This is what the whole party looked like to me--one big red blur. From left to right--Grace, Rebecca (my agent), and... Anna? Is that you Anna?
This is a good one of Grace!
Friday, June 29, 2007
more party pics!
This is my friend Julia and her wonderful cake pre-party! Julia, you rock!
This is what the whole party looked like to me--one big red blur. From left to right--Grace, Rebecca (my agent), and... Anna? Is that you Anna?
This is a good one of Grace!
This is what the whole party looked like to me--one big red blur. From left to right--Grace, Rebecca (my agent), and... Anna? Is that you Anna?
This is a good one of Grace!
POETRY FRIDAY: The Summer Day
Mary Oliver is one of my favorite poets. I was introduced to her poetry more than twenty years ago when I attended a Writers’ Conference at Salem State College. Oliver, one of the conference speakers, read from American Primitive, her collection of poems that won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1984. I have been an admirer of her work ever since then. I love American Primitive and House of Light. One of Oliver’s poems that I read again and again is The Summer Day. It can be found in House of Light and at the Poetry 180 website.
From The Summer Day
by Mary Oliver
Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean--
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down--
___________________________
From The Summer Day
by Mary Oliver
Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean--
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down--
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
You’ve got to read the end of this poem. Just click here.
___________________________
Today at Wild Rose Reader I review two pictures books about the sea.
sorry
I didn't have time to come home and make a brilliant post and this is because my S&S editor took me out for a wonderful dinner. I just love being wined and dined! Now I'm off to RI to see my father in the hospital... well, later in the day anyway.
Yes, it's nothing but busy stuff for me lately!
Perhaps I'll post something before I go since it is only 5am at the moment. I do want to do a topic on handy things to keep in the home office/studio if time permits. I would also like to show you all the new painting I'm working on. It has lots of wires in it!
meghan
Yes, it's nothing but busy stuff for me lately!
Perhaps I'll post something before I go since it is only 5am at the moment. I do want to do a topic on handy things to keep in the home office/studio if time permits. I would also like to show you all the new painting I'm working on. It has lots of wires in it!
meghan
Thursday, June 28, 2007
party pics part one
Hello all,
I've got to run but I promise to post tonight! It will be something exciting... maybe... maybe not. That's the fun thing about me--boring or exciting. You decide.
anyhow, here are a few party pics to tide you over!
I've got to run but I promise to post tonight! It will be something exciting... maybe... maybe not. That's the fun thing about me--boring or exciting. You decide.
anyhow, here are a few party pics to tide you over!
Thank you!
It's not my turn to post today, but as Meghan says -- it has been quiet lately. So here is a thank you to everyone who reads this blog, especially those of you who comment: I wish I could send everyone REAL flowers (these are the ones I planted in my garden with the landlords' kids as described in one of the Real Children posts). Emily, your comment and post about your views on Mr.Darcy and Mr.Rochester when you were ten made me laugh out loud.
When *I* was ten, I thought that Rhett Butler was completely terrifying, especially in the scene where he tells Scarlett that he could squash her head like a walnut. I thought she should have married one of the Tarleton twins -- and not just because it would have been fun to go galloping around the countryside with them and their dogs.
Ten year olds may have the right idea: how much fun would those brooding romantic types really be to live with, anyway?
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
A memoir
Wow it's been quiet! I must say I've been busy myself... lots of book stuff to do!
Anyhow, because I'm ADD, I've decided to write a memoir about my childhood... or rather a particular individual in my childhood and the dramatic incident that happened involving her. Yes, dear friends, this will be a story about abuse. I was not the one abused (and no one in my family was) so I think this will be a fresh take on things, don't you think? Then I got another idea--to get my sister and mother to write parts as well... the stuff they remembered.
Okay, so here's what I"ve got so far (I have NO idea why I'm sharing other than the blog is silent and I don't feel like posting photos of the party just yet or talking about what I'm working on).
Introduction
I’m obsessed with stories about child molesters. I came to this realization last week when I wanted something to watch. I bought Deliver Us From Evil. It’s a documentary about a Catholic priest, who for twenty years molested children. The other priests knew and did nothing. The man got away with it. All of it. And there he was, on film, going on about it like he was reminiscing about what he ate for breakfast.
