegetable garden behind the house. He loved working there. He enjoyed having us kids pick tomatoes and peppers and onions and carrots and beets from his garden. Babci, my grandmother, would preserve many of the vegetables and fruits reaped in late summer and early fall.

After my grandfather died, I so wanted to write a story in verse about my Babci and Dzidzi. It didn’t work out too well. Some years later, an image from my childhood of my grandmother working in the cellar preserving tomatoes in mason jars popped into my head. That image gave me the inspiration for writing the poem Saving Summer—and for an entire collection of poems about my grandparents, their house, their yard, their garden—and the happy times I spent their with my cousins and sister. The collection takes me through a year at their house. The unpublished collection is titled A Home for the Seasons.

SAVING SUMMER

In the cellar
Babci sits on an old kitchen chair
made new with glossy gray paint.
Wearing an apron blooming with faded flowers,
she leans over the tub of steaming water,
plucks out plump tomatoes,
and peels off the wet, papery skins.
She fills shiny jars with soft red pulp,
stretches on rubber sealers,
presses down moon-round lids,
clicks closed the metal clamps.
She places the jars in a wire basket
and lowers them into a pot of bubbling water to cook.

On wooden shelves in a corner
she stores stewed tomatoes beside rows of pickled beets,
golden peach slices, green piccalilli,
and carrots the color of October pumpkins.
Standing there in late afternoon,
sunlight shining through a small side window,
I see her harvest preserved:
a rainbow glistening in glass.
Babci is keeping summer alive in jars.

********************

Over at Wild Rose Reader, I have a post titled Old Poems & New Furniture.

Sara Lewis Holmes has the Poetry Friday Roundup at Read Write Believe.

SIGNING NEXT WEEK...

2011-09-29T16:32:00.001-04:00

Anonymous Scottish book art

2011-09-27T10:46:00.001-04:00

Isn't it lovely? More here.

What I'm working on now, and book trailers!

2011-09-26T08:30:00.000-04:00

I'm in the throes of editing hell...actually, I'll rephrase that--I'm in editing HEAVEN! Just a whole lot of it at once, is all. But the books are SO GOOD, and this is the meaty part of my job that I love the most. Speaking of, I've been meaning to update my "How I Edit" post from almost exactly five years ago, as technology has changed my process somewhat. Perhaps that will be for next week.

What I was working on this past weekend specifically was finishing up an editorial letter for the first book in Libba Bray's new four-book series, The Diviners. It's a YA historical paranormal with hints of horror (okay, more than just hints) set in New York City in the 1920s. Flappers, Ziegfeld's Follies, speakeasies, political protests, secret government experiments, cults, ghosts, supernatural powers, and oh yes, a serial killer. It's magnificent, and coming out next Fall.

This past weekend I've also been working on Chris Colfer's middle grade novel The Land of Stories, coming out next August. It's a fantastical adventure to a fairytale land, and it's a page-turner, with unexpected twists and turns, a lot of heart, and best of all it's funny. I was reading it on the subway and found myself chuckling out loud at the dialogue. I'm excited for the world to see that this kid can write as well as he can sing. And boy, do I love his voice (I can listen to his version of Blackbird all day).

So, while I keep editing, I wanted to share with you two trailers that were released recently. The first is for Peter Brown's hilarious new picture book You Will Be My Friend!, starring Lucille Beatrice Bear, who some of you might remember from his last book, Children Make Terrible Pets. You Will Be My Friend launched earlier this month, and on Saturday I attended his book launch party at Powerhouse Studio in DUMBO. And as Lucy would say, OH! MY! GOSH! This is the cutest trailer EVER!

This second trailer is for Laini Taylor's Daughter of Smoke and Bone which officially pubs tomorrow! Happy early book birthday! There's been an incredible amount of excitement and buzz for this book, and the love, especially from bloggers, has been tremendous (and well-deserved, although I may be biased...).

Isn't that cool?

Okay, back to work!

simple joys

2011-09-24T09:00:00.000-04:00

I've been having a wonderful time chronicling my adventures in France on my blog (I'm about half way done) as well as my Pocket Pacy adventures!

I've been actually getting such a kick out of the whole Pocket Pacy project that I think I will continue and expand it at home.

But so far, I think my favorite memory of France has been when I wandered into the Jardin du Luxembourg in Paris. I became entranced by this Italian style fountain:

The Medici Fountain

But the Sasquatch grew a little bored as I sketched and walked around, instead. When he came back, he said, "I think there's something over there you'll really want to see."

