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Over the past years, a number of my friends have taught classes in a prison setting. They've consistently reported this to be an enormously satisfying experience.
This morning, for the first time in my life, I joined them.
It produced 90 of the most satisfying minutes I have ever spent.
Through the efforts of my DePauw University colleague Kelsey Kauffman, a tireless champion for prison reform, the university has formed ties with the nearby Indiana Women's Prison (IWP), America's oldest women's-only prison, founded in 1873. In one of Prof. Kauffman's history courses at the prison, some of her students embarked on an astonishingly ambitious research project: the history of this very prison, the first such history written by prisoners themselves. Their work, which challenges and complicates simple narratives about the benevolence of the prison's founding, has since achieved publication in academic history journals; you can read about it here.
This semester another colleague, Professor Martha Rainbolt, is teaching a children's literature course at IWP with six incarcerated women. She invited me to guest-teach today's class, assigning the students my upper-middle-grade novel Zero Tolerance to ground our discussion. The book is based on a real-life case of a seventh-grade honor student who brings the wrong lunch to school by mistake, a lunch containing a knife to cut her mother's apple; both the real-life student and my fictional student turn the knife in to adult authorities immediately - and both find themselves facing mandatory expulsion under their school's zero tolerance policies as a result.
I have to admit I was nervous about the class. How would incarcerated woman, facing long sentences in a maximum security prison, view my story about an upper-middle-class, goody-goody girl anguished by the much less serious consequences confronting her? Would I be able to connect with them across our very different life experiences, especially given that I would have to do it via a Skype-style connection over the prison's electronic conferencing system? Would they find me glib and insensitive? Would I be glib and insensitive?
All of my fears were unfounded. The students were WONDERFUL: so smart, engaged, insightful, and even reassuring to me when I expressed worries about the ways I had handled certain situations in the book. They had read the book closely. They had thought about it deeply. I had wondered if we would be able to fill a whole hour; instead we talked for over an hour and a half. They asked me hard questions - such as whether I have ever thought of writing from the point of view of someone from a different race from my own. Some of them want to write children's books themselves, particularly focused on the situation of children of incarcerated parents (some two million right now in our country). I have every confidence their books would be well worth reading.
Toward the very end of the class, into the lower edge of the computer monitor appeared a big, shaggy . . . dog! There he was, a seventh member of the class. The student in charge of him shared her experiences raising and training service dogs for disabled children and adults, right there in the prison, including a dog who went home ultimately with an autistic boy, becoming his bridge from inner isolation to wider community. I told her: you need to write that story!
Now I want to do this again. I want to meet again with these women and with other women prisoners. I want to help them write their stories, and publish their stories, and find readers for their stories.
I'm so grateful to Kelsey Kauffman for bringing this university-prison partnership into being. In a week that feels so dark and hopeless for so many in our nation and our world, I'm grateful for the steady, cheering light of this small but powerful candle.
Travel back with me through the Earth’s history, back into the farthest reaches of time when the sand we walk today was still rock and the oceans of an entirely salination. Back back back we go to, oh about 13 years ago, I’d say. I was a library grad student, and had just come to the shocking realization that the children’s literature class I’d taken on a lark might actually yield a career of some sort. We were learning the finer points of book reviewing (hat tip to K.T. Horning’s From Cover to Cover there) and to hone our skills each of us was handed a brand new children’s book, ready for review. I was handed Our Family Tree: An Evolution Story by Lisa Westberg Peters, illustrated by Lauren Stringer. It was good, so I came up with some kind of a review. It was, now that I think about it, the very first children’s book review I ever wrote (talk about evolution). And I remember at the time thinking (A) How great it was to read a picture book on the topic and (B) That with my limited knowledge of the field there were probably loads and loads of books out there about evolution for small children. Fun Fact: There aren’t. Actually, in the thirteen years between then and now I’ve not seen a single evolution themed picture book come out since the Peters/Stringer collaboration. Until now. Because apparently two years before I ran across Our Family Tree author Jonathan Tweet was trying to figure out why there were so few books on the subject on the market. It took him a while, but he finally got his thoughts in order and wrote this book. Worth the wait and possibly the only book we may need on the subject. For a while, anyway.
Let’s start with a fish. We’ll call her Grandmother Fish and she lived “a long, long, long, long, long time ago.” She did familiar fishy things like “wiggle” and “chomp”. And then she had ancestors and they turned out to be everything from sharks to ray-finned fish to reptiles. That’s when you meet Grandmother Reptile, who lived “a long, long, long, long time ago.” From reptiles we get to mammals. From mammals to apes. And from apes to humans. And with each successive iteration, they carry with them the traits of their previous forms. Remember how Grandmother Fish could wiggle and chomp? Well, so can every subsequent ancestor, with some additional features as well. The final image in the book shows a wide range of humans and they can do the things mentioned in the book before. Backmatter includes a more complex evolutionary family tree, a note on how to use this book, a portion “Explaining Concepts of Evolution”, a guide “to the Grandmothers, Their Actions, and Their Grandchildren for your own information to help you explain evolution to your child”, and finally a portion on “Correcting Common Errors” (useful for both adults and kids).
What are the forbidden topics of children’s literature? Which is to say, what are the topics that could be rendered appropriate for kids but for one reason or another never see the light of day? I can think of a couple off the top of my head, an evolution might be one of them. To say that it’s controversial in this, the 21st century, is a bit odd, but we live in odd times. No doubt the book’s creators have already received their own fair share of hate mail from folks who believe this content is inappropriate for their children. I wouldn’t be too surprised to hear that it ended up on ALA’s Most Challenged list of books in the future. Yet, as I mentioned before, finding ANY book on this subject, particularly on the young end of the scale, is near impossible. I am pleased that this book is filling such a huge gap in our library collections. Now if someone would just do something for the 7-12 year olds . . .
When you are simplifying a topic for children, one of the first things you need to figure out from the get-go is how young you want to go. Are you aiming your book at savvy 6-year-olds or bright-eyed and bushy-tailed 3-year-olds? In the case of Grandmother Fish the back-story to the book is that creator Jonathan Tweet was inspired to write it when he couldn’t find a book for his daughter on evolution. We will have to assume that his daughter was on the young end of things since the final product is very clearly geared towards the interactive picture book crowd. Readers are encouraged to wiggle, crawl, breathe, etc. and the words proved capable of interesting both my 2-year-old son and my 5-year-old daughter. One would not know from this book that the author hadn’t penned picture books for kids before. The gentle repetition and clincher of a conclusion suggest otherwise.
One problem with turning evolution into picture book fare is the danger of confusing the kids (of any age, really). If you play it that our ancestors were monkeys, then some folks might take you seriously. That’s where the branching of the tree becomes so interesting. Tweet and Lewis try hard to make it clear that though we might call a critter “grandmother” it’s not literally that kind of a thing. The problem is that because the text is so simple, it really does say that each creature had “many kinds of grandchildren.” Explaining to kids that this is a metaphor and not literal . . . well, good luck with that. You may find yourself leaning heavily on the “Correcting Common Errors” page at the end of the book, which aims to correct common misconceptions. There you will find gentle corrections to false statements like “We started as fish” or “Evolution progresses to the human form” or “We descended from one fish or pair of fish, or one early human or pair of early humans.” Of these Common Errors, my favorite was “Evolution only adds traits” since it was followed by the intriguing corrective, “Evolution also take traits away. Whales can’t crawl even though they’re descended from mammals that could.” Let’s talk about the bone structure of the dolphin’s flipper sometime, shall we? The accompanying “Explaining Concepts of Evolution” does a nice job of helping adults break down ideas like “Natural Selection” and “Artificial Selection” and “Descent with Modification” into concepts for young kids. Backmatter-wise, I’d give the book an A+. In terms of the story itself, however, I’m going with a B. After all, it’s not like every parent and educator that reads this book to kids is even going to get to the backmatter. I understand the decisions that led them to say that each “Grandmother” had “grandchildren” but surely there was another way of phrasing it.
This isn’t the first crowd-sourced picture book I’ve ever seen, but it may be one of the most successful. The reason is partly because of the subject matter, partly because of the writing, and mostly because of the art. Bad art sinks even the most well-intentioned of picture books out there. Now I don’t know the back-story behind why Tweet paired with illustrator Karen Lewis on this book, but I hope he counts his lucky stars every day for her participation. First and foremost, he got an illustrator who had done books for children before (Arturo and the Navidad Birds probably being her best known). Second, her combination of watercolors and digital art really causes the pages to pop. The colors in particular are remarkably vibrant. It’s a pleasure to watch them, whether close up for one-on-one readings, or from a distance for groups. Whether on her own or with Tweet’s collaboration, her clear depictions of the evolutionary “tree” is nice and fun. Plus, it’s nice to see some early humans who aren’t your stereotypical white cavemen with clubs, for once.
I look at this book and I wonder what its future holds. Will a fair number of public school libraries purchase it? They should. Will parents like Mr. Tweet be able to find it when they wander aimlessly into bookstores and libraries? One can hope. And is it any good? It is. But you only have my word on that one. Still, if great grand numbers of perfect strangers can band together to bring a book to life on a topic crying out for representation on our children’s shelves, you’ve gotta figure the author and illustrator are doing something right. A book that meets and then exceeds expectations, tackling a tricky subject, in a divisive era of our history, to the betterment of all. Not too shabby for a fish.
On shelves now.
Source: Final copy sent from publisher for review.
I’d also like to recommend Faith McNulty and Ted Rand’s book, HOW WHALES WALKED INTO THE SEA. It’s a beautiful book, and very good for grades three to five. It focuses just on whales–which can be an advantage: what I’ve found over the years is that children are natural Lamarckians–they believe that there were some plucky giraffes that stretched their necks longer so they could reach the leaves in the trees. The idea that animals evolved over generations–with the animals that better fitted a changing environment having more chances to bear more offspring and pass on their genes– that’s the biggest sticking point. Since WHALES focuses on one kind of animal, there’s more room for discussion. The text is poetic as well as precise.
Kelsey Johnson-Kaiser, Youth Services Manager at George Latimer Central Library in St. Paul MN, and I presented a session on passive programming at the Minnesota Library Association this week. The following links can lead readers to more information about the programs we talked about - and introduce you to some great bloggers!!
When I landed in Cleveland, Ohio last week, I zoomed straight to the house used as Ralphie's in A Christmas Story. I took a tour of the place previously, as seen here, but this time I just wanted to get a couple shots with it as a background for my soon-to-be released Christmas story.
In earlier trips to the area, I never got to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but this time I was determined to change that. So I did! And I got to see one of Slash's hats...
and Bruce's outfit from his Born in the U.S.A. album cover...
and the scribbled lyrics to Jimi's originally titled "Purple Haze Jesus Saves".
But in beweent the Christmas house and the hall of rock, I visited Holy Name High School in Parma Heights.
They were a lovely bunch of nicely dressed students.