One of my friends asked, “Why would you want to watch a movie about THAT?”
“Uh…I don’t know,” I said.
I really didn’t.
Then, I thought about it…and I knew.
This brings me to my memoir. OUR memoir. I’ve tried for years to write about it, but only spurts came out. My sister, who is also a writer, wrote about the same thing. Why were we both so obsessed? Why did we both write short stories about the same incident? Then the idea came to me. Why don’t we write the story TOGETHER.
----
At Dinner
“Vicky stopped by a few weeks ago,” my father said.
Vicky…Vicky Adams Vicky?” I asked.
“Yeah.”
My father paused to stick some more shrimp and pasta onto his fork.
“She uh—“
“I thought she was in jail,” Bridget said.
“Obviously WAS,” I said. “What did she say?”
“She was real polite… how are you doin’ Mr. McCarthy…she shook my hand…”
“She was always polite,” my mother added. “They ALL were.”
My father swallowed his shrimp, took a swig of beer and continued. “She said she’s in the army…doing really well. She said one of the other boys is married with two kids…still living in Reedsville.”
“Yeah RIGHT,” Bridget said. “I’m SURE she’s in the army.”
“I think both boys were in the army. She probably stole the story from one of them. I wouldn’t believe a thing she says.” My mom added.
“Yeah, something wasn’t right with her. Everyone in the neighborhood tried to shoo her away. No one wanted her in their yard.”
“That’s right, I remember that,” mom said.
“Everyone but YOU,” dad said to mom. “You felt bad…wanted to take her in…pooooor little Vicky.”
“Well. Michael. She was so little when she first showed up at our doorstep. Only four. The kids were locked out of the house all winter long in the cold!”
“Whatever happened to that man…Mr. What’s-his-name? Mr. White…”
“Committed suicide,” my mom said.
“No WAY!” Bridget’s fork dropped onto the floor.” I didn’t know that.”
“Well,” Mom said, “all those accusations of abuse…”
“Yeah, I remember,” Bridget said. “Vicky would go into that man’s house to get candy and wouldn’t come out for hours!”
“What abuse? What man?” asked my little sister Kaila. She had been silent the whole time, quietly picking at her meat. I’d almost forgotten that she didn’t know. We all opened our eyes wide and gave each other The Look. The DON’T SAY ANYTHING look. How could we tell her now? After all this time…
My Town
My mom said they moved to Reedsville for the tranquility…the wholesomeness… Reedsvlle was nature overload––glistening ponds, fluttering butterflies, trees quietly rustling in the wind. Most of the houses were antique, with white picket fences and window-boxes and dogs nuzzling their owners on porch steps. But looks can be deceiving. At night there were shotguns and motorcycles and beer bottles crashing into cracked roadways.
Before I Was Born
I was born a year after my parents moved in. They’d bought a fixer-uper. My mom said the kitchen had wood paneling and linoleum covered the floors. The bathroom used to be where the study is. My dad ripped out the toilet and installed a new one where the birthing room used to be. Yes, the birthing room. The house is two hundred years old and that’s what my parents were drawn to––the history of it. But old houses need help. Lots of it. A nice white ceiling will start to show small yellow circular spots. The spots will grow and grow until it’s clear that there’s a leak coming from some pipe that’s been neglected for longer than Lincoln was president. The house wasn’t the only thing that needed help. So did the town. The pretty little houses with their white fences held secrets. Secrets passed on from generation to generation.
----
so that's all I have. I have to go paint now! I hope I don't have paint poisoning. All of you painters need to be careful of that!
meghan
Anyhow, because I'm ADD, I've decided to write a memoir about my childhood... or rather a particular individual in my childhood and the dramatic incident that happened involving her. Yes, dear friends, this will be a story about abuse. I was not the one abused (and no one in my family was) so I think this will be a fresh take on things, don't you think? Then I got another idea--to get my sister and mother to write parts as well... the stuff they remembered.