He was right. Because "over there" was an amazing vintage carousel:

the animals were designed by the Charles Garnier, the same designer of the Grand Opera!

The animals were worn and chipped, there wasn't even music playing. But there was a new group of children waiting each time and the grey horse even had a waiting line (it seemed to be the "special one.") All the children carried sticks and the carousel was full each round.

Look how old the animals are!

The only animal that was ignored was the giraffe (and the tented carriage).

And I slowly figured out why. The carousel was an old-fashioned game. The children tried to catch the ring on the bell with their sticks. The grey horse must be the "lucky one" and the giraffe, not so much:

Every child was so enthusiastic, so excited about their animal and trying to catch the ring...it was incredibly charming and delightful.

And to me, it was also very hopeful. In this day and age, with computers and video games, to see children enjoying something so simple was inspiring. Things don't have to light up, be bright, shiny, action-packed and new for kids to love it. Simple things can still be vibrant and beloved.

It seems like there are hundreds of articles a day about how the book is dead, how the new generations will turn up their noses at a paper book. Perhaps many will. But perhaps, many will not. Perhaps they will still find the simple pleasure in an old-fashioned book like they do with this old-fashioned carousel.

Banned Books Week: Jonah Goldberg Claims It’s Just ALA Propaganda

2011-09-23T12:54:00.001-04:00

Last week while I was working on a post about Banned Books Week 2011 (September 24−October 1), I came across an op-ed that Jonah Goldberg had written for USA Today titled Banned Books Week is just hype. It really got my dander up—so I wrote a criticism of Goldberg’s column for Jonathan Turley’s law blog on Sunday. The title of my post was Banned Books Week: Just a Lot of Propaganda Says Jonah Goldberg.

Goldberg took issue with my criticism of his op-ed and wrote a blog post at the National Review Online (NRO) titled Banned Books B.S. Cont’d. In it, he said that my attempted rebuttal of his column was “underwhelming.” He wrote:

Elaine Magliaro, a guest blogger at Jonathan Turley’s site, comes to the rescue of the Banned Book Week crowd and the effort is entirely underwhelming. There’s a great deal of nonsense here. I’ll focus on just a few points. A big chunk of her response restates my op-ed while casting her incomprehension as if it’s a rebuttal.

Goldberg claims that cases of challenged books reported to the ALA “are little more than disputes over whether a book is age-appropriate.” He adds that such disputes “don’t end in books being pulled from shelves.”

Goldberg was kind enough to answer a question that I had posed in my Turley blog post. He wrote: Oh, and to answer Magliaro’s question, my answer is Yes, I think it might be a good thing if there were more challenges to librarians’ judgment about what books kids should be reading.

I must admit that I have to wonder why a published book author and a member of the USA Today Board of Contributors thinks that Banned Books Week is just propaganda and thinks it would be a good thing if there were more book challenges every year.

I’d appreciate feedback from anyone who reads my Turley blog post and Jonah Goldberg’s USA Today op-ed and NRO post.

**********

At Wild Rose Reader, I have a post title Cleaning House and Discovering Old Poems. (I also have some new pictures of my granddaughter Julia Anna.)

Anastasia Suen has the Poetry Friday Roundup at Picture Book of the Day.

Testing characters' names

2011-09-21T06:17:00.009-04:00

Naming characters for me is either super-hard or super-easy, never in-between. Sometimes the name and the character come together; sometimes nothing seems right, or I doubt my choice.

This week I found a way to test the name. On Google Image search now, you can type in the kind of image you're looking for, so I tried the names I'd thought of for the character with "Face" as the image type.

I can't claim that this changed my mind in any way -- I had a favorite name and found myself searching for images that fit it. But, I did find one face that seemed exactly right -- as soon as I saw it, I thought:

"That's her!"

Maybe it helped, or maybe my mind was already made up and I just didn't know it.

It was also interesting (to me) to see often the names seemed to attract a TYPE: look at Ashley (above) and Margaret (below). Neither of these were names I was considering -- I just looked up lots to see if there really is anything to do this idea. Maybe there isn't and it's just my imagination --but still, a character's name matters -- it gives the reader a mental image of the person.

These Margarets were the first three rows that came up when I entered the name, as were the Ashleys above.

