Catching You Up on My 2010…all in one post.

Between my last day of 2010 in the office and today, I was busy hopping from New York to Chicago to L.A. to Chicago to New York (why? tradition. I’ll talk more about that in my next post). All those time zones and I lost track of days and missed my last post of 2010. If you’ll indulge me, I am going to hold off on my resolutions post until next week and provide my overview of 2010 in agenting today instead. I will do my best to leave out events already covered by the other BRGers.

January

Sometime in early January, I was sitting in my apartment when my cell phone rang in the a.m. When I looked down to see that the caller was Matt Phelan, I was puzzled. Had I slept through a week or two? Was an ALA committee overly ambitious this year? Wasn’t I supposed to be in Boston for this moment?

I wasn’t delirious. He was calling to tell me that THE STORM IN THE BARN won the 2010 Scott O’Dell Award. (Click here: http://readroger.hbook.com/2010/07/2010-scott-odell-award.html to read the magnificent speech Scott O’Dell’s widow, Elizabeth Hall, gave when presenting Matt with the award in June).

Then there was the morning of January 18^th. I had a yet undiagnosed sinus infection and had powered my way through the weekend of ALA midwinter with tea and tissues. I spent the night before watching the Golden Globes with my cousin who attends Boston University and my friend Angie (who happens to be a wonderful librarian. Check out her twitter feed @deweydecimator) and ate a full bag of Stacy’s pita chips out of nerves (not for Jeff Bridges who was sure to win Best Actor…for the awards to be announced the next morning). I woke up early and no call. I took the phone into the hotel bathroom while I showered and no call. I got into a cab with Angie and two other librarians as it snowed and headed to the convention center and no call. It was not until I was heading up the escalator toward the room where the announcement was to be made that my cell phone rang. It was Grace, and she told me this would be happening…

Proud Editor and Agent

I was in the convention center and supposed to keep my composure so that no one would guess who any recipients were before the announcement was made. I got to the top of the escalator did a happy dance, hugged Angie, and ran to the corner to call my mom. Nope, not suspicious at all.

Later that month, I found out that WHERE THE MOUNTAIN MEETS THE MOON would be a New York Times Bestseller.

*Other January highlights—winter getaway in the Hamptons with 10 of my closest friends, As You Like It at BAM.

*Low points—I had back to back sinus infections. No fun.

*Great reads in January—Loving Frank by Nancy Horan and Sag Harbor by Colson Whitehead

In the Hamptons, celebrating Megan’s birthday. As a Midwesterner, I had never experienced Carvel’s Fudgie the Whale cake before!

February

February 1^st marked the 50^th anniversary of the sit-in by African American college students at a Woolworth’s lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina as well as the publication of SIT-IN by Andrea Davis Pinkney and Brian Pinkney:

In the parking lot of an outlet mall in Kenosha, Wisconsin I learned that SIT-IN would become the first picture book I represented to make the New York Times Bestseller list. It was an especially wonderful week when both SIT-IN and WTMMTM were on the list.

The debut middle grade novel NOONIE’S MASTERPIECE by Lisa Railsback was published. While the publication of every book is special, there is something extra important about a debut. This one is near and dear to my heart as is BETTI ON A HIGH WIRE, Lisa’s second book on 2010 (way to start with a bang!) which published in the summer.

Read Lisa Railsback! Start with her debut!

Also Alex and Grace got married in February which allowed for this to happen:

Look Ma, I’m a cupcake!

*Other February highlights—being in Chicago for my best friend’s daughters’ first birthday and watching her eat cake for the first time.

*Low points—Avatar

*Great reads—manuscript month

March

In March, I served on faculty at the Whispering Pines SCBWI retreat. I try to speak at a couple (or small handful) of conferences a year. I also try not to stay in haunted places. One out of two’s not bad.

Newbery Honor author Cindy Lord, an illustrator whose name is escaping me, Editor Alexandra Penfold, me, Editor Connie Hsu. It is also a bit eerie that I am wearing that exact outfit as I am typing this post.