Okay, so here's what I"ve got so far (I have NO idea why I'm sharing other than the blog is silent and I don't feel like posting photos of the party just yet or talking about what I'm working on).
Introduction
I’m obsessed with stories about child molesters. I came to this realization last week when I wanted something to watch. I bought Deliver Us From Evil. It’s a documentary about a Catholic priest, who for twenty years molested children. The other priests knew and did nothing. The man got away with it. All of it. And there he was, on film, going on about it like he was reminiscing about what he ate for breakfast.
One of my friends asked, “Why would you want to watch a movie about THAT?”
“Uh…I don’t know,” I said.
I really didn’t.
Then, I thought about it…and I knew.
This brings me to my memoir. OUR memoir. I’ve tried for years to write about it, but only spurts came out. My sister, who is also a writer, wrote about the same thing. Why were we both so obsessed? Why did we both write short stories about the same incident? Then the idea came to me. Why don’t we write the story TOGETHER.
----
At Dinner
“Vicky stopped by a few weeks ago,” my father said.
Vicky…Vicky Adams Vicky?” I asked.
“Yeah.”
My father paused to stick some more shrimp and pasta onto his fork.
“She uh—“
“I thought she was in jail,” Bridget said.
“Obviously WAS,” I said. “What did she say?”
“She was real polite… how are you doin’ Mr. McCarthy…she shook my hand…”
“She was always polite,” my mother added. “They ALL were.”
My father swallowed his shrimp, took a swig of beer and continued. “She said she’s in the army…doing really well. She said one of the other boys is married with two kids…still living in Reedsville.”
“Yeah RIGHT,” Bridget said. “I’m SURE she’s in the army.”
“I think both boys were in the army. She probably stole the story from one of them. I wouldn’t believe a thing she says.” My mom added.
“Yeah, something wasn’t right with her. Everyone in the neighborhood tried to shoo her away. No one wanted her in their yard.”
“That’s right, I remember that,” mom said.
“Everyone but YOU,” dad said to mom. “You felt bad…wanted to take her in…pooooor little Vicky.”
“Well. Michael. She was so little when she first showed up at our doorstep. Only four. The kids were locked out of the house all winter long in the cold!”
“Whatever happened to that man…Mr. What’s-his-name? Mr. White…”
“Committed suicide,” my mom said.
“No WAY!” Bridget’s fork dropped onto the floor.” I didn’t know that.”
“Well,” Mom said, “all those accusations of abuse…”
“Yeah, I remember,” Bridget said. “Vicky would go into that man’s house to get candy and wouldn’t come out for hours!”
“What abuse? What man?” asked my little sister Kaila. She had been silent the whole time, quietly picking at her meat. I’d almost forgotten that she didn’t know. We all opened our eyes wide and gave each other The Look. The DON’T SAY ANYTHING look. How could we tell her now? After all this time…
My Town
My mom said they moved to Reedsville for the tranquility…the wholesomeness… Reedsvlle was nature overload––glistening ponds, fluttering butterflies, trees quietly rustling in the wind. Most of the houses were antique, with white picket fences and window-boxes and dogs nuzzling their owners on porch steps. But looks can be deceiving. At night there were shotguns and motorcycles and beer bottles crashing into cracked roadways.
Before I Was Born
I was born a year after my parents moved in. They’d bought a fixer-uper. My mom said the kitchen had wood paneling and linoleum covered the floors. The bathroom used to be where the study is. My dad ripped out the toilet and installed a new one where the birthing room used to be. Yes, the birthing room. The house is two hundred years old and that’s what my parents were drawn to––the history of it. But old houses need help. Lots of it. A nice white ceiling will start to show small yellow circular spots. The spots will grow and grow until it’s clear that there’s a leak coming from some pipe that’s been neglected for longer than Lincoln was president. The house wasn’t the only thing that needed help. So did the town. The pretty little houses with their white fences held secrets. Secrets passed on from generation to generation.
----
so that's all I have. I have to go paint now! I hope I don't have paint poisoning. All of you painters need to be careful of that!
meghan
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
My Keene State Owl
Today a short "whats on my desk" kind of post...