And they had some of the best questions. There were questions about character motivation, my own take-away from my books, and even a request to try to get Selena Gomez as some dude's prom date.
Then I had snacks and further conversation with 13 students. (The number 13 was just a coincidence...they said.)
After Ohio, I took a brief breather in California, then it was back on a plane to Texas. There, I visited several very nice art museums in Fort Worth, featuring artists I've studied a lot recently, like Thomas Cole.
The first presentation I went to was for Kid Chef Eliana. She is an incredible presenter...
and a delicious cook! I had her book Cool Kids Cook: Fresh and Fit signed for Isaiah.
One of the most entertaining while educational presentations I've seen was Nathan Hale's discussion of his "Hazardous Tales" series. Is there any better combination than hilarious and historical? I mean, if Nathan and Eliana did a program together, that would unbeatable!
I gave a keynote presentation, which is always fun (though slightly intimidating when other authors are present), where I got to get rid of more packets of my What Light hot chocolate in exchange for questions.
That was followed by a panel about social media with Julie Murphy and Kelsey Macke. So this pic, I guess, is Murphy, Mac and Me!
0 Comments on Buckeye to Lone Star as of 9/20/2016 6:58:00 PM
Our amazing guest, Author Kay Winters has a number of wonderful picture books with a school setting that you'll want for yourself, your classroom, and your favorite young readers, but first this very important announcement: The winner of a Franklin School Friends book by our friend, Claudia Mills is: ****JANA ESCHNER**** !!!!CONGRATULATIONS, JANA!!!! (Jana, please e-mail me: claragillowclark(at)gmail(dot)com with your mailing address, to whom you'd like your book personalized by Claudia, and which book in the Franklin School Friend series you'd like to receive! Here's the list: Kelsey Green, Reading Queen; Annika Riz, Math Whiz; Izzy Barr, Running Star; Simon Ellis, Spelling Bee Champ; and Cody Harmon, King of Pets.)
This week's featured guest, Author Kay Winters, is also generously giving away one of her titles--Winner's Choice--in the comment contest. All you have to do is leave a comment for Kay for a chance to win. But, we also hope you'll share our BACK TO SCHOOL blog series with your friends! THANK YOU!
NOW. . .here's the lovely KAY WINTERS. . .
Back to School. . .with Author Kay Winters
It’s time! It’s time… for school to start again. A magical time of year for most young children, and I have to confess, it always was for me as a kid and a teacher as well. As a writer, one of my favorite topics is school I loved school! And now as an author I love school visits.
My very first book that was published was Did You See What I Saw? Poems about School. It came out in 1996 and I am pleased to say…it’s still in print. The poetry book is stuffed with mentor poems which children can eagerly adapt and write their own. For example, Behind Closed Doors takes the idea of what happens when school is out. Does… The chalk talk? The floor snore? The computer tutor?
Children create their own version…not only using the classroom setting but imagining what happens to objects on the playground or at home, in their bedrooms or kitchens.That poem also lends itself to being a poetry troupe, with each child saying one line and performing it. Did You See What I Saw? Poems about School was a selection in the Scholastic book club.
My next school book was My Teacher for President, illustrated by Denise Brunkus, who also illustrated the Junie B Jones book. Junie B winds up in this book as well, and to my great surprise so do I! She drew me as the President. In this book, Oliver writes to a TV station to say he has learned at school about the President’s job and his teacher would be just right. With the current hub-bub over the election, teachers and parents will be talking even more than usual about the job of the person in the oval office. Anyone who is or has been a teacher can identify with… My teacher goes to lots of meetings… She’s always signing important papers… She acts quickly in an emergency She believes in peace. In some schools, I have visited, they had a voting booth and students selected the teacher who would be a good president. In other schools, students picked a family member or friend and wrote about their favorite candidate. My Teacher for President, was also in the Scholastic Book Club.
My third book using school as the location is The Bears go to School. A bear came to our house! There I was setting the table for Sunday dinner, when I looked out the screen door and saw a big black bear stroll across the lawn heading for the neighbor’s blueberry patch. I began to wonder … what if he went to school?
In this picture book Pete and Gabby, two bear cubs, decide to visit that red building with all those yellow busses outside. After watching the custodian raise the flag, the bears placed their paws on their hearts, as their mother had taught them to do at the park where they lived. The bears sneak inside, visit the music room, the gym and the art room. My favorite page is where they go in the science room and free the animals from their cages. In the cafeteria, they create havoc and the fire alarm is sounded. Back to their park they go, til next time. This book was selected as a Teacher’s Choice by the International Reading Association.
My fourth book about school is This School Year will be THE BEST! Illustrated by Renee Andriani. Children sit on the rug on the first day and share what they think. . . I hope I get the best seat on the bus! I’ll look really good in my school picture. We’ll have a chocolate fountain at lunch!
Many teachers use this book at the end of the year, as well as the beginning to ask, “What would make next year THE BEST?”
I have a 5th school book under contract from Penguin. My editor called and asked if I would write another school poetry book. I was delighted! The Principal Kissed a Pig is being illustrated by Patrice Barton. The publication date is yet unknown.
School has been a rich and interesting subject matter for me as a writer. During my frequent school visits, I see that although much has changed students still love… being read to, choosing their own books and responding to literature through art, drama, science and math projects.
I think we authors should be cheerleaders for reading. And I hope whether you are an author, a mother, a father, a teacher, or a student this School Year will be THE BEST!
Kay Winters was a classroom teacher, reading specialist and college instructor, as well as a language arts consultant for the American International Schools in Egypt, Nepal, India, Jordan, Greece, Israel and Italy before changing jobs to follow her dream and write for children. She specializes in picture books and chapter books, ages 3 to 12. She has appeared on CSpan Book TV and PBS. Her twenty-two books have won numerous awards, and she has two books under contract. She is a frequent speaker at colleges, regional and national conferences for teachers, writers and librarians and loves doing school visits. www.kaywinters.com
THANK YOU, dear Readers, for stopping by. Don't forget to check out Kay's website: www.kaywinters.com for more info about her school visits and picture book titles! Be sure to post a comment for Kay for a chance to win one of her books. The winner will be announced next week.
Our next BACK TO SCHOOL featured author is the fabulous Jamie Michalak who will be sharing with us about her humorous duo: JOE & SPARKY from her early reader series with Candlewick Press. (I love Joe & Sparky!)
0 Comments on BACK TO SCHOOL BOOKS with AUTHOR KAY WINTERS + GIVEAWAY as of 1/1/1900
I'm doing an MFA in Illustration at the University of Edinburgh. That means four semesters split by a summer off in-between. It worked perfectly with my summer teaching at Hollins University. Also available would have been an MA in Illustration, which is three straight semesters. Several of my fellow students went this route and recently had their graduation show in the main court of the Edinburgh College of Art.
I'm so glad I returned to Scotland in time for opening night - which was crazy busy and I didn't get a single photo of! But I went back a few days later to share these photos with you.
They even set up a table to sell items from their presentation items - posters, postcards, cards, prints, etc. Katy Wiedemann was manning the table when I stopped by.
Katy is an anatomical illustrator. If you know anything about that, you know she has to be crazy good. Which she is. Here was her final presentation. And here's her website.
Another presentation I'm sharing is Karin Eremia's.
Most of these students will now be leaving us, heading out into the world on their own new adventures. But Karin may stick around for a PhD as well, so she and I may be able to hang out a while longer. Yay! The show included both the Graphic Design and Illustration MA students. Since we share a studio, the gang has become pretty tight.
Over the next month, I'll be sharing books by several of my good friends, authors you've met on my blog, but THIS time the books are about school life in different genres--picture books with Kay Winters; early readers with Jamie Michalak; historical fiction with Joye Moyer Hostetter; and first up is my dear friend and poetry buddy, Author Claudia Mills, who shares wonderful memories of her own school days and writing her own school series: "Franklin School Friends"
Each author is generously donating a book for the comment contest and since school is the theme, we'd love to have you share a school memory with us. Of course, we're delighted just to have you drop by to say hello! Please do! The welcome mat is out and the light is on!
Back to School By Claudia Mills
Nerdy confession: I have always loved school.
I loved school before I ever went to school, as I sat watching “Romper Room” on my family’s black-and-white TV. Once I finally had the chance to go there, I adored real school even more. I still remember my favorite chapter of Dick-and-Jane, the one where Sally gets closed up in the big umbrella: “Oh! Oh! Funny Sally!”
I literally crossed off the days of summer vacation till school would begin again on the Tuesday after Labor Day. My fanatically frugal mother allowed only one splurge throughout our entire childhood: she was willing to spend lavishly on school supplies. What joy to heap the shopping cart with binders, notebook paper, “reinforcements” for the notebook paper holes, a special pencil box that had a map of the world on the lid. An elementary school teacher herself, she knew how to make school – and schoolwork – fun for us. Major projects called for the ceremonial setting up of the card table in a corner of the living room. How happily my sister sat there assembling her elaborate report on Uruguay, as I wrote a three-act play about Revolutionary War patriot Thomas Paine.
So now – surprise, surprise – I specialize in writing school stories. What I love most about school as a setting for fiction – besides my undying passion for school itself – is that school is an environment that puts kids in contact with people who are different from them in various, intriguing ways. Boys who would choose only to associate with fellow boys are seated next to girls, and vice versa. Kids whose lives revolve around reading find out how much they have in common with kids who are wild about sports. Teachers provide an adult presence contrasting with that of parents. A wider world opens.
As I write my books, I do have to remember – well, try to remember – that many of my young readers are not as smitten with school as I am and don’t faint with joy at the thought of the next school project. And yet . . . and yet . . . oh, school projects are such fun to write about! I’ve borrowed shamelessly from my sons’ elementary school experiences to build stories around the “biography tea” (Being Teddy Roosevelt), the third-grade space sleepover (How Oliver Olson Changed the World), a Civil War diary assignment (The Totally Made-Up Civil War Diary of Amanda MacLeish), an Oregon Trail journal assignment (The Trouble with Babies), and too many science fairs to mention.
My most recent series, “Franklin School Friends,” has let me luxuriate in the world of school over a series of five titles: Kelsey Green, Reading Queen; Annika Riz, Math Whiz; Izzy Barr, Running Star; Simon Ellis, Spelling Bee Champ; and Cody Harmon, King of Pets. (The break in the pattern of rhyming titles occurred when the series grew beyond the original three titles, in which Simon and Cody had already been given names that lacked rhyming potential.) I had the chance to write about a reading contest, PTA fundraising carnival, track-and-field day, spelling bee, and third grade pet show. Bliss!
I know it’s a bit weird to love school as much as I do. My own favorite character in the series is the Franklin School principal, Mr. Boone, whose chief character trait is his boundless enthusiasm for every single school activity. He promises to shave his big, bushy beard at the end of the reading contest, cheerfully enters the dunking tank a few dozen times at the school carnival, sprains his ankle bouncing on hoppy balls on field day, hosts a pie buffet for the spelling bee winners (featuring his famous honey pie – recipe included), and wears an elephant costume to school on pet show day. Finally, I have a character who unabashedly joins me in loving school deeply, fully, with all his whole heart. And I hope that maybe, just maybe, his enthusiasm for school, and mine, will prove contagious to young readers as well.