*Other March highlights—The Bank Street Book Awards

*Great reads—Chiggers by Hope Larson and The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson

April

In April, Matt Phelan call me at 8 at night on my cell phone on the beginning of a long weekend to tell me about a call he just had with a big producer…which I still can’t talk about because the contracts not done. Yes, I am a tease.

And another important call in April was the one I made to Jarrett J. Krosoczka. I was the one to break the news to him that his graphic novel LUNCH LADY AND THE CYBORG SUBSTITUTE was nominated for an Eisner award! (Ah, the magic of twitter where I found a link to the nominees. Follow me @rebeccagent)

Serving Justice…Serving Lunch

*Other April highlights—Anyone Can Whistle at City Center and Sondheim 80^th birthday extravaganza (I am a sucker for Sondheim). My friends Alan and Melissa got married. I tweeted my teenage crush Johnny Galecki on his birthday and he tweeted me back.

*Low points- my wallet was stolen out of my purse in my office. A saga I wish on no one. Thank yous to all at Writers House who helped including my former assistant Ty King who slept on my loveseat that evening and especially our children’s subsidiary rights director Cecilia de la Campa my fellow wallet snatcher victim as well as NYPD detectives Garcia and Mercado.

*Great Reads—Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver, Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell, Matched by Allie Condie (It helps to know her agent)

May

SCBWI take two. This time in Orange County, CA. The wonderful thing about this event (at least for me) was that it was titled as “Agents’ Day.” I wasn’t the only agent on the bill! I had the pleasure of hearing talks by Brenda Bowen of Sandford J. Greenburger, Mary Kole of Andrea Brown, and Kevan Lyon of Marsal Lyon and learn from them too! Plus there was an attendee that did sketches of each of us for her blog http://www.dianebrowningillustrations.com/2010/05/scbwi-orange-county-agents-day.html Take note illustrator clients!

LUNCH LADY AND THE CYBORG SUBSTITUTE wins a Children’s Choice Book Award.

Tricia Rayburn quickly “sells out” of her ARCs of SIREN at BEA and I scored a piece of original art from my client NOONIE’S MASTERPIECE at the ABC silent auction/not a dinner.

Are you are paranormal romance reader? Then why aren’t you reading this? It was Jenny Humphrey’s favorite book of 2010. No, really. Look it up!

*Other May highlights—The SCBWI trip also allowed me to visit with some of my favorite L.A. people. I attend my 5^th Whitney Biennial. So many shows: Everyday Rapture, Behanding in Spokane (in which Christopher Walken paused to give the death stare when a cell phone went off), the opening of Metal Children by Adam Rapp. My cousin got married.

*Low point—a pain begins in my ear, many months, doctors visits, and tests later, I learn that it is not my ear but my jaw that is causing the pain.

*Great Reads—Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly (see above re: Allie Condie), Smile by Raina Telgemeier and Happyface by Stephen Emond

June

Me,Grace,Alvina at Newbery

The big work related highlight of June is the annual ALA conference. I know this event has been much detailed on the BRG blog already, but let me add my voice to the chorus and say what a great night the Newbery/Caldecott banquet was and how much Grace deserved the celebration. The weekend also brought a great deal of celebrating Matt Phelan’s the Storm in the Barn not only during the O’Dell party but also during Friday night dinner with his editor and a graphic novel panel put on by Booklist that evening. A trip to DC (even in sweltering heat) also meant the chance to meet with my client Caroline Hickey over a yummy tapas lunch.

*Other June highlights- My birthday (complete with pizza dinner and gelato dessert with close friends)! Toy Story 3 on the IMAX. Writers House/Little, Brown screening of Eclipse.

*Low point- my friend Bethany leaves Writers House (on the very bright side, she left to become Alvina’s assistant at Little, Brown!)

*Great Reads—Countdown by Deborah Wiles and Shug by Jenny Han

July

It was sweltering hot in NYC in July but three very important things happened this month.