As some of you might have read in this post, Keene State College is collecting owls from children's book illustrators for their 100 year anniversary.
Here is my contribution, just shipped off:
Since it is going to be 96 degrees in Boston today, thought I'd post a little snow!
As some of you might have read in this post, Keene State College is collecting owls from children's book illustrators for their 100 year anniversary.
Here is my contribution, just shipped off:
Since it is going to be 96 degrees in Boston today, thought I'd post a little snow!
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Lizzie or Jane?
Pride and Prejudice and Jane Eyre are still in the children's section of most bookstores I've visited lately...Who would you rather be, Elizabeth Bennet
or Jane Eyre?
For me the answer would have been a complete no-brainer if I hadn't seen the new (and to me, definitive, far better than the book) Jane Eyre on TV. But that started a whole new train of thought about this character and how really revolutionary she was, in her passion and insistence on her own equality. I even went back and reread big chunks of the book....and in the introduction it said that when Jane Eyre was first published, one reviewer suggested that it not be left lying around where young girls could find and read it.
So now I'm not sure (especially since Jane gets Mr.Rochester as played by Toby Stevens). I think she'd also probably be quite a bit better at supporting herself than Elizabeth, too. But I know which character I would rather have created: Lizzie. What about you? And why do you think these books are in the children's section?
or Jane Eyre?
For me the answer would have been a complete no-brainer if I hadn't seen the new (and to me, definitive, far better than the book) Jane Eyre on TV. But that started a whole new train of thought about this character and how really revolutionary she was, in her passion and insistence on her own equality. I even went back and reread big chunks of the book....and in the introduction it said that when Jane Eyre was first published, one reviewer suggested that it not be left lying around where young girls could find and read it.
So now I'm not sure (especially since Jane gets Mr.Rochester as played by Toby Stevens). I think she'd also probably be quite a bit better at supporting herself than Elizabeth, too. But I know which character I would rather have created: Lizzie. What about you? And why do you think these books are in the children's section?
Friday, June 22, 2007
yesterday
Yes, yesterday was my day to post and yes, I did not do so. I was busy cutting my foot and going to my publisher and being sick on the subway and then going to the gym.
I have my camera back so I'll be posting some more party pictures soon! I have some other things to share, which I'll do so shortly.
Now, I must ask, is this idea crazy? I want to do a graphic novel on "the dark side" of thomas edison. It would be for teens. I think. For example, did you know that Thomas Edison tortured animals? Yes, I know, this is some serious stuff... and I'll be crushing the little notions that Edison was a hero. But I still want to do it! Weak-stomached people be damned! I want to take history writing to a new level here folks. True, my idea will probably never see the light of day. Sob.
meghan
I have my camera back so I'll be posting some more party pictures soon! I have some other things to share, which I'll do so shortly.
Now, I must ask, is this idea crazy? I want to do a graphic novel on "the dark side" of thomas edison. It would be for teens. I think. For example, did you know that Thomas Edison tortured animals? Yes, I know, this is some serious stuff... and I'll be crushing the little notions that Edison was a hero. But I still want to do it! Weak-stomached people be damned! I want to take history writing to a new level here folks. True, my idea will probably never see the light of day. Sob.
meghan
Thursday, June 21, 2007
off to ALA
I'm off to ALA--I'll be working at the Little, Brown booth on Saturday and Monday from 1-5, so stop by and say hi! At other times I'll be around, attending various lunches and dinners (including the Newbery-Caldecott dinner, which I'm really excited about...but what should I wear?!) and having barely an ounce of free time. I get back late late Monday, and Tuesday is our Focus meeting at work. Joy joy. I doubt I'll have a chance to post on Monday, but I promise to have an ALA wrap-up soon thereafter. Have a great weekend, everyone!
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
woops
The photo of Erin didn't work. Perhaps Alvina can put it up.
In the meantime, let's guess which one Erin is:
Sorry Erin, I did indeed put your name into google image search.
meghan
p.s - that photo of me below wasn't supposed to be that big. I'm not that full of myself!
p.p.s- I just heard a new word on TV! Incentivation!
