David Almond, his book Skellig and music

I love the feeling when a book clings to me -- I finish it, put it down, and find I am still partly in the imaginary book world days later. Lovely.

And a big favorite of mine is Skellig. Even thinking of Almond's book right now, I can slip into Skellig's world. I just found this great interview by Almond where he talks about the importance of sounds and the music in his head -- part of how he creates the magic.

"When I wrote Skellig - set in the streets of Newcastle - my mind was filled with sounds: the creaking of a dilapidated garage, the scuttlings and scratchings inside, a baby's heartbeats, her breath, the songs of blackbirds, the cheeping of chicks, the hooting of owls, the dawn chorus, the voice of a girl quoting William Blake, the sound of the city beyond a small suburban garden. At the centre of it was Skellig himself: his surly almost-animal squeaks and growls becoming more coherent, turning into a confident human voice. And when the book was published and people began to ask questions about it - about the repetition of certain phrases, for instance, or its rhythms, or its composition as a series of scenes, or its use of Blake's poetry, I often found myself referring to music."

Full interview is posted in The Guardian.

Book Passage Kid Lit night

Had a wonderful time Monday night at Book Passage, where I had the privilege of being on a panel with Zilpha Keatley Snyder (Egypt Game, Headless Cupid, Witches of Worm), Gennifer Choldenko (Al Capone Does My Shirts, If a Tree Falls At Luch Period) and Christina Meldrum (Madapples).

Here's Christine, and Gennifer talking, with Zilpha seated.


Lissa Rovetch has put together an incredible once-a-month Kid Lit Salon. Her line-up of Kid-Lit stars is awesome! Check it out.

Here she is, chumming up the crowd. (Lissa is very funny and is responsible for getting all of us going).




We had one of those intense, informational, can't-stop-laughing evenings. The room was full of people in a cheery mood, and the energy just hit a high spot. Thanks to all.

SCBWI talk at Mills College

A terrific day today. I did the keynote at SCBWI Norcal meeting: UnMask Your Character: Reveal Your Story. A wonderful group of people, wonderful speakers. We were on the beautiful, serene campus of Mills College in Oakland, which right away made everyone want to give up their usual lives and go live on campus in a dorm. Gretchen Hirsch, associate editor at HarperCollins gave a great talk on first pages she likes and why, and Eric Murphy of Erin Murphy Literary Agence talked about queries that work for her and those that don't. Both of them were smart and funny. I also moderated a YA panel with Carrie Watson, author of Quad, and Leigh Purcill, author of Love Meg.
Here's a nice (OK, a little bit blurry) shot of Gretchen, where you can get a feel for how cool she is. She like YA novels that are a little bit dark. In case you're looking for someone to query, she also has that excellent editor trait of being both enthusiastic and very tactful.

Huge thanks to Margaret Speaker Yuan and Colette Weil Parrinello who did tons of heavy lifting to make the day work so smoothly. My only regret is that I had to leave early, and missed the afternoon speakers.

David Macaulay and color fest at the San Fracisco Public Library

David Macaulay spoke at the San Francisco Public Library last night about putting together his book, The Way We Work. He showed us his process of doing the book -- sketch after sketch after sketch. Amazing to see how he thinks and draws. He loves looking at each body system every way he can -- from underneath, above, outside, inside. Astonishing. Going over the hand and all the finger joints he said, "what a very clever contraption we are." Indeed.

Here he is talking with a young fan. I just loved her skirt and the way she was standing as she talked with him.

There is an exhibit up of Robert Sabuda's original artwork for his picture books. If you live anywhere in the Bay Area, do yourself a favor and go see it. The details of his work and the materials he uses are incredible. They are the kind of images you want to reach right through the glass and run your fingertips over.


And upstairs outside the children's room was another beautiful exhibit, this one French illustrator Olivier Tallec. The evening turned into a color fest for me. Thanks to all the librarians at SFPL for the talk and the exhibitions.

autumn

I love how the light shifts in the fall. I took this photo a mile from my cabin. I'd just driven down the dirt road to Highway One, where the land meets the water and the sky.Day ends as the sun slips into the water, night comes. Summer ends, autumn pauses, slides into winter. Crisp air, light so rich you can scoop up handfuls and pour it inside you.