#1 I sold THE PLATYPUS POLICE SQUAD series by Jarrett J. Krosoczka to Harper and had a blast doing it.(http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-industry-news/article/44382-team-monotreme-walden-nabs-an-unusual-cop-series.html)

#2 LING AND TING: Not Exactly the Same! by Grace published and an early reader superstar was born:

4 starred reviews, 4 2010 best lists, and NYT notable book

#3 I did not break both my elbows…on July 5^th of 2009, I did indeed break both my elbows by tripping while on the way to the gym. The one year anniversary was appropriately celebrated with macaroni (elbow pasta- get it!).

Purple Elbow 2009. Note how my elbow matches my Northwestern Wildcat shorts

*Other July highlights- A Little Night Music with Bernadette Peters and Elaine “Stritchy” Stritch (yes, there is a Sondheim pattern). The final book in the not to be missed Scott Pilgrim series.

*Low points—my first generation kindle dies and the warrantee is up.

*Great Reads—The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger and The Last Summer of The Death Warriors by Francisco X. Stork

August

August is supposedly slow in publishing. Note: I said supposedly. Things seemed as busy as ever at the office (that is until things got busier in September). This month many wonderful picture books published including FLORA’S VERY WINDY DAY illustrated by Matt Phelan. On the author/illustrator front INTERRUPTING CHICKEN by David Ezra Stein and Anna’s DISAPPEARING DESMOND were published. I’ve loved these books since the very idea of them were relayed to me by David and Anna, and I’m thrilled they are finally available for everyone to love as much as I do.

*Other August Highlights- A wonderful summer art project called Key to the City brought me to places in New York I might have otherwise missed. I encourage you all to venture to the Louis Armstrong Museum in Queens.

*Low point- my first MRI. Yep, this is how long it took to realize my jaw wasn’t working right.

*Great Reads—One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia, Hereville by Barry Deutsch, Ninth Ward by Jewell Parker Rhodes, and Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins (with a reread of Hunger Games and Catching Fire just before)

September

Are you all bored yet? September was busy. So busy that it seems I didn’t record one work related event that month. I bought a new Kindle? Moving on.

*Other September highlights—my mother and sister visit for the week between Labor Day weekend and Rosh Hashanah, and I am introduced to the wonder of Momofuku Milk Bar. My best friend gives birth to baby Eli on Yom Kippur.

http://www.momofuku.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/east-village-november-16.pdf

(May I suggest the compost cookie, cereal milk soft serve, and crack pie? Trust me.)

*Low points—everything else about Yom Kippur—fasting is not my friend. My assistant, Ty King, tells me that she is leaving New York …(on the upside) to become Steven Malk’s assistant in San Diego.

*Great Reads—The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafron and Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

October

October brought a run of great art. Not only was I able to hang out with so many illustrators and industry friends at the Society of Illustrators Original Art show, I also joined Dan Yaccarino, Selina Alko, and Jarrett Krosoczka on meetings with their publishers in which they delivered final art for new picture books. This is definitely one of my favorite parts of my job.

Editor and Agent (in not-so-photogenic moment) admiring Julian Hector’s art from The Gentleman Bug at the Original Art Show

*Other October highlights: a brief run through NY Comic Con with Jarrett Krosoczka. Going to Chicago to meet baby Eli. My first meal at Gramercy Tavern. Annual Apple Picking with friends. The most unexpected and amazing event of 2010…see p.s.

*Low points- The NYT article on picture books

*Great Reads—The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri

November

November was another hectic month as I tried to get EVERYTHING done before Thanksgiving/before the cruise. Unlike Alvina, try as I might…I might never achieve Inbox Zero.

*Other November highlights: Dinner and drinks with one of my two favorite husband and wife teams, Selina Alko and Sean Qualls. Went to a taping of Inside the Actor’s Studio with James Franco. Scottsboro Boys. Went to the Quidditch World Cup. I became a doctor via my second Gossip Girl shout out. Watch the first January episode for another wink to me.

A friend and me at the Quidditch World Cup

*Low points—some of the results of this month’s elections.

*Great Reads—(reread) To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

December

Well you’ve already read a bit about my December on BRG so…

*December Highlights other than the cruise: Los Angeles Christmas inc. acquisition of an IPAD! Late December in Chicago ultimately as a better option weather-wise than NYC.