In the meantime, let's guess which one Erin is:
Sorry Erin, I did indeed put your name into google image search.
meghan
p.s - that photo of me below wasn't supposed to be that big. I'm not that full of myself!
p.p.s- I just heard a new word on TV! Incentivation!
party correction!
Alvina did a great job with the photos and the posting. Thanks Alvina! I thought I was photo obsessed... but ... I think she wins.
Anyhow, I need to make one little correction. Alex, seen below, is my editor for Pale Male (coming this fall!) not Strong Man.
THIS is my editor for Strong Man (with husband attached)
Yeah, it's blurry... but so is my memory of the party!
My friend Jay absconded with my camera with the party photos on it but as soon as I get it back I'll post my own drunken photos!
Note to the viewer, I think I look not so great in the below photos. This is why I'm putting a better picture of moi below. My editors are welcome to sub better photos of themselves and I’ll do the same. Better yet, I can make a little bio of each editor with photo. Yeah, that's a super idea. It's time the tables are turned ladies! I want your bios!
(see, I wasn't drunk in this one. MUCH better)
meghan
Anyhow, I need to make one little correction. Alex, seen below, is my editor for Pale Male (coming this fall!) not Strong Man.
THIS is my editor for Strong Man (with husband attached)
Yeah, it's blurry... but so is my memory of the party!My friend Jay absconded with my camera with the party photos on it but as soon as I get it back I'll post my own drunken photos!
Note to the viewer, I think I look not so great in the below photos. This is why I'm putting a better picture of moi below. My editors are welcome to sub better photos of themselves and I’ll do the same. Better yet, I can make a little bio of each editor with photo. Yeah, that's a super idea. It's time the tables are turned ladies! I want your bios!
(see, I wasn't drunk in this one. MUCH better)
meghan
Eight facts
So last week I got tagged for the 8 facts game (see below), so here we go... hope this isen't too off topic for a children's book blog!
btw I think I will skip the tagging 8 other people part as Jen, who tagged me, suggested, since I don't know who's done it already...
Here are the rules: Each player lists 8 facts/habits about themselves. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning before those facts/habits are listed. At the end of the post, the player then tags 8 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.
1. I eat pancakes for breakfast more often than not.
2. I am addicted to looking at cuteoverload.com. For example, something like this makes my day:
3. My favorite thing to do when I get to hang out with cats is to put my finger between their toes.
4. I love the smell of old books with yellow pages.
5. I love nicely designed containers. I just started collecting Goya guava juice cans.
6. When I have a question, I like to open up books randomly and read a line that catches my eye.
7. I have gradually come to dislike answering the phone.
8. I love the heat. Can't get enough. I like it when its so hot you can't think straight.
btw I think I will skip the tagging 8 other people part as Jen, who tagged me, suggested, since I don't know who's done it already...
Here are the rules: Each player lists 8 facts/habits about themselves. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning before those facts/habits are listed. At the end of the post, the player then tags 8 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.
1. I eat pancakes for breakfast more often than not.
2. I am addicted to looking at cuteoverload.com. For example, something like this makes my day:
3. My favorite thing to do when I get to hang out with cats is to put my finger between their toes.
4. I love the smell of old books with yellow pages.
5. I love nicely designed containers. I just started collecting Goya guava juice cans.
6. When I have a question, I like to open up books randomly and read a line that catches my eye.
7. I have gradually come to dislike answering the phone.
8. I love the heat. Can't get enough. I like it when its so hot you can't think straight.
Monday, June 18, 2007
Summer Blog Tour!
I'd also like to direct everyone's attention to the Summer Blog Tour that was kicked off yesterday at Finding Wonderland with an interview of Gene Yang. For the full schedule, go here, and be sure to catch HipWriterMama's interview with Justina Chen Headley here. (I work with Justina, which is why I'm calling her interview out specifically, but of course read all of the great interviews!)