Honors and Awards for Franklin School Friends
Cody Harmon, King of Pets, illustrated by Rob Shepperson (Margaret Ferguson Books/FSG 2016). Junior Library Guild Selection; starred review in Kirkus, Amazon Pick of the Month June 2016. Simon Ellis, Spelling Bee Champ, illustrated by Rob Shepperson (Margaret Ferguson Books/FSG 2015). Junior Library Guild Selection. Izzy Barr, Running, Star, illustrated by Rob Shepperson (Margaret Ferguson Books/FSG 2015). Junior Library Guild selection. Annika Riz, Math Whiz, illustrated by Rob Shepperson (Margaret Ferguson Books/FSG, 2014). Junior Library Guild selection; Bank Street College of Education Best Children’s Books of the Year Kelsey Green, Reading Queen, illustrated by Rob Shepperson (Margaret Ferguson Books/FSG 2013). Junior Library Guild selection, Cybil Award finalist for early chapter books, (Washington D.C. ) Capitol Choice book, nominated for the Pennsylvania Young Reader’s Choice Award, the Rhode Island Children’s Book Award, the Massachusetts Children’s Book Award, and the Land of Enchantment (New Mexico) Book Award; translated into Korean and Chinese.
Claudia Mills holds a Ph.D. in philosophy from Princeton University and an M.L.S. degree (with a concentration in children’s literature) from the University of Maryland and is Associate Professor Emerita of Philosophy at the University of Colorado at Boulder. The author of almost 60 books for young readers, most recently Write This Down (Farrar) and The Trouble with Babies (Knopf), she has also published scholarly articles on Laura Ingalls Wilder, Louisa May Alcott, Maud Hart Lovelace, Betty MacDonald, Rosamond du Jardin, and Eleanor Estes. Her recent edited collection, Ethics and Children’s Literature (2014, Ashgate), won the Best Edited Book Award from the Children’s Literature Association. Her children’s books have been named Notable Books of the Year by the American Library Association and Best Books of the Year by the Bank Street College of Education, translated into half a dozen languages, and nominated for scores of state readers’ choice awards. A mother of two grown sons, and now “Mimsie” to two young granddaughters, she has written all her books between 5 and 7 in the morning, while drinking Swiss Miss hot chocolate.
Didn't Claudia's "Back to School" memories warm your heart and call to mind a few good memories of your own? We hope you had some happy times!
Claudia is donating a copy of one of her titles in the "Franklin School Friends" series. All you have to do for a chance to win a personalized book is to leave a comment! The winner gets to pick which title in the series he or she would like. I'll be back next week to announce the lucky winner!
0 Comments on Back to School with Author Claudia Mills + Giveaway as of 8/16/2016 8:18:00 AM
We first met in high school. He was a rough, taciturn boy, yet everyone looked to him for leadership. I was a plain-Jane honors student with braces. Coincidence brought us back together again. Now, he's a big name in finance—any woman would want him—while I'm a widow who's lost my savings, my job and my house—not to mention I'm pregnant! Ryan was kind enough to hire me as a home tutor for his daughter, but I doubt he has any idea how much his generosity has affected me.
Bedded by Blackmail
In London, England, at the most glittering social event of the year, all eyes are on sexy South American billionaire Diego Saez. Already infamous for his astounding rise from rags to riches, Diego is convinced that everything and everyone can be bought....
Society heiress Portia Lanchester has been left penniless. Diego wants her. Now Portia's got only one chance of survival--if she'll surrender to his blackmail...and to him...in his bed!
Rating: 4 stars (The Millionaire's Nanny Arrangement) Rating: 3.5 stars (Bedded by Blackmail)
Here's why:
Disclaimer: I got this book from Overdrive and have received no compensation from the author or publisher for this honest review.
I got this bundled book and was all set for one story to be better than the other. I was pleasantly surprised to find that both books were well-written and had characters that I could stand behind.
The Millionaire's Nanny Arrangement was a tug on the heart strings. Newly widowed Kelsey finds herself without a home or job and a baby on the way. She encounters six-year-old, Mariah and her father, Ryan Storm. Ryan needs a nanny and Kelsey needs a place to stay. Thus the story is set for a sweet romance between two very different people. There are a couple of nicely done twists that kept me reading to the very end.
Bedded by Blackmail was a little bit darker than the other novel. Diego and Portia were interesting characters because what I perceived as their personalities and behaviors came with an unexpected twist. Blackmailing someone is never fun and in this case made me a little bit angry with the way Diego went about it. Yet, the twists more than made up for my anger at the leading man in this story.
Would I recommend this? Yes they were both good.
0 Comments on Kishaz Reading Corner: Omnibus - The Millionaire's Nanny Arrangement / Bedded by Blackmail by Naoko Kubota as of 6/22/2016 7:34:00 AM
Author-illustrator Leslie Helakoski, co-teacher of Picture Books and All That Jazz 2016.Author Kelly Bennett taught about using Mentor Texts and helped with critiques.
The writers represented all levels from raw beginners to those on the cusp of selling something. Our job was to help them move along the journey of being a children’s book author.
The first night was intense: we spent three hours talking about the basics of picture books from length of printed book to the length of manuscripts that sell well. Character, plot, language–basic topics took most of the night’s material.
Some participants said that within the first hour, they were mentally rewriting their picture books!
Focusing Statement: Start Your Picture Book with a Bang
One helpful exercise was the Focusing Statement:
This is a story about ________________
Who more than anything else wants ___________________,
But can’t because:
1)
2)
3)
UNTIL _______________________________________.
When you get an idea for a picture book, it’s helpful to focus it by working on the narrative arc like this. If you have the focusing statement right, it shapes the story as you write.
Picture Book Language
On Saturday, discussion turned to the language used in picture books. Because they are read aloud, it’s not necessary to strictly limit your vocabulary choices. However, there’s a delicate balance of interesting words and maintaining clarity for the reader and audience.
My B.A. is in Speech Pathology and my M.A. is in Audiology. My favorite college class was phonics, or how the mouth changes shape to create various sounds. This knowledge of phonics has been extremely helpful in writing children’s books because the rhythm, voice and meaning are all affected by the sounds we choose. For example, if you are writing a lullaby, you don’t want to use harsh sounds such as d, t, k, g. Instead, choose words with liquid sounds such as l, w, r. At the PB&J retreat, we spent a session exploring how phonics affects the success of a picture book manuscript.
Picture Book Dummies
I love the process of cutting up a manuscript and pasting it into a dummy book. It’s easy to see if you have enough action images for an illustrator, or if you only have talking heads. When you read the manuscript as it will be laid out in a 32-page book, you suddenly see that this section is too long, that one is too short, and this one just doesn’t advance the story. Page turns become crucial. It’s a fun part of the process.
Picture Book Round Table Critiques
One fun part of the retreat is digging into the manuscripts. Participants were divided into three groups and assigned a table chaired by Kelly, Leslie, or myself. We read through each manuscript and talked about what was working, and then turned to the author’s next step in revising. The most common recommendation was the cut or tighten the prose. Some manuscripts went from 1000 to 350 words over the course of the weekend and the three critique sessions.
First Pages with Editor
Asst. Editor Kelsey Murphy talked about tightening manuscripts and did a First Pages session.
As the weekend progressed, excitement built because on Sunday afternoon, we held a First Pages session with visiting editor Kelsey Murphy of Balzer & Bray (Harpercollins). This is a common session in writing conferences wherein the editor listens to someone read aloud the first page of a manuscript. Then she makes comments. Kelsey was generous with her comments pointing out what worked, why it might or might not work for her company, and generally encouraging the writer.
That wasn’t enough excitement, though, because while Balzer & Bray is usually closed to unsolicited submissions, Kelsey will take submissions for a month from this group. That kept the excitement high as writers worked to incorporate her comments in their next revision.
This is the third year that Leslie and I have taught the PB&J session at Highlights and it was exciting for us. The enthusiasm was high, writers bonded and created critique groups and everyone made great strides in their writing. A career isn’t built on a single book; instead it takes a concentrated effort over a long period of time. But the foundation laid this weekend for writers was amazing. Look out! These writers are going to do fantastic things!
Yes, we’ll be offering PB&J next summer at Highlights again. I’ll announce it on my blog when registration is open.
About this book:
Kelsey has lived most of her life in a shadow of fear, raised to see danger everywhere. Her mother hasn’t set foot outside their front door in seventeen years, since she escaped from her kidnappers with nothing but her attacker’s baby growing inside her—Kelsey. Kelsey knows she’s supposed...
0 Comments on Featured Review: The Safest Lies by Megan Miranda as of 1/1/1900
About the Book:
THE SAFEST LIES by Megan Miranda
Kelsey has lived most of her life in a shadow of fear, raised to see danger everywhere. Her mother hasn’t set foot outside their front door in seventeen years, since she escaped from her kidnappers with nothing but her attacker’s baby growing...
0 Comments on Giveaway: The Safest Lies by Megan Miranda and The Hunt by Megan Shepherd (US Only) as of 1/1/1900
Passive programs are a great way to engage kids, whether they’re hanging out after school, coming in on a school-free day, or are just looking for something to do! They often require minimal effort to prepare and get off the ground, but are then good for hours of fun and engagement. If you’re looking to add school age passive programs to your library’s offerings, want to freshen things up, or just try something new, take a look at some of these great options!
Book cover puzzle
Make copies of a book cover, laminate, cut into puzzle pieces, and set them out (above)!
Put “postcards” out on a table and encourage kids to write a postcard to their favorite author or book character, like in The Show Me Librarian’s blog post. Bonus fun if you can find a place to display them in the library!
See what you can do with cardboard squares and plastic cups over at Library Learners.
Magnetic poetry at La Crosse Public Library
Have some fun with magnetic poetry (left)! If you have a magnet wall like the one pictured here it’s extra easy, but you don’t need something as elaborate as this! Try painting some cardboard with magnetic paint and lean it against a wall or set it on a table, and you’re good to go.
If you have a magnetic surface, there are lots of cool options to consider. Those book puzzle pieces pictured above? There’s magnetic tape on the back of each piece, so they double as magnet puzzles (below).
Magnetic book puzzles at La Crosse Public Library
Mad Libs provides some fun, free downloads, and you can find lots of other Mad Libs-style downloadables elsewhere online. Print them out, set them on a table with pencils or pens, and let kids get extra silly! Or, find a paper Mad Libs booklet and set that out instead!
Kelsey Johnson-Kaiser is a youth services librarian at the La Crosse Public Library in La Crosse, WI and a member of the ALSC School-Age Programs and Services Committee.
Due to slow sales and a changing market, I’d lost both my publisher and agent—and I was devastated. Also, a science fiction/mystery YA that I’d been positive would sell when it went to acquisition meetings at major publishers had ultimately been rejected.