* Low points: where does the year go?

*Great Reads- Freedom by Jonathan Franzen, Little Bee by Chris Cleave, Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine and Room by Emma Donoghue

This never-ending recap is far from a complete look at my year. (I read more books, saw more theater and films, and I didn’t even mention TV watching and I did plenty of that). For those whose names were not named please do not feel left out. For example, many books by clients of mine were published this year. (My recommended Hanukkah shopping list provides a nearly complete list of clients’ books of 2010). There were starred reviews and year end lists (and perhaps in 2011 I should keep a running tally). I sold 28 books (just one of those an adult title), had two books optioned for film, one book optioned for the stage, two picture books’ audio rights sold (not easy!), sold books in territories I never thought possible (Hello, Macedonia) and had a great time doing it all (notice the low points are never related to agenting- unless you count the NYT article).

Looking forward to a great 2011… resolutions to come next week.

p.s. this happened to me in 2010. I can check it off the bucket list. I have been OPRAH’ED. (look upper right hand corner at 10:26 and 11:04)

Rebecca Sherman is a fabulous agent with over 9 years of experience at Writer's House. Her clients include Lunch Lady author/illustrator Jarrett Krosoczka, the Scott O'Dell Award Winner Matt Phelan, Caldecott Honor Illustrator Brian Pinkney and Blue Rose Girls Anna Alter and Grace Lin. You can follow Rebecca on twitter @rebeccagent.

My resolutions and goals for 2011

I'm happy to still be on vacation this week. Any of you going to ALA Midwinter in San Diego? I'll be there--stop by the L,B booth and say hi!

As regular readers of this blog may know, most of the Blue Rose Girls make resolutions each year. I love this time of year! And I also personally pride myself for making resolutions that I actually keep. Well, partially keep, at least.

Here are my work-related resolutions for the new year (some I've kept from last year):
-Don't stay in the office past 9 pm, and if I do stay until 9, no more than twice a week
-Have my work email inbox at 20 or under at the end of each day I'm in the office
-Achieve Inbox Zero at least once a month
-Read an average of 1.5 published books per month
-Do more cultural activities (shows, museums, etc.)
-get 4,000+ followers on Twitter (follow me! @planetalvina)
-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!)
-clean my office (and apartment) a little bit once a week
-de-clutter my apt and office
-focus on acquiring Middle Grade and picture books--acquire at least two projects in each genre

Here are a few pie-in-sky goals that I don't personally have much (if any) control over:
-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, early reader, MG, and YA


And there you have it. Regardless of whether I keep these resolutions or if these goals happen, may 2011 be happy, healthy, and full of bloomabilities for everyone. Happy New Year!

2011

Ack! Today is the the first day of the year (and also 1-1-11! That has to mean something!). Resolution time! 2010 was quite a wonderful and memorable year for me, So even though I had a lot of resolution fails last year (#5 and #9 were epic failures), I feel pretty content.

But I still hope to accomplish things in 2011! I have thought a great deal this year's resolutions, some are repeats from last year but with a different viewpoint (which I hope makes them more accomplish-able!):

1. Learn Chinese. I've been an embarrassing Chinese School failure for a long time and this is the year I plan on remedying that. I want to at least be able to have a basic conversation in Mandarin. My schedule doesn't allow for classes until the summer, but in the meantime I've plunked the money down for Rosetta Stone & dedicated lingual chats with my Mom.

2. Appreciate my readers. Ah, same as last year, but needed more this year! I said that if my FB fanpage ever reaches 1000 fans I'd give everyone cupcakes. I'm at 1337 fans now and still no cupcakes. I have an inkling of an idea of how to do it..hopefully it will happen in 2011!

3. Stop waiting. You know those people who keep plastic on their furniture to keep it good? Or have those nice plates dusting away on a high shelf because they are only to be used for special occasions that never happen? I'm kind of like that. During my Newbery dress search, I acquired a number of pretty clothes that lay unworn while I waited for something special. This is silly. What am I waiting for? In the Tao Te Ching, there is a line about how a cup is only valuable when it is holding something, when it is being used. That means not using items because they are so valuable actually makes them worthless. I'm going to stop waiting and use the things I own. And make everyday a special occasion!

