Kindling Words

I've gone from rainy California to snowy cold Vermont. Very, very cold snowy Vermont. It really does look like this.  A little less snow, a lot more cold. It is exquisitely beautiful. Enough to pull poetry from the air while staring out at the night.

Round moon
Blue Snow
Hare goes hungry

I'm here for Kindling Words, a writer's retreat. Chris Raschka is doing the illustrator's strand, I'm doing the author's. And yes, Chris is as smart and amazing and wonderful as his art. You can quickly see where his art comes from -- his brain isn't sitting around in any square kind of box. He gave us a great view of his process.

 

Here he is playing the squeezebox to the accompaniment of one of his book dummies to show us his relationship between 12 musical notes and color, ala Chris. Amazing. 

Don Weisberg, president of Penguin Young Readers, gave a great talk on where he sees publishing going. One word description: he's very optimistic. Sees how the internet connects people to books, authors to readers. We finished off the evening (at least, I did, some people partied, others went to the outdoor hot tub which I though was crazy at -5 degrees) with a first read through of Gregory McGuire's new play. I was "props."

Off for breakfast and making sure my PowerPoint works.

Just how do writers avoid writing?

We all have our little ways. When we're up in our cabin a mile up a dirt road, and the rain is coming down and coming down and coming down, and a tree has fallen on the power line and knocked it down, sparking and fizzling onto the road, and we can't get out anyway....

There is always water trying to go where we don't want it to go. Hence: Tom and I suit up, grab shovels and rakes, and head out. Penny-the-dog comes with us, blinking and shaking madly.

New York Times Book Review

Some days lightning strikes, in a really good way.

Children Who Changed the World

I especially love the last line: "...Partridge's stirring history poses another, more immediate, question for a thoughtful reader: Where are today’s Selmas and what might a young person do about them?"

Exactly!

Lightning and lightning bug

As I've just rediscovered for the zillionth time, Mark Twain was right: there's a big difference between lightning and a lightning bug.  There is also a big difference between "almost finished with my novel" and "turned in my manuscript to the editor." Big. But I did it. Late, late, late at night I attached it to an email and pushed send.

I took a day off (okay, I was exhausted) and then wrote up the titles for the three lectures I'll be giving at Kindling Words in a few weeks. For the last month or so I've been chucking ideas into a folder. I've got a nice, fat folder. Now, time to organize my thoughts.

Here are my three titles:

1) Steal from the best: strengthen your characters using narrative non-fiction techniques, Chinese medicine, and a few other tricks.

2) Kick ‘em when they’re down: complicate your characters relationships with each other and their environment.

3) Consolidate your gains: get Mean Barbara off your back and fly in new directions.

I'm really looking forward to the retreat.

And while I was busy finishing the novel, we managed to have a birthday party for Tom. Kind of an exuberant guy, as you can see by the photo. This party wouldn't have happened had it been left to me, but our son Will made Vietnamese pho, we invited over a few dozen of Tom's closest friends (like I said, exuberant) and we had a feast.

The boys decided to play a little music to wind down the party, and Sophie who is three-about-to-turn-four shut down the place by dancing all night.

She has now dubbed our place "the house with the band." I think she's under the impression there is always live music here....

Hero

The older I get, the harder it is to find everyday heros to look up to -- living people I admire with all my heart and want to be like when I'm older. Here's one. Makes me laugh, makes me cry, makes me think about what's really, really important in my life.

New year huzzah and upcoming talks

I love the first Monday at the beginning of the year. It's like fresh snow has fallen. All those footprints from last year and the year before are erased. Sure, we'll each put on our snow shoes and trudge along the same paths where we left off, but there's a lovely pause, isn't there? I always feel a burst of new enthusiasm for my old paths, and a renewed desire to stamp some new ones into the snow.

And here is the most fantastic news: Katherine Patterson is our new National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. I can't tell you how much I love her work, and once you meet Katherine or hear her speak, it's impossible not to adore her as well. She has so much to say, on so many levels. Several years ago Roger Sutton at Hornbook interviewed her. Anyone know when this was, and if it's online? It's a wonderful interview between two old friends.

I have lots to look forward to this year. I'm just finishing my first "real" novel. What a challenge! And I'm sure once my editor gets back to me, I'll be chained to my desk, rewriting madly. But what a gift; write something and get incredible feedback on how to make it better!

I've got some great talks coming up. I'll be one of the speakers at Kindling Words in late January, doing talks at the Mechanic's Institute and Bookshop Santa Cruz in February, and traveling to Selma, Alabama in March for the 45th anniversary of the bridge crossing. Later in the spring/summer I'll be at the International Reading Assoc., Children's Literature New England, and Brigham Young University.

I wish for all of you a gratifying new year and new decade. Remember to take opportunities that come your way, work hard, love deeply and recklessly, and help make the world a better place, one small, insignificant act at a time.