After over 35 published YA and middle grade books, I was on my own.
Here’s what I wrote in my journal:
“I feel so sad when I think back on how high my hopes were but now everything has led to this point of failure. I am so sad...discouraged...mourning the loss of dreams.”
I moped around for a few days, doing things like eating chocolate, reading comfort books and hanging out with my family. But I couldn’t sit around—I had to write.
So instead of giving up—I got busy.
I researched publishers that accepted unagented manuscripts. I polished then submitted my manuscripts—including a few pictures books. This format was new to me since I’d mostly written novels, but I’d sold one picture book--Snow Dog, Sand Dog, illustrated by Jess Golden (Albert Whitman, 2014) and that gave me hope. So I wrote more picture books.
One of these, Cash Kat, seemed like a good fit for my friend Danna Smith’s publisher Arbordale, so I sent it to them. A year later they offered me a contract—and now Cash Kat (2016) is a beautiful hardback picture book, illustrated by Christina Wald! It teaches how to count money and celebrates the special bond kids have with their grandparents.
More books I submitted on my own sold: Never Been Texted (Leap Books, 2015) and Curious Cat Spy Club series to Albert Whitman (2015). The third book in this CCSC series, Kelsey The Spy, comes out April 1—and I can hardly wait.
Also, I got a new agent—Abi Samoun of Red Fox Literary, who recently sold two of my picture books to Little Bee for 2017 publication.
And remember that YA science fiction/mystery I’d tried so hard to sell? Well, it’s coming out in September 2016 from CBAY Publishing under the new title of Memory Girl.
Instead of my career being over, it’s taking a new shape.
Being discouraged is part of the writing game. Most writers deal with the lows of rejections, losing agents or editors, low sales numbers and having books go out of print. A writing career is like riding a roller coaster, going up and down then up again.
Here are some tips to help you ride the painful downs:
It’s healthy to grieve a disappointment or loss—but then get busy.
Network! Writer friends give great advice and publishing tips.
Small publishers can offer big opportunities.
Keep busy writing: books, articles, reviews. Name recognition counts.
Try new genres! You never know when magic will happen.
If you aren’t in a critique group, join one—or start one.
Don’t give up—as long as you’re writing you are a writer.
What Lifts Youby Kelsey MontagueRelease Date: February 23, 2016Publisher: Harlequin
About the Book
Step into the world of Kelsey Montague in this coloring book...
Famed for blending street art and social media, Kelsey Montague creates wild and whimsical largescale murals that beg passersby to step into them, become part...
0 Comments on Giveaway: What Lifts You by Kelsey Montague as of 1/1/1900
Submissions Needed. If you’d like a fresh look at your opening chapter or prologue, please email your submission to me re the directions at the bottom of this post.
The Flogometer challenge: can you craft a first page that compels me to turn to the next page? Caveat: Please keep in mind that this is entirely subjective.
What's a first page in publishingland? In a properly formatted novel manuscript (double-spaced, 1-inch margins, 12-point type, etc.) there should be about 16 or 17 lines on the first page (first pages of chapters/prologues start about 1/3 of the way down the page). Directions for submissions are below—they include a request to post the rest of the chapter, but that’s optional.
A word about the line-editing in these posts: it’s “one-pass” editing, and I don’t try to address everything, which is why I appreciate the comments from the FtQ tribe. In a paid edit, I go through each manuscript three times.
Before you rip into today’s submission, consider this checklist of first-page ingredients from my book, Mastering the Craft of Compelling Storytelling. While it's not a requirement that all of these elements must be on the first page, they can be, and I think you have the best chance of hooking a reader if they are.
Were I you, I'd examine my first page in the light of this list before submitting to the Flogometer. I use it on my own work.
A First-page Checklist
It begins engaging the reader with the character
Something is happening. On a first page, this does NOT include a character musing about whatever.
The character desires something.
The character does something.
There’s enough of a setting to orient the reader as to where things are happening.
It happens in the NOW of the story.
Backstory? What backstory? We’re in the NOW of the story.
Set-up? What set-up? We’re in the NOW of the story.
What happens raises a story question.
Caveat: a strong first-person voice with the right content can raise powerful story questions and create page turns without doing all of the above. A recent submission worked wonderfully well and didn't deal with five of the things in the checklist.
Also, if you think about it, the same checklist should apply to the page where you introduce an antagonist.
Kelsey sends a revision of her first chapter of This Bitter Cup. The last submission is here. The rest of the chapter follows the break.
I closed the door softly and crept down the hallway. It was dark as the castle’s torches were not lit at this hour. I quickened my pace and just as I checked the hallway behind me I walked straight into a man.
No, a boy. My age. He was not wearing the uniform of the castle guard or a servant’s livery. His clothing was a muted shade of black, as if to hide among the shadows between the lines of moonlight shining through the balistrarias. We locked eyes for a moment before he continued running down the hallway.
I continued in the opposite direction from him and threw myself headlong down the spiral staircase into the bowels of the castle. I exited through the scullery entrance into the cool night. I pulled my hood close to hide my porcelain skin; it would instantly tell any guards I wasn’t the servant I was dressed as.
I followed the narrow river that bisected the city to Madge’s Inn. Upon entering I was startled to find Madge herself sitting behind the counter. No one knew how old Madge was but no one could remember a time before her Inn either. I had assumed she’d died but I was glad she hadn’t.
Madge nodded at me and moved her stool and the rug beneath it to reveal a small trapdoor. I opened it and climbed down the ladder into darkness.
I do like the voice here and the atmosphere of this opening. It’s clear that the protagonist is up to something she doesn’t want anyone to know about . . . but what? She avoids discovery, but what are the consequences if she is discovered? What is the story about? These aren’t story questions, they are information questions, and it would be stronger if there were answers here. A hint of her mission, the stakes, any consequences to create a little tension. As it is, there wasn’t quite enough to pull me forward. As it turns out, even though we go with her to a secret meeting, we end up not knowing what it’s about, nor what the story concerns. We need more chew on before we can develop a taste here, Kelsey. But keep at it, there’s plenty of potential in these pages, and you've improved on the original. Some notes:
I closed the door softly and crept down the hallway. It was dark as the castle’s torches were not lit at this hour. I quickened my pace and just as I checked the hallway behind me I walked straight into a man.
No, a boy. My age. He was not wearing the uniform of the castle guard or a servant’s livery. His clothing was a muted shade of black, as if to hide among the shadows between the lines of moonlight shining through the balistrarias. We locked eyes for a moment before he continued running down the hallway. It seems to me that black is black and there are no shades of black. Those are called “gray.” And the boy/man wasn’t running when she walked into him, he just seemed to have been there. I would change “continued running” to “ran.” for this to track in a meaningful way.
I continued in the opposite direction from him and threw myself headlong down the spiral staircase into the bowels of the castle. I exited through the scullery entrance into the cool night. I pulled my hood close to hide my porcelain skin; it would instantly tell any guards I wasn’t the servant I was dressed as.
I followed the narrow river that bisected the city to Madge’s Inn. Upon entering I was startled to find Madge herself sitting behind the counter. No one knew how old Madge was but no one could remember a time before her Inn either. I had assumed she’d died but I was glad she hadn’t.
Madge nodded at me and moved her stool and the rug beneath it to reveal a small trapdoor. I opened it and climbed down the ladder into darkness. Here, if not earlier, would be a good place to hint at some aspect of story. For instance: I opened and climbed down the ladder into darkness to join my fellow conspirators.
I felt for the door and rapped quickly, hoping I remembered the pattern. I heard the latch click and entered the room. The walls and floor were packed earth but the ceiling was black stone, like a starless night sky.
I sat at a table. “How many are we waiting for?” I asked the large, black bearded man behind the counter. I remembered him vaguely from the last meeting.
“Four,” he replied and continued to stare at the door.
I twiddled my thumbs. My nerves made me feel like a crouched cat, ready to flee at the first whiff of a threat. Four more people trickled through the door over the course of half of an hour. I recognized half of them. One was the town blacksmith’s apprentice. The other worked for the baker.
I sat alone at my table, the only woman in a room full of men.
One of the men I didn’t recognize stood behind the bar and the bearded man sat down at a table. He placed both his palms flat on the well-worn wood and looked out at the room.
He cleared his throat. “I’ve just received word that we have acquired the maps.”
He looked at me. “We have been trying to acquire these for some time but have been unable to ourselves,” he looked back out at the room, “this was accomplished through the use of an outside…contractor.”
The boy I had seen in the hallway?
“You will receive further instructions when we reconvene in a fortnight.”
That was all he had to say? Everyone left except for the black bearded man and the man who had addressed us.
“What the hell has happened since the last meeting?” I demanded. “Why isn’t Samuel running these meetings anymore? Why do I only recognize three people?”
“Such unbecoming language for a lady,” the black bearded man said.
“Introductions are in order,” the other man said more tactfully, “I’m Richard and this is my cousin John, you may remember him from the last weekend.”
“I remember,” I said, crossing my arms and raising my chin.
“We had an incident with Samuel last week,” Richard said, “the guards noticed him asking a lot of questions and they took him in to ask some of their own and he hasn’t been seen since.”
“If you kept a better handle on your castle you would have already known that,” John said to me. “And if you’d gotten the maps a fortnight ago like we’d planned this wouldn’t have happened.”
“Who was this contractor?”
John and Richard looked at each other. “No one you need you need to worry about,” said Richard. “You won’t ever be seeing him.”
“I like to meet everyone involved at least once,” I said. “You know that.”
“I no longer think that’s the wisest policy, plausible deniability and all that. With the guards taking people I’d hate to see your lovely name tortured out of anyone. Best to keep you in the shadows.”
I glared at them. “Fine, I’ll see you in a fortnight.” I stormed out of the room.
When I left Madge’s the river was lit with the silvery light of the moon but there wasn’t any hint of dawn on the horizon. I was on time. In the quiet silver light all I heard was the river lapping against the shore but I swear I felt someone watching me.
Swatch's life depended so heavily on music, so I knew that if I made a trailer for her, music would have to be the heartbeat of the whole thing. I thank my lucky stars for the opportunity to work with mega-talent / composer Steve Pardo, who wrote that heartbeat, his original melody: "Swatch's Song".
Steve is prolific in his personal and professional work; his repertoire includes songwriting, performing, arranging, producing, recording for blockbuster video games, his project, Skewsound, and folk band Opal Puckkett, among other teaching and performing endeavors.
He suggested enhancing Swatch's track with some live strings, namely, The Videri String Quartet (high masters of the video game soundtrack!) When he invited me to come watch Videri RECORD their track live, I jumped at the chance.