4. Find peace with things outside my control. There's always going to be somebody who's going to find my books boring, my art unappealing, or my personality annoying. Things like that are pretty common for all authors--for all people, actually--yet, I let it get to me much more than I should. My job is to carve out my bit of happiness with the rock I've been given and that is what I need to remember.

5. Seize the day. This ties into #3 and #4. I have some ambitious dreams that I've done nothing about because I've hoped that an opportunity would present itself (#3) and because I've been afraid of others might think it's stupid or that I am getting full of myself (#4). For example, I would absolutely adore Ling and Ting to be PBS cartoon. And while I know it's a long shot, I feel like I should at least try and give it a shot. Anyone know how to pitch an idea to PBS?

6. Balance. This is something on my list every year and I've never achieved it. I regressed to blob state more times in 2010 than ever before. sigh. School visits, traveling, creating books, being healthy-- someday I will find a way to balance my life. Maybe this year?

7. Clean my studio once a month. I wanted to say every week but that resolution would be broken pretty quickly. I have to make realistic, achievable goals, y'know.

8. Figure out Social Media. Or at least what I am doing with it. Right now, I have a blog. This blog has posts that tweet, show up on my FB page and provide content for my newsletter. Maybe that is okay. Or should the newsletter have something special just for newsletter readers? FB something different just for FB readers? Tweets that are not just broadcasting my posts, but are bits of conversation? Do I want to do that? Do I have time to do that? I'm not sure but this year I'm going to figure it out.

9. Charity. In 2010, instead of one large project like smallgraces, I participated a number of small charity projects (with ATASK, Hyde Park Suzuki, Open Fields and 826LA) which I was proud of. I'm not sure if I will continue with small project participation or think up another large one, but I definitely wish to continue.

10. Write without sugar. I have a bad habit of ingesting sweet things while writing. Well, I have a bad habit of ingesting sweet things all the time, but while writing is particularly troublesome. Somehow I have connected the creative process with high amounts of sugar intake (perhaps this is why some of my writing gets overly sentimental!) and this is not good . Which is why I will not do it in 2011!

11. Have Faith. Every year, I have the same literary goal. But this year I am tying it into resolutions #4 and #5. For a while, I have been hearing and reading is how the book industry is dead or dying. There will be no more books and authors will be lucky to have any readers or make any money (much less make a living). It's been enough to tempt me to give up on the whole book thing and try to become a cupcake decorator (though now the cupcake trend is over too).

It's quite stressful. I don't want to bury my head in the sand, so I do plan to try put new opportunities if they feel right (#5). But if I truly grasp resolution #4 (make peace with things I cannot control) and create a story/art/book to the absolute best of my ability, I have to believe there will be an audience to share it with.

I have to believe what I do is of value and others value it too. Or else what's the point of making any resolutions at all, right?

Happy 2011, all!

A Poem for New Year's Day & An Acrostic

Last December, Tricia Stohr-Hunt of The Miss Rumphius Effect, did a Poetry Stretch in which she challenged people to write poems about time. I thought I’d re-post the two “time” poems that I contributed to the stretch. A Poem for New Year’s Day still needs work. My second poem is an acrostic.

**********

A Poem for New Year’s Day

What is time?
The passing of days
as we spin through space
into darkness and then light
through morning, noon, and night…
as we travel ‘round the sun
at a breakneck pace
in and out of months
and ever-changing seasons
till we come full circle.

We’ll begin the trip again
at the starting point
right here…
and follow a well-worn path
as we complete another year.

Clicking
Lock-step…as
One turns—so turn all the other gears…
Clicking, ticking, tocking together
Keeping in time through the years.

**********

At Wild Rose Reader, I have a memoir poem titled Early Snow.

The Poetry Friday Roundup is at Carol’s Corner this week.

Which I with sword will open?

Our loyal readers may remember that Grace, Alvina and I learned how to open oysters, because I was writing an article about it for my local PATCH. Here's the article, with videos and photographs by Alvina.