QUESTIONS FOR A POLICE OFFICER

2011-09-21T00:40:00.001-04:00

What are some questions you'd ask a police officer? What are some questions your kids might ask?

Long time no see

2011-09-20T12:43:00.000-04:00

While unpacking boxes, I recently came across a stack of books from my childhood that I haven't seen in years. I LOVED this series. The books originally belonged to my mom, they were first published in 1913. I can't wait to reread them! Finding them was perfect timing, as I've been working on my own chapter book of animal stories.

And so it begins...

2011-09-19T08:30:00.000-04:00

The Emmy Award Ceremony was last night (I didn't watch, but followed some of the action via Twitter), and that brings to mind the awards that concern those of us who work in children's and young adult publishing. Over at School Library Journal, the "Heavy Metal blog" has begun its fascinating discussions about the books that just might have a chance at winning the Newbery.

I have some fondness for that particular blog, because there wasn't much buzz about Grace Lin's Where the Mountain Meets the Moon being a possible Newbery title until it was discussed on that blog in November. Of course, buzz isn't everything--and in the case of this year's winning Moon Over Manifest, buzz meant nothing (the Heavy Metal blog didn't discuss that book), but still, I think the likelihood of the winner being a book discussed on that blog is high. So, check it out, weigh in, and place your bets! I find the discussion about Gary Schmidt's Okay For Now particularly fascinating (you'll remember that I read and loved the book, although to be sure, it isn't without its flaws. What book is?).

At the same time, the Horn Book has started a blog to discuss possible Caldecott contenders over at "Calling Caldecott".

Now all we need is for someone to start one for the Printz, and the triumvirate will be covered.

And also, National Book Award finalists will be announced on October 12.

Betsy Bird gives her Newbery/Caldecott predictions over at Fuse #8 here. I won't make any predictions myself, because of course I have some hopes for books I've edited, and also, I don't feel that I've read enough to give an educated guess (although I'm sure Okay For Now will be "in the room" as we say in the business).

Do any of you have any early favorites for the awards?

from the BRG archives: making literature, making a living

2011-09-18T09:30:00.001-04:00

More often then not, when I'm introduced at a book event I'm described as a prolific author/illustrator. While it is usually meant as complimentary (at least I hope so) I always wince a little inside. Just because a person (especially someone in the creative field) creates many works doesn't necessarily mean they are any good.

Of course, I am extremely grateful that I have been able to be so prolific. But the truth is, I have to be. I depend on it. If I don’t produce, I quickly drown--mortgage, health insurance, medical bills, groceries-- everything breaks through the rickety dam of my paying books.

Which is probably why I was so affected by Linda Sue Park’s speech about creating your best work . I didn’t go into children’s books for the money (who does?); and it goes without saying that I want everything that I do and publish to be the absolute best of my ability. But I would be lying if I didn’t say that sometimes my creative juices flow out of desperation for the cold hard cash, that compromises are made to get contracts, and sometimes work is rushed when bills are waiting.

To be able to make a living in children’s books is a gift, but one that is dearly paid for. And is compromising quality one of the unavoidable taxes? That is the question I struggle with when the projects are over and the bills have been paid. Could I have done it better? Should I have done it better? Was it my very best?

The answer is always yes and no. Everything I’ve done probably could’ve been done better. But it was the very best I could do at that time. And while that’s not quite satisfactory, it’s enough to make me try again with another book.

Originally published January 13th, 2007

JUDGING ART PART 2

2011-09-15T17:52:00.004-04:00

This is what I wrote on my blog today:
"Twice this week I've had conversations with people about judging art. The first was when I was in the break room at work. I was looking at Selznick's new book...

Anyway, I was looking at the book and someone who works in the kids dept. asked if I was going to buy the book. I said that I was just looking at it. I wanted to look at the art. She asked if I liked it. I told her what I thought. She said that she didn't know how to judge art so she didn't have an opinion. I said, "Well, do you like this or don't you?" She said she thought it was okay. She said she didn't love it but didn't hate it. I said, "So you DO have an opinion. You can judge art." Just because I went to art school and I can verbalize WHY I like or don't like or am indifferent to something doesn't mean that I'm a better judge than anyone else. I think people who weren't schooled are afraid to give their opinion because it won't be the right one. Do you like it? Do you hate it? Are you just okay with it? That's all that matters! Go with your gut. That's all there is to it!"