Strong Man party pics
Sorry, another abbreviated post. It's late. Meghan and I went to the Lily Allen concert tonight at the Warsaw in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. It was great show, but now I need to get to bed.
So, since Meghan still doesn't have her camera back from her friend to post pics from her Strong Man party, here are a few to tide you over. It was a totally fun bash at a loft in Williamsburg. Hip, huh?
Me, Grace, and Ki-Ki doing the first Strong Man poses of the night:
So, since Meghan still doesn't have her camera back from her friend to post pics from her Strong Man party, here are a few to tide you over. It was a totally fun bash at a loft in Williamsburg. Hip, huh?
Me, Grace, and Ki-Ki doing the first Strong Man poses of the night:
Rebecca Sherman of Writer's House flanked by two of her BRG clients:
Meghan and her sisters:
Rebecca and Strong Man--correction, Pale Male editor Alexandra Penfold:
Heather Scott (soon to be of HBGUSA) and Julie Romeis of Bloomsbury
The spread! (I was happy to snag a free book)
The cake, courtesy of Meghan's friend Julia. Delicious, I must say:
The Blue Rose Girls in attendance: Anna, Meghan, Grace, and me (I'm trying to look tough):
And keep the votes coming for my poll regarding my submissions policy. As of now, I think I may keep the status quo, so vote now or forever hold your peace!
Friday, June 15, 2007
POETRY FRIDAY: Poetry of the Everglades
Last week, I posted two poems about fathers in memory of my dad who passed away more than twenty years ago. I wasn’t sure I was going to have time to post at Blue Rose Girls this week because I have been making preparations for a trip up to Vermont with family. That means lots of shopping and food preparation because my husband and I really like to eat well…wherever we are. There have also been other matters that have needed my attention.
Recently, I did some googling of Anne McCrary Sullivan. Sullivan, a teacher at National-Louis University in Tampa, Florida, wrote an article for the Harvard Educational Review (Volume Seventy/Number Two/Summer 2000) that I love to read…over and over again. The article, Notes from a Marine Biologist’s Daughter: On the Art and Science of Attention, is one of the best that I have ever read in an educational journal. In the article, Sullivan includes her own autobiography of attention in the form of nine poems that touch on the influence that her marine biologist mother had on Sullivan and the way she observes everything in her life. It also speaks to teachers and children and educational research and to the essence of what “paying attention” really means. I highly recommend the reading of the article to teachers, parents, poets, and nature lovers.
Here are subheadings from her article:
I. An Autobiography of Attention (Part 1)
II. Poems in the Academy (Part 1)
III. Aesthetic Vision: A Complex Attention
IV. An Autobiography of Attention (Part 2)
V. Poems in the Academy (Part 2)
VI. Teaching Attention
VII. On Attention, Education, and Art
Here are some excerpts from her poems:
From Notes from a Marine Biologist’s Daughter
My mother loves the salty mud of estuaries,
has no need of charts to know what time
low tide will come. She lives
by an arithmetic of moon,
calculates emergences of mud
waits for all that crawls there, lays eggs,
buries itself in the shallow edges
of streamlets and pools…
From Learning Blue
My mother taught me blue—
water under the boat,
shadow in the marsh,
blue flashing
at the sides of fish…
blue speck at the clam’s inner hinge,
just beside
where the soft body lies…
Unfortunately, I didn’t find the full text of the poems included in Sullivan’s article available on the Internet—but I did find Bringing Art to the Endangered Everglades, an article written by Donna Marxer for Land Views. The article includes two poems about the Everglades written by Anne McCrary Sullivan. Here is the partial text of one of the poems:
From Rangers of The Everglades
by Anne McCrary Sullivan
Recently, I did some googling of Anne McCrary Sullivan. Sullivan, a teacher at National-Louis University in Tampa, Florida, wrote an article for the Harvard Educational Review (Volume Seventy/Number Two/Summer 2000) that I love to read…over and over again. The article, Notes from a Marine Biologist’s Daughter: On the Art and Science of Attention, is one of the best that I have ever read in an educational journal. In the article, Sullivan includes her own autobiography of attention in the form of nine poems that touch on the influence that her marine biologist mother had on Sullivan and the way she observes everything in her life. It also speaks to teachers and children and educational research and to the essence of what “paying attention” really means. I highly recommend the reading of the article to teachers, parents, poets, and nature lovers.