WE were all able to open our oysters on the first try, but they didn't want me to put that in the piece, in case readers couldn't. But I honestly think that if you follow the instructions, especially the crucial first step which tells you how to choose oysters that will be EASY to open, you'll be able to do it, too.

And do slurp them down as soon as you open them: a few of us here in town tested the instructions again last night, and as someone said, eating oysters that fresh is like gulping sea mist. A child who was present and insisted on tasting one said, predictably,
'"Yuck!"

No one was sorry that he didn't like them.

And if this post must be tied more directly to children's books, isn't this a great way to describe someone?

"Secret, and self-contained, and soliatary as an oyster,"
Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

Happy Holidays!

Sorry for the delay in posting. I'm at my parents' house in California right now, and I can't keep track of the days of the week. I'm so happy to be on vacation! I'm reading for pleasure (am reading and enjoying Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go), playing with my iPad (my brothers and I have discovered the game Fruit Ninja, which is a ridiculously addictive game where you have to slice fruit thrown up in the air):



playing sports (tennis, ping pong, pool, and golf):

my younger brother and I on the golf course

reading the newspaper (hard copy of the LA Times, iPad version of the NYTimes), watching movies (saw TRON: Legacy last night--except I fell asleep during a big chunk of it because I was exhausted from golf), eating (of course! Had In n Out Burger on my first night back)

and just spending time with my loved ones (we played with my brother's XBOX Kinect, which is like the Wii, but without a controller--it uses a sensor.).

My older brother plays a dance game while his wife looks on.

The table is set for Christmas Eve dinner

Before I left work last Wednesday I was determined to reach Inbox Zero, as I knew I would be out of the office for almost three weeks (am on vacation until the ALA conference in San Diego, and won't be back in the office until January 12!).

And, look! I achieved it!!

It was so satisfying that I think I'm going to add "reach Inbox Zero at least once a month" to my work New Year's Resolutions for next year. More on that later...

Happy Holidays, all!

from the BRG archives: Remembering Childhood

Back in the comment section of my post on "What Makes Me so Qualified to Edit Children's Books?", Anna reminded me of this quote from Ursula Nordstrom:

Asked pointedly by Anne Carroll Moore, the New York Public Library's powerful superintendent of work with children, what qualified her (Ursula), a nonlibrarian, nonteacher, nonparent, and noncollege graduate to publish children's books, Nordstrom just as pointedly replied, "Well, I am a former child, and I haven't forgotten a thing."

I'm realizing more and more that this is true for me. And I've been seeing a pattern lately where many things have reminded me of my childhood. A friend recently sent me two mix-CDs she and her husband compiled of 80s ballads that really took me back. Some of the songs included were "One More Try" by Timmy T, "Toy Soldiers" by Martika, "Glory of Love" by Peter Cetera, and "Lost in Your Eyes" by Debbie Gibson. Each song took me back to junior high and high school, each song held a memory of my childhood for me.

And then I've been thinking about New York and how much I love it here and feel at home here, and I realize that part of the reason is that I've found places to go and activities to do that bring me back to my childhood.

For example, one of my favorite after work bars in the city is Bar 9, where the next Kid's Lit Drinks night is taking place on Friday. And the biggest reason why I love it so? They have tater tots on the menu.

Another example is Barcade in Williamsburg, a bar with old-school arcade games, such as Rampage, Tetris, Ms. Pacman, Digdug, Gauntlet, Tapper, etc., all for the original price of 25 cents, unlike the fancy new arcades such as Dave and Busters and the ESPN Zone in Times Square. I wasn't a huge video game player as a kid, but I did a fair share of playing, and many an hour was spent watching my older brother and others play.

And speaking of Tetris, last Thursday I went to Nerd Nite, a monthly event held at a bar in the East Village where two speakers talk for 20 minutes on various nerdy topics. Friday's topics were neurogenesis, and Tetris. Tetris! A true Tetris scholar enlightened us on the history of the game. And as I was somewhat of a Tetris scholar myself in high school and college, I quite enjoyed the talk.