I want to add something to that. What I want to add is that I think sometimes people who don't know much about art or who aren't trained in it pick out things that "they like" or rather - and maybe I'm taking too big a leap here - THINK that they like - based on what other people say or based on buzz. Sometimes I think this is how Caldecott winners are picked. Buzz starts and people sort of pick something that they think they should pick because people have been talking about it a lot. I am not talking about this because I just mentioned Selznick's book! This has just been on my mind. A trend I notice a lot is that an illustrator will switch up his or her style (mostly his) and all of a sudden everyone is wowed. Usually non art trained people. I think they don't know that artists can do lots of different things. We pick one style because we are trying to sell ourselves. Not because that's all we are capable of doing. But I feel like people see something new or different and think - damn, look at that!!! And then an award is given.

Am I terribly wrong here? Heck, I like starting a discussion. I just noticed this so I thought I'd throw it out there.

Decisions, decisions

2011-09-15T08:20:00.012-04:00

The New York Times recently had an article about how every decision you make depletes your energy -- and your supply of glucose (blood sugar). A friend immediately thought of me, saying:
"When you write, you must have to make decisions all the time."

Now I know why we -- or so many of us -- like to eat candy while we write! The more we're concentrating and deciding, the more blood sugar is getting used up.

The article said most people deal with decisions by:
*NOT deciding
OR
*deciding impulsively.

I do both -- instead of deciding, I'll obsess and overthink.

One of the many astonishing results of my vacation is that I've stayed more relaxed and it's a lot easier to let go. I THINK this makes decisions easier. To make decisions well, you have to (this is me, not the TIMES) be able to let go -- to trust that forgoing all those other possibilities (choosing one thing does usually mean others won't happen) is really and truly okay. When you believe that letting go of those possibitilies is not only okay, but in fact opens new possibilities, it's easier to act instead of just think, decide instead of obsess.

But letting go is still hard, on all fronts. I'll know I've learned to do it when I can confidently throw out or delete old drafts.

I'm practicing by getting rid of clothes -- those of you who know me know that I've always had the fantasy of owning ONLY clothes I love. This sounds so easy to achieve! But getting rid of clothes is so hard!

One thing that makes it hard is thinking of all the money spent on the useless items...so I've been repeating as a mantra, "The money is gone, no matter what I do. It's MORE of a waste to have clothes I don't like sitting in my closet, taking up space and energy."

I'm selling some on ebay -- any tips on that? Good pictures, I know; but what about shipping? Does it make any difference if you do calculate per sale or fixed price? (I only ship Priority Mail -- buying shipping supplies is too much bother). And what about price? Do you have to start items at $9.99 if you really want them to sell?

Advice much appreciated! And if anyone is on ebay -- I'm dislikepaypal.

Settling down

2011-09-13T16:09:00.002-04:00

Please pardon the radio silence as I get unpacked in our new home (again). This time we're settling for awhile an it feels great. Most of our place is still in boxes, but the living room is shaping up nicely. The house we're renting feels like a little mountain lodge.

This is the view from the living room window:

And a little fellow my husband caught the other day:

The place is brimming with wildlife; there are hummingbirds, dragonflies, frogs, chipmunks, and deer all over the place (I'm told bears as well, though we haven't seen any yet). The woods are full of edible mushrooms, my husband had some for lunch today that looked like this:

It's been a really nice change from city life, and a big sigh of relief to unpack things that have been in storage for more than a year. I realized pretty quickly as we started sifting through boxes that the vast majority of my things fall into one of three categories: books (of course), art supplies, and angsty drawings from college like this one:

I'd love to purge and lighten our load but I find each of those things very hard to get rid of, for different reasons. The books because I want to remember them and reread them and use them for inspiring new stories. The art supplies because of all the projects I might need them for. And the drawings because the more time that passes since art school the more I forget where I started on the journey to becoming an author and illustrator. And it's good to remember that beginning and how much has changed since then.

Remembering 9/11/01

2011-09-12T08:30:00.000-04:00

I was trying to avoid reading or watching too much yesterday, because I knew it would be upsetting to relive 9/11/01, but of course it was hard to avoid, and some of the things I encountered were so lovely and touching I wanted to share them here.I was living in Boston ten years ago. I did not lose anyone close to me that day, but of course it was an event of such mind-boggling horror and evil and tragedy; ten years later I still can't think about it without getting emotional.