Here's a glimpse of recording day in Steve's studio in Somerville, MA. The Quartet is: (founder) violist Rosalie Samter, Jeremiah Barcus on cello, Lizzie Jones and Michael Hustedde on violins. They were all so casual, friendly, and unassuming (like most geniuses are) until the second their bows hit string and I was like: ......................................................................... just listen:
When their music filled that little room, there is no other way to explain it, except for the distinct feeling that Swatch was right there! Made of sounds and words and paint. Now with this new musical facet, she was somehow finally and utterly FREE, which is what (like her wild colors) she most wanted. No longer an idea, circling restlessly in a jar. She was a book, a song, someone who could be a friend to somebody new. Meeting Steve's interpretation of Swatch's spirit was truly incredible...
rosalie = sunbeam incarnate!
From Videri's gorgeous mission statement :
Videri, a Latin word meaning "to be seen" and the quartet’s namesake, alludes to the role of music in illuminating visual narratives....to celebrate the dynamic link between music and storytelling
Ah. Confession: on the way home, I had a good cry. (Strings do that to me anyway) but this time they heralded something very specific: a long journey had ended, and a new one had begun. It was the moment Swatch was handed over to the Wild. We had spent a good deal of time together; this girl and Yellow, and Blue, and Bravest Green. They had set up shop in my brain and heart, through some tough seasons, spreading color and light even when I didn't want to pay attention; we remained devoted to each other. I will miss her. But this is the way of it! It's all set free in the end. This has to happen so the best, deep magic can start.
There is magic between children and open books, paint and blank white, violins and silence: It is Wild possibility. Co-creation. Swatch is just about that: making things together. It took many people to get wild and make this trailer: Steve illuminated Swatch's story in richer color than I could have done alone. Videri sung her right out of thin air. Media artist Luke Boggia lended his talents to make Blue shimmer and butterflies dance. My husband Matt helped me storyboard, did the laundry, and believed the whole long way. Thank you to Brenda, Wendi, Alessandra, Martha, Kelsey, Booki for your enthusiasm.
Let's keeping making stuff together. It never has to end: as soon as YOU open the book, it will happen again!
Submissions Welcome. If you’d like a fresh look at your opening chapter or prologue, please email your submission to me re the directions at the bottom of this post.
The Flogometer challenge: can you craft a first page that compels me to turn to the next page? Caveat: Please keep in mind that this is entirely subjective.
What's a first page in publishingland? In a properly formatted novel manuscript (double-spaced, 1-inch margins, 12-point type, etc.) there should be about 16 or 17 lines on the first page (first pages of chapters/prologues start about 1/3 of the way down the page). Directions for submissions are below—they include a request to post the rest of the chapter, but that’s optional.
A word about the line-editing in these posts: it’s “one-pass” editing, and I don’t try to address everything, which is why I appreciate the comments from the FtQ tribe. In a paid edit, I go through each manuscript three times.
Before you rip into today’s submission, consider this checklist of first-page ingredients from my book, Mastering the Craft of Compelling Storytelling. While it's not a requirement that all of these elements must be on the first page, they can be, and I think you have the best chance of hooking a reader if they are.
Were I you, I'd examine my first page in the light of this list before submitting to the Flogometer. I use it on my own work.
A First-page Checklist
It begins engaging the reader with the character
Something is happening. On a first page, this does NOT include a character musing about whatever.
The character desires something.
The character does something.
There’s enough of a setting to orient the reader as to where things are happening.
It happens in the NOW of the story.
Backstory? What backstory? We’re in the NOW of the story.
Set-up? What set-up? We’re in the NOW of the story.
What happens raises a story question.
Caveat: a strong first-person voice with the right content can raise powerful story questions and create page turns without doing all of the above. A recent submission worked wonderfully well and didn't deal with five of the things in the checklist.
Also, if you think about it, the same checklist should apply to the page where you introduce an antagonist.
Dave sends a revision of The Last Good Word. The rest of the chapter follows the break.
Please vote and comment. It helps the writer.
Mr. Pinky Pollard, the operator of Sun to Moon Lake, was a rowdy white man with jug ears and a lazy left eye who wore his trousers hiked up over his belly, cinched with rope. He lived in the best one of a dozen shacks built with hewn logs and tin roofs at the Negro-only resort camp in Madison County, Mississippi, with his wife Miss Ivy and their three daughters. The summer of 1928 was long, hot, and humid. The camp was filled almost every sunny day with hard-working cotton sharecroppers and their families who picnicked atop the soft, copper pine straw that rolled over five acres of red soil hardpan like a rich sisal carpet. Guests from miles around loved to relax by the lake beneath the magnolia blossoms, while their children played on the monkey bars and the rope swings that carried them far out over the water. It was safe and fun. Until the day the youngest Pollard girl went missing.
Everyone searched for little eleven year-old Sammianne when, late in the afternoon two boys lolling on inner tubes stumbled across a body floating in a lonely crook of the lake bristling with cattails. They scurried back to shore and raised the alarm. Sergeant Connelly, the police chief of High Tune, the nearest crossroads to the camp, soon barreled up the bumpy lane in his flivver, stoking a rooster tail of boiling crimson dust fifty yards long. He skidded to a stop and hopped out with a fierce scowl, and elbowed his way through the crowd of fidgety looky loos who stood in shock at the water’s edge. Mr. Pinky showed the sergeant to the telephone in his (snip)
My, what a rich and colorful world we’re introduced here, the deep South of the 1920s. The voice is good and the writing strong. And, with the body of a little girl found on the first page, there’s a story question that gets the page turned.
A couple of notes for Dave: when the KKK guys arrive to help search for the killer, they put on their robes and hoods. It doesn’t seem logical to me that they would do that to go tromping through the woods. Yeah, the chief knows they’re Klansmen, but the hoods etc. don’t seem quite logical to me.
Secondly, the chapter devolves from an interesting story about an innocent black boy in the old South on the run to a colorful history of his father and parents, a chapter full of backstory. I skipped though it, hoping for the story of Slim to take up. I was disappointed, and would not have continued after the chapter was over, fearing more detours from the story. Something to think about.
. . . shack where he made a call. Soon a wailing ambulance raced in, followed by a carload of cops from the nearby town of Bottom Bait.
Two policemen rolled up the legs of their trousers and, braving the leeches and water moccasins, waded into the lake with big metal hooks tied to ropes. Families in rowboats paddled up to watch from a respectable distance. Men on the shore held the ends of the ropes while the cops fished around in the murk. When they snagged something and heave-hoed the lines, a body rolled out, soaking wet and freckled in duckweed. The onlookers gasped. Miss Ivy heard the news and bustled over with Mr. Pinky. That green plaid dress. The flaxen hair in long strings matted over the face. She threw her hands up in horror, and screamed.
A doctor had come with the ambulance. He knelt down on one knee and examined the body. “Young white girl,” he told a nearby cop who scribbled with a pencil in a notebook. “One, two, three incisions to her chest. Appears otherwise healthy.” He looked up at the crowd of people standing by. “I’d wager she was murdered.” At those words, Miss Ivy fainted and fell into her husband’s arms.
Chief Connelly heard the doctor’s pronouncement, too. “All right, every one of you Negroes start lining up,” the chief roared at the guests. The jumpy policemen drew their revolvers and held them up in the air with hands clasped together. “Come on now. Y’all out there in them boats. You get on up here, too.” The chief picked up a stick and carved a gash in the soil. “Stand behind this line,” he told the frightened guests and nervous camp help. “Let me tell you something. This little girl we found dead in the water? Doc said she was murdered.” Those within earshot yelped in shock. “I tell you he ain’t gonna get away with what he done, that’s all there is to it. Y’all gonna have to give him up.” The chief pulled out a pressed hanky and wiped his sweaty brow. “Tell my men everything what you know about the killer of this sweet young white girl.”
Within an hour, the ambulance carried away Sammianne’s body. While the police interviewed the guests, Mr. Pinky spoke to the chief. “Have y’all looked at that colored boy Slim Downes, Chief Connelly?” Mr. Pinky asked. He smoked a cigar that he’d chewed to a stump, and had wedged in the corner of his mouth. “The boy who washes dishes here. He’s a strange bird.” Mr. Pinky sat down on a log in front of his wife, who was still laid out on the ground in front of him. He dabbed his sad eyes with a handkerchief and blew his nose. “Did you know he got caught with an eight year old girl over in Rassleville a few years back? Pulled down her drawers to her ankles. Yes sir, Chief. He’d be the first one I’d be looking at.”
“My son, he was cleared of all that,” cried Miss Bessie Downes. Slim’s mother was waiting nearby in line to be interrogated, and overhead the accusation. “He didn’t do it. And he couldn’t possibly be guilty of this horrible crime, neither.” A police officer approached her and led her away by the arm. “I didn’t raise no murderer,” she hollered back over her shoulder. “My boy did not kill your daughter, Mr. Pinky.”
Just before suppertime, after word about the murder had made it all the away to Lower Harkington in Yazoo County, three carloads of whites arrived at Sun to Moon Lake, many with families in tow. The men milled around, restless and sullen. Some held back large black and brown dogs, snapping and growling, on leashes. The men hollered at their wives to get out their garments from the backseats of the cars. The women helped their husbands step into the long white robes, and put on hoods over their heads with holes cut out for their eyes. The resort guests watched nervously behind the police line.
“All right now,” hollered the police chief. “We need y’alls help to find the colored boy, Slim Downes. He’s our suspect. The rest of you Negroes ain’t got to be worried about them representatives of the Invisible Empire who just showed up. They’re just here to help my men, and there’ll be no trouble at all if you’ll just give him up.” No one moved. A minute later, the impatient white men took their dogs and stormed off, some carrying shotguns and rifles, others heavy iron tamping rods and long, rusty crowbars, to help search for the accused. Some of the blacks in the crowd made the sign of the cross and beseeched the Lord.
Miss Bessie was seated on a log bench between two policemen from Bone City who were interviewing her about Slim, when she leaned over and pleaded with one for help. “I feel faint,” she complained. “And scared. Please help me out of here.” They held her by her arms and she staggered past a line of enraged wives and children of the white men who surged behind her, and called her vile names with their fists clenched in the air.
One of the white women ran forward and spat on her. “Hand him over!” she hollered at Miss Bessie. “He got to pay the penalty for what he done to that poor little white girl.”
“Our men will find that boy, and string him up like he deserves,” shouted another white woman. “My husband brung the rope!”
“No please,” Miss Bessie hollered. “Listen to me. You got the wrong boy, I’m telling y’all. The police ain’t even spoke to my son yet.” The policemen tugged her along by her arm. “Leave him be,” she cried. “Call off your husbands. My boy is only eighteen years old. Ain’t even had a fair chance at life yet.”
“Your boy’s a killer.”
“Then take him to the courthouse in Canton, peaceful and proper-like,” cried Miss Bessie. “Put him in front of a judge and give him a fair trial. Then you’ll see.”
“Go on home,” one of the other white women sneered. “You shouldn’t be here for this, Mammy.”
Miss Bessie labored her way along, and the two policemen deposited her at her shack. Before they left, the policemen searched around inside for a few minutes, but turned up no sign of Slim.