And last but not least, two Wednesdays ago I went roller skating at the Roxy for a friend's birthday. Remember back when you had your birthday party at a roller rink? I remember going around and around, spending quarters on the holographic stickers in the vending machine, doing the Hokey Pokey in the middle of the rink. This wasn't exactly the same--no stickers, not Hokey Pokey--but it was the same old-school roller skates with the rubber stop in the front. It was the same going around and around the rink to dance music. And it was the same thrill--the awkwardness the first time you go out on the floor, before you get your sea legs. The breeze of speed on your face and through your hair. The adrenaline of going fast while not quite knowing how to stop. Running into your friends as you went around.

I've grown up, for sure. I live an adult life with adult problems and responsibilities. But I remember the child I was, the shyness, the exuberance, the worries, the carefreeness. Viva the inner child!

Originally published February 5, 2007

Merry Christmas!

Amateurs and professionals: merry Christmas to all!

I love amateur theatricals, especially if they involve children. One of the most intense artistic experiences of my life was attending a Christmas pantomime (in the English sense: a play that takes a VERY familiar story, adds songs and plenty of slapstick, and encourages audience participation) in South Africa, just after apartheid ended. I was the only adult guest at a performance of "Cinderella" -- everyone else in the audience was a school child or teacher. Before the play began, my eight-or-so neighbor reassured me about it:
"It's the funny version," she said. And, when at intermission I leapt for the bathroom she was agonized:
"It's not finished!"

But that wasn't why it was so intense. It was because of the way the audience responded. At first, they were stiff- but pantomime actors are very skilled at getting kids to respond. Cinderella put some cheese on the table, went out - and some children, dressed as mice, danced in and ate it. When Cinderella came back, she asked where the cheese was. No one said anything. She kept asking, and finally someone said:
"The mice took it."

By the middle, when the wicked step-sisters (always played by men, in pantomime tradition) were preening for the ball and asking if they looked beautiful, kids were shouting:
"No, no, you're ugly!"

And by the end, when the prince was there with the slipper and the stepsisters had hidden Cinderella, most of the audience left its seat to scream hysterically:
"In the closet! IN THE CLOSET! Look in the closet@"

So, when I get a chance to attend a Christmas play acted by children, I take it. To celebrate Christmas on our blog: here is a local Christmas pageant. (Warning:my photographs are bad -- but the only way I'll get better is to keep taking them.)

Usually, this pageant uses LIVE animals, but this year (new minister?) the kids played the animal roles.




It wasn't Christmas in South Africa, but Christmas where I live, and I'm glad to be here --and glad children are still celebrating the season. ALL cultures with seasons I've ever heard of celebrate the time of year when the days get longer -- when darkness changes to light and a new calendar year begins -- and their culture's version of the story. Here is a CT church Christmas, in order: first, from while some are waiting to go on
















to when they come down the aisle at the end. Sorry! No pictures of the actual acting-out of the story because I was sitting way in the back. I really wanted to run up and take close-ups, but not one person-- even people whose chidren were in the pageant -- even went into the aisle to take photographs. Everyone (even the young brothers and sisters of the stars) stayed in their seats, unlike the audience in South Africa. But although they were more reserved about expressing it, everyone was into it, and AFTER the service, shook hands and smiled and wished each other:

"Merry Christmas!"

POETRY FRIDAY: The Christmas Babka

One of my favorite childhood memories is of the time my mother and I drove over to her parents’ house one December night before Christmas. Babci, my grandmother, had taken a big pan of her homemade babka out of the oven just before we had arrived. She sliced a big hunk of the sweet bread for us to take home. My mother and I devoured half of it in the car. It was still warm and soooo delicious!


Here is a poem I wrote more than a dozen years ago about my Babci making her famous babka:


THE CHRISTMAS BABKA
by Elaine Magliaro

We watch Babci make the Christmas babka.

With plump peasant hands

she kneads sweet dough

on the white porcelain-topped table,

places it in a large sky-blue bowl,

covers it with a damp towel,

and sets it on the kitchen counter

near the hissing radiator.


Swelling with bubbles of air,

the dough rises into a pale yellow cloud

flecked with bits of orange rind.