StoryCorps is doing a series of 9/11Animated Short Stories that had me sobbing--the stories are so touching and personal. Here are three:

Author and editor David Levithan talked about his 9/11 book Love is the Higher Law and the importance of remembering and telling stories here.

Author Meg Cabot shares both hope-filled and heartbreaking stories here.

Author Maureen Johnson writes about her experience ten years ago here. Her impetus for writing and the comments from teens who were too young to understand what happened that day are eye-opening.

Patrick McDonnell's MUTTS comic for yesterday was simple and lovely.

a pacy in the pocket

2011-09-11T13:55:00.000-04:00

After finishing my novel, I really needed to let out some steam and do something completely silly and fun. My trip to France was in a couple days so there was just enough time to do an extra small project. With some leftover material from our our cupcake decorations I decided to make some Pocket Pacys!

They say you always leave a bit of yourself behind when you travel. Well, I going to leave a little me! Ha ha!

I plan to leave one somewhere every day while we're are in France. I hope that someone else finds it and brings a little cheer in their day. And, if I'm lucky the person will carry it to a new location, take a photo and send it to me which I can post here. Maybe these Pocket Pacys will travel all over the world!

In the photos, the Pocket Pacys might not look that neatly painted. That is because they are so small! see, shorter than a battery:

Though, honestly, the hardest part was trying to get the website url in it. First I tried to write it by hand, but the it wasn't very legible. And I need people to be able to read the url so that they can find the site! So, I finally made stickers which I am just crossing my fingers will stay affixed.

But, I've made eight Pocket Pacys ready for their new home in France. They travel by cardboard box, first class.

Where will they all end up?

All ages

2011-09-07T11:08:00.008-04:00

On some Scottish islands when it's sunny all day they call it "a given day," and I was lucky enough to be given several, all in a row. The best way to convey the beauty of these places would be to hand you my laptop and let you look at the slideshows -- but since I can't do that, I'll add more pictures to this post later, and write now about other things.

I had expected that my last week would be a kind of retreat, but instead, every evening people on the island invited me to things and the last one was on an island even more remote than the one I was on (5 hours by the once-a-day ferry from Oban to reach B., where I was staying, then a long drive across a causeway to V. The causeway was built after a bull drowned while being swum to pasture for the summer on V.).

The town council had thoughtfully hired a bus, to leave from the main square of B. and then drive people home. The family who had invited me had said we were going to a "concert" -- I had asked hopefully if it would be a ceilidh, but they said no. However, on the bus, some young teenagers -- talking in that excited way teenagers talk before a party -- were making jokes about "having some tea at the ceilidh" and giggling, so I began to hope.

We arrived in a long hall: tables with bottles and people of all ages, literally -- from babies held in their parents' arms to people who were at least eighty, and everything in-between. As soon as the band -- THE VATERSAY BOYS (listen here -- and to get an idea of what they played that night, skip the first two songs!) -- started, people JUMPED up and danced. I wish you could see the two girls at the top of the set more clearly -- but even in my blurry picture, their energy (the way they're kicking up their feet!) shows.

And they danced until midnight -- old dances, with sets and patterns and steps (swinging your partners, dancing forwards and backwards and sideways a certain number of steps, clapping in certain places): "Strip the Willow," "The Grand Old Duke of York," "Canadian Barn Dance," I wanted and wanted to dance, but I did NOT want to be the clueless American messing up the steps, so I joined in only to the hokey-pokey, which they did differently than we do....but I could at least do it.

Alas! My pictures are dark and blurry like this, but maybe they convey something of the energy and enthusiasm with which the dancers threw themselves into the sets. The older girls helped the younger children by shoving them in the right direction, or holding out the proper arm with which to grab a partner.

People danced until midnight, getting more and more into it -- even the children didn't flag. The short girl in the dark dress (the one at the top of the set in the first picture, the daughter of one of the band members), in fact, stood on the stage, clapping her hands over her head, making all her friends do it too, urging everyone on -- and then danced more herself. Another band member told me later that at another event, she had a very badly hurt foot,but didn't tell her parents until afterwards because she didn't want to miss the dancing.