Egged on by the crowd, two cops picked out a tall oak and, to the cheers of the whites, one of them climbed it with a thick rope. When he reached a height of about thirty feet he threw the rope over a stout branch and dropped the free end down to the other cop below, who grinned and fashioned a noose. An hour later, after there still was no sign of Slim Downes, a dozen white men itching for a fight returned and teased some of the older black men with threats. One of the whites carried a long pole and unfurled a Confederate flag and stood solemnly by the dangling noose.
Slim snuck back home and when his mother saw him, she gave him a hug. “Oh God, son. How’d you ever get in such a jam?” She told him about the Klan showing up at the camp, lusting for blood.
“Mama, I’m scared!”
“Me too, son.”
“I didn’t do nothing, I promise. Once I heard Mr. Pinky fingered me for killing Sammianne, I just ran off and hid from everybody. And now the Klan’s here, too? Mr. Pinky must hate me real bad. But I didn’t hurt her none. She were my friend. I would never do nothing to her, Mama.”
“I know it, son. But now what’ll we do?”
“I got to go. Leave town. Leave Mississippi where no one’ll find me. Right now.”
“I can’t believe this is happening, my darling Slim.” She wiped the tears from her eyes and snapped opened her purse. Inside was a five dollar bill. She pulled it out and tucked it into a pocket of his trousers. He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek goodbye, and took a few slices of bread off the counter, grabbed some beef jerky off a shelf and dropped it all into a pillowcase. On his way out he grabbed his pipe and a bag of tobacco.
“Goodbye, Mama. I love you.” Tears streamed down his cheeks.
“Farewell, my son. I will always love you, no matter what. May God keep you safe. Now…I guess you better git.”
Slim bolted out of town on foot and tramped north, goose-stepping on the pitch-coated crossties of a rail line. The steel rails were shiny, not rusty, so it meant they had been recently used and it was an active rail line. But who knew where it went? All he hoped was that it was a fast way out of High Tune. He had never been away from home longer than a weekend, when he once rode a mule over to his Uncle Lincoln’s shack, fifteen miles away. It was the farthest he had ever travelled, too. His uncle, his father’s brother, was a field hand on a tobacco plantation, and had showed Slim how to cut the broad tobacco leaves and hang them upside down in a barn on racks to cure them. Uncle Lincoln was very distressed that Slim’s daddy preferred boozing to raising his son. Farming tobacco was backbreaking work, hoeing the fields and weeding the crops for weeks on end in the blazing Mississippi sun, but Uncle Lincoln thought it best the boy had at least some preparation for life. As hard as the work was, Slim preferred his time with his uncle to going home.
When Slim’s daddy was alive, he had long held the reputation of a no good, son-of-a-bitch, mean-ass drunk. He’d been working for years in the turpentine camps outside of Charlotte, North Carolina, where Slim was born. They lived in a shanty provided by the Southland Turpentine Co., and Slim’s daddy worked every day with a gang of forty other Negro men who hacked the trunks of longleaf pines with knives, cutting hatch marks called cat faces into the soft wood. The sticky amber gum bled out into cups that sat in notches in the trees. Another team of men collected the gum juice from the turpentine grove, and sent it over to the steaming pitch still where the men who ran it looked for all the world like moonshiners. After the gum was distilled into turpentine, a mule team hauled away wagon loads of full barrels for shipping to manufacturers who used it in products like paint, medicine, and cleaning products. The grove eventually shut down after the forest was depleted, and Slim’s daddy moved the family on to another forest near far-off Ocala, Florida.
After only four years, turpentining ruined the Florida forest just as it had in North Carolina, and thousands of acres of dead trees were left to sawyers who came in and built sawmills for lumber. Slim’s family left Florida, and made it all the way by mule-drawn wagon to fresh forests in High Tune, Mississippi, where Slim’s daddy slashed cat faces in tree trunks for yet another turpentine company.
Every night after work Slim’s daddy would barge through the door of the shack smelling of the sharp, spicy scent of pine, and feeling all worn out and miserable. Sometimes after having suffered beatings from the camp bosses for getting caught drinking liquor during the ceaseless hard work, he would come home with a fresh silver dollar jingling in his trousers pocket to show for his labor. But more often than not, the only pay he brought home when the camp was short on cash was script, which had to be used in the company store, a place with terribly high prices.
Every evening his wife Bessie would kiss him and make supper, but soon afterwards he got to drinking and would whack her black-and-blue with the half-empty whiskey bottle, or club her with a bed slat, or slap her raw with a leather belt. Slim always tried to protect her, and one night beat his daddy on the back with a broomstick he kept close at hand, to stop him from hurting his mama. Humiliated and sore, his daddy left, pissed off at the world, and chased tail all night long down at the Big O, a jook joint in the neighboring town of Onion Slice with a guitar player seated in a corner, an old man rumored to be over ninety years old. There was lots of dancing to boogie-woogie and barrel house music, and gallons of liquor always flowed.
Everybody in Madison County who was acquainted with Elrod Argus “Slim” Downes, Sr., knew that, thanks to his heavy drinking, he’d been laid off for good from chipping trees for gum juice. With all the time in the world on his hands now, he grew idle and more sullen, cussed more than ever, and spent his days shooting dice and playing pool for beer. He made a little money by running illegal moonshine for a friend who owned a still, but it never added up to much. Slim’s daddy spent most of what he made on drinking anyway, and would take home any raggedy old pussy he could get his fingers into with the change he had left over. Miss Bessie and Slim, Jr. never saw a penny of his cash money. Out of luck and broke, he and his mama fled to Sun to Moon Lake, where they both found work at Mr. Pinky’s resort camp. But Slim’s daddy kept pestering them and, when he got sick and finally died at age thirty-nine in awful pain from a rock-hard liver, cold and alone in the bed of a whore, it was as though nothing at all had happened in the Downes’ shack by the lake. Except the beatings stopped. And the pussy quit coming around.
Submissions Welcome. If you’d like a fresh look at your opening chapter or prologue, please email your submission to me re the directions at the bottom of this post.
The Flogometer challenge: can you craft a first page that compels me to turn to the next page? Caveat: Please keep in mind that this is entirely subjective.
What's a first page in publishingland? In a properly formatted novel manuscript (double-spaced, 1-inch margins, 12-point type, etc.) there should be about 16 or 17 lines on the first page (first pages of chapters/prologues start about 1/3 of the way down the page). Directions for submissions are below—they include a request to post the rest of the chapter, but that’s optional.
A word about the line-editing in these posts: it’s “one-pass” editing, and I don’t try to address everything, which is why I appreciate the comments from the FtQ tribe. In a paid edit, I go through each manuscript three times.
Before you rip into today’s submission, consider this checklist of first-page ingredients from my book, Mastering the Craft of Compelling Storytelling. While it's not a requirement that all of these elements must be on the first page, they can be, and I think you have the best chance of hooking a reader if they are.
Were I you, I'd examine my first page in the light of this list before submitting to the Flogometer. I use it on my own work.
A First-page Checklist
It begins engaging the reader with the character
Something is happening. On a first page, this does NOT include a character musing about whatever.
The character desires something.
The character does something.
There’s enough of a setting to orient the reader as to where things are happening.
It happens in the NOW of the story.
Backstory? What backstory? We’re in the NOW of the story.
Set-up? What set-up? We’re in the NOW of the story.
What happens raises a story question.
Caveat: a strong first-person voice with the right content can raise powerful story questions and create page turns without doing all of the above. A recent submission worked wonderfully well and didn't deal with five of the things in the checklist.
Also, if you think about it, the same checklist should apply to the page where you introduce an antagonist.
Kelsey sends the first chapter of Lady Waiting, a YA fantasy. The rest of the chapter follows the break.
Please vote and comment. It helps the writer.
I pulled on the fur lined boots hand made to look well-worn and grubby. They completed the scratchy brown wool leggings and muted blue tunic that split at the sides from my wait to my knees. I pulled up my hood and check my reflection in my small hand mirror. My face was rubbed with dirt to hide my porcelain complexion. I added some dirt to the backs of my hands.
I closed the door softly and crept down the hallway. The castle’s torches were not lit at this hour. I quickened my pace. Just as I checked the hallway behind me I walked straight into another man.
No, a boy. My age. He was not wearing the uniform of the castle guard or servant’s livery. All of his clothing was a muted shade of black or deep blue, I couldn’t tell with only faint moonlight coming through the slits in the walls. He stared at me only for a moment before he continued running down the hallway.
I continued in the same direction, running now, and skidded to a stop in front of the kitchens. The room was inviting both in the soft warmth from the bread ovens and the rich floury smell wafting from them. The cook was not to be in the kitchen right now and he had promised to keep the maids from it as well. I left through the scullery entrance into the cool night.
I grabbed my small bag of provisions stashed in a nearby barrel and slung it over my shoulder. I made my way to the river that bisected the city and followed it to Madge’s Inn.
The voice is good and we start with something mysterious happening, which is to the good. On the other hand, we also start with errors and clarity issues--for example, the character is not male as is implied. And a compelling story question has yet to be raised. It’s clear that the character is sneaking out, but no indication of consequences if she is caught. The time that could be introduced is when she runs into the other person. Fear of discovery for certain consequences could come up at that time. There could be implied jeopardy that would help.
A sense of the mission would also help. Why is she sneaking out? What is the goal? Is there danger or jeopardy involved? Is she going to meet some rebels, as is implied later? Now would be a good time to introduce something like that. Overall, while the writing is good it needs to get better before this is ready for prime time, and tension needs to be developed on the first page. A good start, keep at it. Notes:
I pulled on the fur-lined boots hand made to look well-worn and grubby. They completed the scratchy brown wool leggings and muted blue tunic that split at the sides from my wait waist to my knees. I pulled up my hood and check checked my reflection in my small hand mirror. My face wasI had rubbed my face with dirt to hide my porcelain complexion. I added some dirt to the backs of my hands. A spelling error and an incorrect verb tense is not a great start. It pays to check everything before sending work out. Changed the sentence from passive to active.
I closed the door softly and crept down the hallway. The castle’s torches were not lit at this hour. I quickened my pace. Just as I checked the hallway behind me I walked straight into another man.Clarity issues. First, in the opening the character was adding dirt to his/her skin, which suggests outdoors, but now he/she is in a hallway. The first paragraph needs to include something that makes the use of dirt logical. Second problem: the character runs into “another” man. This makes it clear that the character is a man—but she isn’t a man, as we learn later. Needs to be clarified.
No, a boy. My age. He was not wearing the uniform of the castle guard or servant’s livery. All of hisHis clothing was a muted shade of black or deep blue, I couldn’t tell with only faint moonlight coming through the slits in the walls. He stared at me only for a moment before he continued running down the hallway. Couldn’t tell what? What the actual color is? Does it matter?