Here are subheadings from her article:
I. An Autobiography of Attention (Part 1)
II. Poems in the Academy (Part 1)
III. Aesthetic Vision: A Complex Attention
IV. An Autobiography of Attention (Part 2)
V. Poems in the Academy (Part 2)
VI. Teaching Attention
VII. On Attention, Education, and Art
Here are some excerpts from her poems:
From Notes from a Marine Biologist’s Daughter
My mother loves the salty mud of estuaries,
has no need of charts to know what time
low tide will come. She lives
by an arithmetic of moon,
calculates emergences of mud
waits for all that crawls there, lays eggs,
buries itself in the shallow edges
of streamlets and pools…
From Learning Blue
My mother taught me blue—
water under the boat,
shadow in the marsh,
blue flashing
at the sides of fish…
blue speck at the clam’s inner hinge,
just beside
where the soft body lies…
Unfortunately, I didn’t find the full text of the poems included in Sullivan’s article available on the Internet—but I did find Bringing Art to the Endangered Everglades, an article written by Donna Marxer for Land Views. The article includes two poems about the Everglades written by Anne McCrary Sullivan. Here is the partial text of one of the poems:
From Rangers of The Everglades
by Anne McCrary Sullivan
These are people who love the green,
watery, actual world teeming
with fishes and birds and furry things,
things rooted and reaching toward sky,
blossoming and seeding, needling
and coning. They love the dirt. The mud.
They walk us along sloughs, naming:
great blue heron, little blue heron, egret,
ibis, red shouldered hawk. They tell us
how alligators love and how the anhinga
feed their young…
You can read the rest of the poem here.
Those of you interested in reading children’s poetry about the Everglades may want to look for the following book:
You can read the rest of the poem here.
Those of you interested in reading children’s poetry about the Everglades may want to look for the following book:
SAWGRASS POEMSPoems by Frank Asch
Photographs by Ted Levin
Harcourt Brace, 1996
In addition to poems about the animal and plant life that inhabit the Everglades, the book includes Levin’s wonderful nature photographs of this Florida wetland. At the back of the book, there are notes and captions about the book’s photographs.
Today at Wild Rose Reader, I have an interview with children’s poet Rebecca Kai Dotlich.
Today at Wild Rose Reader, I have an interview with children’s poet Rebecca Kai Dotlich.
Poetry Friday Roundup is at The Simple and the Ordinary today.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
titles
Libby had a great post a couple of weeks ago, What Makes you Pull a Book of the Shelf? which was very apropos for me. I'm knee deep in a new novel but I can't think of a good title. That annoys me and I find myself easily sidetracked, unable to concentrate on the "meat" of my writing because I can't think of a wrapping.
Because for me, my best books usually have titles that come easily-- like The Year of the Dog. They match perfectly and come to me effortlessly. Other books, however, are named by default-- in the end given titles that are just simply adequate because I couldn't think of anything better; and those books have somehow always fallen flat. In general, title difficulty = bookselling difficulty.
So, with this experience in mind, I am a bit worried about my new book. I'm trying really hard not to let it have a "default" title-- I'm so desperate that I've taken to testing all the candidates at the titlescorer. I haven't yet hit one that has more than a 41.4% chance of being a bestseller. I think I'm going to need better odds than that.
Because for me, my best books usually have titles that come easily-- like The Year of the Dog. They match perfectly and come to me effortlessly. Other books, however, are named by default-- in the end given titles that are just simply adequate because I couldn't think of anything better; and those books have somehow always fallen flat. In general, title difficulty = bookselling difficulty.
So, with this experience in mind, I am a bit worried about my new book. I'm trying really hard not to let it have a "default" title-- I'm so desperate that I've taken to testing all the candidates at the titlescorer. I haven't yet hit one that has more than a 41.4% chance of being a bestseller. I think I'm going to need better odds than that.
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