The baking babka fills the house

with the scent of Christmas.


We eat the bread fresh from the oven,

its insides steaming and golden—

a homemade treasure

rich enough to warm a winter night.

I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!

At Wild Rose Reader, I have another Christmas memoir poem titled Remember.

The Poetry Friday Roundup is over at A Year of Reading.

deck the halls...

with birds of jolly!

With our past year's origami ornaments mysteriously missing (perhaps accidentally recycled!) I decided that the decorations of this year's tree should be a bit more durable. So when over the summer, Anna purchased these strings of birds:

I had my Christmas tree inspiration!

With a little internet research I found this lovely (and FREE) pattern from Spool and began to sew (by hand still because I am scared of my sewing machine). It made me quite happy. I used up leftover fabric from my computer case, wedding and old clothes--that bright red fabric with the white flower is from a 70's dress of my mother's!



I let Squatchie stuff the birds which is why they are so plump. I think some of them look like dolphins. But they still looked nice on the tree, don't you think?

fa la la la, la la la LA!

What Not To Read on Your Caribbean Vacation

When writing my last entry, “What We Talk About When We Talk About Picture Books,” I believed I was resurrecting an already laid to rest discussion about the New York Times’ obituary for the picture book. My post was uploaded on December 14^th. The day AFTER Publishers Weekly’s cover asked “Did the New York Times get it wrong?”

What timing.

Grace can attest to the fact that I actually wrote my entry weeks prior. It was one of the last things I checked off of my “to-do” list before I went here:

Me & My Sister, Rachel and a boat of Epic proportions

Yes, for the first time in my tenure as an agent I took an honest-to-goodness, no access to email vacation.

And what does, a literary agent do during an honest-to-goodness vacation?

A little of this…

A bit of that…

(My mother, sister, and I in front of an Ice Bar does denote a bit of drinking)

A whole lot of this…

It was a cruise. There was a lot of eating. Just after the picture was taken, I probably dove for that dinner roll.

And a good dose of this…

A new Hunger Games reader is born, while I remain puzzled about my choice of reading material.

Yes, on a vacation, a literary agent reads. For eight whole days I would not read emails or manuscripts. I loaded my kindle with published, adult books. On deck chairs, on beaches, on a balcony off of a very small room I shared with my mother and sister, and on an elliptical machine overlooking the ocean we were moving through on a very large ship, I read…

Freedom by Jonathan Franzen and Little Bee by Chris Cleave

What is wrong with me?

Just to be clear. Both books were wonderful, and I would recommend them for sure…but they are not the kind of book that you read on a beach or on a cruise. I think I would have liked each so much more if I had read them on a cold New York day like today. I must admit that I have a tendency to read books in inappropriate places. I once read Lolita on a car trip and as a (slightly?) pretentious teen I tried to read Joyce at overnight camp. You would think I would have learned my lesson by now.

Of course, there are books that I have read in just the right place, in just the right time of my life. In my eyes, part of being a literary agent representing children’s books is championing work that is pivotal in a child’s development, and that they will remember well into their adulthood. I know that middle grade and YA fiction can be read by a pre-teen or teen at the very moment when they need it, when it can open their eyes, show them a place they never knew possible, change their perspective, or affirm what they are feeling inside. So much of children’s and young adult literature succeeds because it reaches a child or teen at the most fitting moment of their lives.

While Freedom and Little Bee both had an impact on me; I can’t help but feel my reading of them was somewhat skewed by the setting I was in. I would love to hear about books that you read in both the wrong and right places in time. (I’m a new blogger. I thrive on comments!)

I now realize that I should have been reading a book like this on my most recent vacation:

Pointing to a book by my colleague, Merrilee Heieftz’s bestselling author, Laurell K. Hamilton.

I have learned my lesson and given the opportunity (read: I don’t think I should wait another 9-years to take a manuscript and email free vacation), I promise to do better. Well, at least I can look at the glass half full…after Little Bee, at least I was smart enough not to read the next book on my kindle… Room by Emma Donoghue.

Wishing you all Happy Holiday reading!