I continued in the same direction, running now, and skidded to a stop in front of the kitchens. The room was inviting, both in the soft warmth from the bread ovens and the rich floury smell wafting from them. The cook was not to be in the kitchen right now and he had promised to keep the maids from it as well. I left through the scullery entrance into the cool night. In my experience the aroma of baking bread is from the yeast, not the flour.
I grabbed my small bag of provisions stashed in a nearby barrel and slung it over my shoulder. I made my way to the river that bisected the city and followed it to Madge’s Inn.
At a recent state library association conference, I attended a great session on Everyday Advocacy. What’s that, you ask? I wondered the same thing myself before the presentation, and just 45 minutes later, I left feeling a little more knowledgeable, and a little more confident.
Image from Everyday Advocacy website
Everyday Advocacy is the idea that we are all advocates for our profession, our libraries, and ourselves each and every day. It’s also an ALSC initiative working to equip us with the tools we need to be everyday advocates. As we build relationships, strengthen our communities, and connect with families, sometimes it’s hard to know how to talk about those things in ways that get attention. How can we empower ourselves, our colleagues, and our staff to feel prepared to engage in advocacy?
One of the big take-aways from the session I attended was crafting your elevator speech. We’re all probably familiar with the idea of an elevator speech: a very quick summary of what you do and why it’s important. But here’s the key: when you talk about what you do, it’s not a list of job duties like “storytime, collection development, and the Summer Library Program.” You want to talk about how you actively impact a particular group and the larger result. So the phrase “I work with kids and families at the library” becomes “I help kids and families unpack their curiosity at the library so that the kids can go out and change our world for the better” (example from ALSC Everyday Advocacy website).
The Everyday Advocacy website provides information and tools to equip us to engage in advocating for ourselves and our communities. As you take a look, keep in mind that your behavior can have a powerful ripple effect. When we engage in advocacy, we’re modeling to our staff and colleagues, and hopefully empowering them to engage in some advocacy as well. Managers, remember that an important part of the supervisory role includes mentoring and enabling staff to become strong leaders themselves. When we say that advocacy is all about relationships, it’s not limited to relationships outside the librarian community! It’s also those we cultivate with our staff and peers. Take a look, feel empowered, and spread the word about the impact you’re having on your community every day.
Kelsey Johnson-Kaiser is a Youth Services Librarian at the La Crosse Public Library in La Crosse, WI and is a member of the Managing Children’s Services Committee.
Today is the pub day of my newest book child, Simon Ellis, Spelling Bee Champ, the fourth title in the Franklin School Friends chapter book series.
Simon appears as Kelsey's reading contest rival in Kelsey Green, Reading Queen; he's Annika's Sudoku contest rival in Annika Riz, Math Whiz; and he is a competitive racer in Izzy Barr, Running Star. When it was Simon's turn to star in his own book, I asked myself: "What problem could a kid have who is good at everything?" And the answer was immediately clear: "That he's good at everything."
Simon is a very bright kid who has a wide range of intellectual and creative interests. He genuinely loves to read, and adores math, and savors playing the violin. And he shines as a speller because of his love affair with words, the longer and harder the better. But his best friend, Jackson, is getting tired of losing at everything to Simon - and when Simon tries letting Jackson win, Jackson gets even madder. Other kids start calling Simon "Super Simon" and then "Super Duper Pooper Simon." What is poor Simon to do? Hide his talents from his classmates? Pretend not to care about all the things that are dear to his heart?
His story ended up being very dear to my own heart. I wrote it during the blissful summer of 2014 when I taught at Hollins, sharing it with the students in my graduate chapter-book writing class. My son Gregory helped me come up the "longest-word-in-the-world" that Simon exults in spelling, and Gregory also served as the only ghost-writer I've ever employed, providing some language for the video gaming action in two scenes; the book is dedicated to him. And Simon is just so sweet, so eager to learn and perplexed that others don't share his affinity for the life of the mind.
So I send him out into the world with an extra-protective hug today.
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Hi, folks. Just a little peek at my life and times first: I had the pleasure of attending the SCBWI conference in College Station, Texas. I met the brilliant Kimberly Willis Holt, who was as wonderful as I hoped she would be. I was so grateful to have the chance to meet such a fine writer, and she spoke to my soul, which is a thing so beyond words. I also had the chance to meet the Balzer and Bray editor, Kelsey Murphy, who shared great stuff about creating authentic characters, and was full of energy and the love of children's books. Feeling pretty blessed.
And now on to my Chicken by Chicken, where I talk about the real. We all face challenges. I am like everyone, I have challenges too. This week I'm going to talk about life in the blur. I was born with anisometropia amblyopia. Also known as lazy eye. There is nothing wrong with my eye. The brain doesn't work. Currently there is a rosy outlook for this condition. For folks my age, not so much. I am legally blind in one eye. My other eye is corrected to 20/40.
I am extremely lucky that my good eye meets the threshold for driving without restriction. If I lose any more vision, I will no longer be able to drive at night or over the speed of 45 miles an hour. Having only one eye means I do not have stereoscopic vision. This makes me clumsy and I trip over things a lot and bang into curbs with my car. I wish all curbs were painted a color. I also suck at sports that require you to hit a ball with a stick. I also sort of run into things randomly in a way that makes people roll their eyes.
I am posting two pictures so you can see what I see without my glasses. The first one is what I can see with my bad eye. This is all it can ever see. The second one is what I can see with my good eye without correction. As soon as my glasses are off I am blind.
This condition has shaped my life in a million ways. I trip on steps, fall off curbs, and run into pesky poles. I hate crowds because I bump into people and get scolded: "Are you blind?" This happens to me 3 or 4 times a week and has happened for my whole life. Did the math. That is well over a hundred thousand times. If my glasses get knocked off for any reason, I am blind. It annoys many people when I ask them to help me find my glasses. See pictures above. Could you find your glasses? Only if there is really, really good contrast, which there rarely is.
How we perceive the world defines us. Anything that requires depth perception is just not in my wheel house. That means no diving, no flying planes, no playing video games, no driving motorboats, blah, blah, blah. I don't see things the way others do. The end. I am kind to myself. I accept my limitations and live on in the blur. We are all making do. A good thing to remember. I will be back next week with more Chicken by Chicken.
Here is a doodle.
Finally a quote for your pocket. The greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it.― Moliere
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Presenting the cover for my next picture book IT CAME IN THE MAIL! This one has long been in the works. Five years? Full of pickles, pigs, and friendship . . . I think this is my best one so far. Here is a peek at a couple interior pieces . . .
I've always been obsessed with getting mail. As a kid checking the mail was the one chore I'd volunteer to do. Even now (despite the fact that I usually only get bills and junk) checking the mail is one of the high points of the day for me. Sundays are always a bit of a disappointment.
Might have gotten in trouble with Kelsey for burning papers at two in the morning but I think the result is pretty neat. Can't say I've every received a dragon in the mail. I'd like to! Please send one to me!
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We only have one kidlit author/illustrator event this week (that isn’t sold out) but lots of workshop opportunities. Mark your calendars for next week, Wednesday, October 14. Lincoln Pierce, author/illustrator of BIG NATE will be at Blue Willow! The last time he was here, the place was packed with kids and they had a blast! When you purchase BIG NATE: WELCOME TO MY WORLD from Blue Willow Bookshop, you will get your place in the signing line. Don’t delay! Blue Willow Bookshop’s event with Rick Riordan is sold out!
NYT Bestselling author Brandon Sanderson, who has authored many fantasy books for kids and teens, will be in town tonight at Murder By the Book discussing his newest fantasy for adults, SHADOWS OF SELF. He is always asked about his writing process at these events, so go prepared for a fascinating and exhausting discussion. If you want to hear/see his lectures on writing fantasy, check out his videos on Write About Dragons.
Also, please mark your calendars for local author Sara Joiner’s launch for her debut MG novel, AFTER THE ASHES. Sara will be celebrating her book birthday at Blue Willow Bookshop on October 17. I had originally thought I wouldn’t be able to make it to this event, but happily, plans have changed! I love this book and I’m excited about joining Sara’s party.
My critique partner, Kathy Duval, has a new picture book out later this month from Random House, A BEAR’S YEAR. Look for it at bookstores everywhere. If you see it out there in the wild, please post a pic on twitter or facebook. Kathy’s twitter handle is @duval_kathy.
Self-editing is a crucial skill for any and every writer, because self-editing can significantly decrease the cost of hiring an editor and significantly increase the likelihood that readers will pick up our stories. In this hands-on workshop, we will learn important editing techniques and apply them to our own work. Please bring a digital or hard-copy version of your work-in-progress and come prepared to edit and rewrite. The first three writers to send in the first three pages of their manuscripts will get to have their work critiqued and incorporated into the workshop’s discussions.
Learn to take your writing from “okay” to “powerful” and “mesmerizing.” Dave will identify some of the most common writing weaknesses that keep new authors from publishing successfully, then help you overcome them. This workshop is a sample of his Writing Mastery 1 and Writing Mastery 2 workshops and allows access to select videos of those courses. You will come to the class with finished assignments from those videos and get feedback from Dave.
The First Houston Readers & Writers Roundup will take place at the South Shore Harbor Resort, a beautiful resort in League City, located between Houston and Galveston Island. Friday, October 9 will be a full day of seminars focused on how to get started in self-publishing and how to promote yourself and work. Join our featured authors and industry specialists to discuss everything from legal and business considerations to street teams and social media marketing. The Saturday agenda will feature an all day author signing and author showcases with over 80 traditional, hybrid and indie bestsellers. The evening will end with a Masquerade Ball. Sunday events include “Breakfast with Bloggers, Booksellers, and Librarians” plus “The Business of Self Publishing” seminar. Guest speakers include publishers, editors, literary agents, formatters, free-lance editors, proof readers, beta readers, street team leaders, cover designers, cover models/photographers, personal assistants (PA), marketing/PR professionals, reviewers, and bloggers.
Join us for a day-long workshop focused on the craft of novel writing. Featured speakers will be award-winning author, Kimberly Willis Holt; the Book Doctor, Robyn Conley; and Balzer + Bray (HarperCollins) editor, Kelsey Murphy. See website for critique submission guidelines.Topics include:
“Develop Your Character”
“After the First Draft”
“Self-editing without Self-destructing”
“Cross Marketing Story Elements for Cross Selling”
OCTOBER 10, SATURDAY, 8:00 AM-3:15 PM Writers In the Schools Houston Baptist University Tuition: $125
Fall Writing Festival for Educators: a conference specifically for educators, grades K-12, who want to: Improve their own writing skills, explore creative brainstorming methods, support their students’ writing, and experience the WITS method of teaching. Participants will attend two workshops with professional writers, gain hands-on writing experiences, discuss classroom applications AND receive 6 hours of TAGT-approved G/T credit and 6 TEA approved CPE credit hours!
Join author James Dean in the seating area upstairs as he discusses his newest book PETE THE CAT AND THE BEDTIME BLUES! Pete the Cat and his friends are having so much fun playing and surfing in the sun, they don’t want the day to end. Pete has an idea—how about a sleepover? Groovy! As the night gets later, it’s time for bed. This cool cat needs to catch some ZZZs, but Pete’s friends aren’t ready to go to sleep just yet. Then Pete has another idea. . . . Will it work?