The bus was supposed to drop us off at the main square, but instead he drove everyone home, right to their doors -- refusing tips and also telling us we'd never seen him do it. Two men on the bus were really, really drunk; the children were polite to them.
"I'm fine," one of the men said belligerently.
"You seem fine," a student said, smiling in a friendly way.
(Later, he told me that living in Glasgow had taught him how to deal with drunks.
"How?" I said.
"Agree with everything they say and don't look them in the eye.")
Before passing out, the man had given a glass of whisky to a young girl to hold. When she reached her stop, she woke him up and said politely,
"Here's your glass back -- thank you."

When our group got off, and we were discussing the evening, and those two (who were staggering to their door within sight) someone said:
"Only two in the whole crowd -- that's not bad," and her sister added,
"And they were from Glasgow."

Walking home -- I hadn't wanted to be last on the bus with the two men, so I got off with the family who'd invited me and they walked me the rest of the way-- there were more stars than I've ever seen. In bed, I looked out the window for a long time, thinking about how much I love it there,--including spending an evening with people of all ages DOING something together. I want my writing to be for all ages, too; and hope I can capture something of the intense joy and energy and courage of the people I met, and the stories they told me, too.

The next day, there was time for one last long walk -- believe it or not,this is across the road from the airport; behind this field is another beach --

and then I got on the plane (it only lands and leaves at low tide, so the water is way in the background). I will be back: in my mind, in my writing, and I hope, in real life.

It's the end of the world as we know it (soon)

2011-09-05T09:00:00.001-04:00

I was looking for an article I read recently about how the mass market format is dying, and instead I came across this rather depressing article, "Are books dead, and can authors survive?"

The author claims, due to the digital revolution, that the paper book will most definitely disappear in 25 years time, and he also claims that this will mean that "writing, as a profession, will cease to exist."

Eek.

As rather damning evidence, he outlines the demise of many other industries, including porn, music, home videos, photography, newspapers, and more, mainly due to technological changes, free content, and piracy.

He also talked about the "long tail", a term I hadn't heard before, although the description is familiar. (The article links to this lecture for an explanation of what long tail means.):

In simple terms, the long tail derives its name from graphs of sales against number of products. Whereas throughout the 20th century publishers concentrated on selling only a few heavily promoted "hits" or "bestsellers" in bulk, digital shopping has meant that what was originally a tail-off in sales, has now become increasingly profitable. Rather than selling, say, 13m copies of one Harry Potter book, a long tail provider can make the same profits by selling 13m different "obscure", "failed'" and "niche" books.

The long tail is Amazon and iTunes, Netflix, LoveFilm and eBay. It is, arguably, between 40% to 60% of the market, which was hidden and/or simply unavailable before the advent of online shopping.

As more consumers come online and chose to select content for themselves, the long tail gets longer. It also starts to demolish the old mainstream system of pre-selection, mass marketing and limited shelf space for "bestsellers". Amazon is a successful long-tail industry: it has forced publishers into selling their books at 60% discount and driven bookshops out of business. As the long tail grows, the mainstream mass market shrinks and becomes more conservative. The long tail has created this effect in all of the other industries that have gone digital.

What this means is that even if the book publishing market is increasing, the money that each individual author makes is probably decreasing. Although, with books having the ability to stay in print indefinitely via Print on Demand and eBooks, maybe this means that authors (and publishers) with deep backlists will continue to be successful. The article does end on a more hopeful note, saying:

There is no simple solution. All that is clear is that for authors and publishers to abandon each other only accelerates the race towards free content.

Authors must respect and demand the work of good editors and support the publishing industry, precisely by resisting the temptation to "go it alone" in the long tail. In return, publishing houses must take the risk on the long term; supporting writers over years and books, it is only then that books of the standard we have seen in the last half-century can continue to come into being.

In a way, this gives me hope for children's publishing in general, because I do feel that we tend to commit to authors in the long term more than our adult counterparts, and children's publishing also relies on backlist sales more than adult publishing.

At any rate, sorry to be such a downer on a Monday.

By the way, here's also that mass market article I mentioned at the beginning: "The Dog-Eared Paperback, Newly Endangered in an E-Book Age."

***

On a more upbeat note, I leave you with Reese Witherspoon's acceptance of the "Generation Award" at the MTV Movie Awards.

"I just want to say to all the girls out there. I know it's cool to be bad. I get it, but it's also possible to make it in Hollywood without a reality show...it's possible to be a good girl. I'm gonna try to make it cool."

Movie News - Reese Witherspoon Accepts the Generation Award - 2011 MTV Movie Awards

Yes! Let's hear it for the good girls!

Happy Labor Day, all.