My apologies for being late with this post, but it’s in time to catch all the events happening this week. I want to send a big THANK YOU to Kimberly Morris and SCBWI Houston for the wonderful workshop we had Saturday, and to Mary Wade for taking us on a tour of the beautiful Lanier Theological Library. What a gorgeous, inspiring place!
I want to remind everyone to sign up for the Connections and Craft: Novel Workshop at SCBWI Brazos Valley on October 10 in College Station. Featured speakers will be award-winning author, Kimberly Willis Holt; the Book Doctor, Robyn Conley; and Balzer + Bray (HarperCollins) editor, Kelsey Murphy (By the way, Kelsey Murphy is editing Crystal Allen’s upcoming series, THE MAGNIFICENT MYA TIBBS!). Workshop topics include:
“Develop Your Character”
“After the First Draft”
“Self-editing without Self-destructing”
“Cross Marketing Story Elements for Cross Selling”
The big KidLit event happening this week is TWEENS READ! This one-day event is this Saturday, October 3, from 9:30–5:00 at South Houston High School, 3820 Shaver Street, South Houston, TX 77587. There are SO MANY AMAZING AUTHORS coming this year including SCBWI Houston’s own Crystal Allen, and SCBWI Austin’s Nikki Loftin! Grab a tween and get there!
Social Media for People Who Don’t Like Social Media: A Hands-On Workshop
There are many reasons you might not like social media. Have you put off creating social media accounts because it all seems too overwhelming? Do you have a couple of social media accounts but they use a language and method foreign to you and you don’t have time to mess with it? Are you worried about strangers seeing what you’re up to? Bring your laptop and learn how to creatively make social media your own workhorse. Learn how to deal with time constraints and pick up tips and tricks that make social media less time-consuming. In this workshop we will discover how to make Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Google+ work to your advantage.
OCTOBER 3, SATURDAY Central Library, 500 McKinney LibroFEST
Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month at Houston Public Library’s (HPL) 4th Annual Houston LibroFEST on Saturday, October 3, 2015. Featured presenters include author, activist, and television director Jesús Salvador Treviño, Viola Canles, and children’s author and illustrator Xavier Garza; as well as programs and activities connected to the Houston Metropolitan Research Center exhibit on display, Remembering World War II: Houston’s Latino Veterans. Also taking part in the festival: musicians, artists, and local literary organizations and vendors including Arte Público Press, Gulf Coast Literary Journal, Inprint, Writers in the Schools (WITS), and more.
The theme of this year’s LibroFEST is “heros.” LibroFEST coordinators are looking for Hispanic and Latino children’s and young adult book authors to read, sell their books, or participate on panels. Those interested should contact Carmen Abrego at [email protected] .”
OCTOBER 3, SATURDAY Northwest Houston Romance Writers of America 2015 Lone Star Writers’ Conference COST: $130 Members, $140 Non-members
“The Power of Subtext: Body Language, Dialogue Cues, and Visceral Responses” Master Class with Margie Lawson. Visceral responses can be more than roiling stomachs and pounding hearts. Dialogue cues can be more than predictable, carry-no-power, pin-the-cliched-tag-on-the-dialogue. Body language can be more than cookie-cutter expressions. More than one-descriptor smiles. More than over-used phrases that many readers skim. This power-packed workshop will teach writers how to how to add psychological power to body language, dialogue cues, and visceral responses. Participants are requested to bring five chapters (or more), printed, double-spaced, in a binder. They’ll have opportunities to review their chapters and rewrite or add the right amount of subtext in the right places. Also attending is Linda Scalissi, an agent with 3 Seas Literary Agency.
Does the idea of e-book formatting fill you with dread? Have you tried to create an e-book, but can’t get the darned thing to come out right? Are you new to e-book creation and looking for tips and shortcuts? When you are equipped with the right tools and techniques, you’ll be surprised how easy it is to create a professional-grade e-book. In this hands-on workshop, we’ll create our own e-books and learn how to set up an e-book friendly template for our novels and short stories—and even learn to create e-books with our signature on them! Please bring your laptop, and D.L. Young will take you through the process step-by-step.
OCTOBER 5, MONDAY, 7:00-9:00 PM SCBWI Houston Tracy Gee Community Center Elizabeth White-Olsen: How to Empower Your Prose by Stealing the Super Power of Poets Cost: FREE; All are welcome!
This monthly meeting of the Houston Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators features Elizabeth White-Olsen, Director of Writespace.
Julie Murphy and Cammie McGovern will discuss and sign DUMPLIN’ and A STEP TOWARD FALLING, their new books for teens.
IN Julie Murphy’s DUMPLIN’, Willowdean, Dubbed Dumplin by her former beauty queen mom, has always been at home in her own skin. Her thoughts on having the ultimate bikini body? Put a bikini on your body. With her all-American-beauty best friend, Ellen, by her side, things have always worked . . . untilWill takes a job at Harpy’s, the local fast-food joint. There she meets Private School Bo, a hot former jock. Will isn t surprised to find herself attracted to Bo. But sheissurprised when he seems to like her back.
Instead of finding new heights of self-assurance in her relationship with Bo, Will starts to doubt herself.So she sets out to take back her confidence by doingthe most horrifying thing she can imagine: entering the Miss Teen Blue Bonnet Pageant along with several other unlikely candidates to show the world that she deserves to be up there as much as any twiggy girl does. Along the way, she ll shock the hell out of Clover City and maybe herself most of all.
Cammie McGovern’s A STEP TOWARD FALLING is about learning from your mistakes, and learning to forgive. Emily has always been the kind of girl who tries to do the right thing until one night when she does the worst thing possible. She sees Belinda, a classmate with developmental disabilities, being attacked. Inexplicably, she does nothing at all.
Belinda, however, manages to save herself. When their high school finds out what happened, Emily and Lucas, a football player who was also there that night, are required to perform community service at a center for disabled people. Soon, Lucas and Emily begin to feel like maybe they’re starting to make a real difference. Like they would be able to do the right thing if they could do that night all over again. But can they do anything that will actually help the one person they hurt the most?
Children’s books have a power that resonates across time and generations. They connect us to our younger selves, to the children in our lives today and to the rich imaginative capacities that characterize childhood. This lively workshop invites aspiring and practicing writers to explore the craft of writing for children and young adults. The course will share guidelines specific to the main genres of children’s literature: picture books, middle-grade novels and young adult novels. Participants will also explore applications of fundamental writing topics to children’s literature such as characterization, plot, point-of-view, metaphor and voice. Engaging in-class writing exercises will provide multiple starting points to develop stories based on your imagination and life experiences.
Whether you publish indie or traditional, the marketing and promotion of your book is up to you, and the launch is critical. Bestselling (Amazon Kindle, Barnes and Noble Nook, Apple iTunes), nationally-distributed indie author Pamela Fagan Hutchins will lead a hands-on workshop as you create a launch timeline, budget, and marketing plan for “your” book. Pamela will pull from her experience as president of the Houston Writers Guild, her many indie workshop presentations, and the launch of her own six romantic mysteries and six nonfiction books, as captured in her USA Best Book award-winning how-to, What Kind of Loser Indie Publishes, and How Can I Be One, Too? Bring your funny bone and a sharp #2 pencil (or laptop), as well as a book/manuscript (yours or someone else’s), with the blurb/description, genre, market, sales formats, a general budget, and price in mind.
"Exercise the writing muscle every day, even if it is only a letter, notes, a title list, a character sketch, a journal entry. Writers are like dancers, like athletes. Without that exercise, the muscles seize up."
– Jane Yolen
JOIN US
Join us Wednesday Sept. 30 at 10 a.m. in the College Station Barnes & Noble for our monthly meeting, featuring an open reading. Share your work in progress and hear what others are creating. Participants will each have 5 minutes to read, followed by 2 minutes of gentle feedback/critique, if desired. As usual, we'll also discuss news and provide encouragement. There's still room in the Novel Workshop on Oct. 10, and registrations will be accepted on Wednesday as well. Gentle critique begins at 9:30 a.m. Bring copies of 5 double-spaced pages of your work in progress. Those who have time may go to lunch at a local restaurant. Members and friends welcome!
8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Held at the La Quinta Inn & Suites in College Station
Join us for a day-long workshop focused on the craft of novel writing. Featured speakers will be award-winning author, Kimberly Willis Holt; the Book Doctor, Robyn Conley; and Balzer + Bray (HarperCollins) editor, Kelsey Murphy.
Topics include:
“Develop Your Character”
“After the First Draft”
“Self-editing without Self-destructing”
"Cross Marketing Story Elements for Cross Selling"
Register online (link above) and use the drop down menu to choose PayPal or Mail a Check. Continue with PayPal to pay by credit card or PayPal account. Choose the mail option to complete your online registration and pay by check. $115 for members; $155 for non-members.
A small block of rooms is reserved at La Quinta Inn & Suites. Make your reservations by Sept. 1 by calling Group Reservations Department at 1-866-527-1498. Identify yourself as a member of the SCBWI and give Reservation Block confirmation number 656954.
The views expressed here are my own, and not necessarily those of the SCBWI.
0 Comments on Current Scratch: Join Us, Texas Book Fests, Book Buzz, From One of our Members, Hot Topic, Writing Opportunities, & Just for Fun as of 9/28/2015 5:12:00 PM
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About this book:
Kelsey has lived most of her life in a shadow of fear, raised to see danger everywhere. Her mother hasn’t set foot outside their front door in seventeen years, since she escaped from her kidnappers with nothing but her attacker’s baby growing inside her—Kelsey. Kelsey knows she’s supposed...
About the Book:
THE SAFEST LIES by Megan Miranda
Kelsey has lived most of her life in a shadow of fear, raised to see danger everywhere. Her mother hasn’t set foot outside their front door in seventeen years, since she escaped from her kidnappers with nothing but her attacker’s baby growing...
What Lifts Youby Kelsey MontagueRelease Date: February 23, 2016Publisher: Harlequin
About the Book
Step into the world of Kelsey Montague in this coloring book...
Famed for blending street art and social media, Kelsey Montague creates wild and whimsical largescale murals that beg passersby to step into them, become part...
I’d also like to recommend Faith McNulty and Ted Rand’s book, HOW WHALES WALKED INTO THE SEA. It’s a beautiful book, and very good for grades three to five. It focuses just on whales–which can be an advantage: what I’ve found over the years is that children are natural Lamarckians–they believe that there were some plucky giraffes that stretched their necks longer so they could reach the leaves in the trees. The idea that animals evolved over generations–with the animals that better fitted a changing environment having more chances to bear more offspring and pass on their genes– that’s the biggest sticking point. Since WHALES focuses on one kind of animal, there’s more room for discussion. The text is poetic as well as precise.
MUST FIND!!