I am happy to report that Cyn (who owns the award-winning author site Cynsations) agreed to let me interview her to go along with the posting of her new book, ETERNAL, on my site under “Good Books to Share.”

I enjoyed reading ETERNAL. The pace is swift, and the set-up interesting from the get-go. Miranda, the teenage heroine, has a guardian angel. He messes up and she is turned into a vampire. Now her angel has to make amends. But is he committing the ultimate no-no for guardian angels? Is he falling in love with her? ETERNAL kept me turning the pages through a single sitting. For anyone who likes a good love story, as well as for fans of vampire tales.

Cynthia Leitich Smith

How old were you when you first started seriously writing?

I guess it depends on what you call “serious.” By fourth grade, I was writing poems in my bedroom more evenings than not. I even “bound” them in a homemade book with the help of my mom. By junior high, I was editor of the school paper-a position I had again in high school. By my sophomore year of college, I was spending my summers working in newsrooms. By my third year of law school, I was teaching legal writing. At 28, I quit my “day job” to write fiction for young people.

How many rejections did you get before you got your first acceptance?

I honestly don’t know, but with regard to writing for young readers, my apprenticeship was about two-and-a-half years before my first sale.

How do you make up names for your characters?

With JINGLE DANCER (Morrow, 2000), most of the names are family names. The one exception is “Jenna,” which I simply thought sounded musical with Jenna. Quincie P. Morris in TANTALIZE (Candlewick, 2007) is named after Quincey P. Morris in Abraham Stoker’s classic novel Dracula (1897). But beyond that, I often look for variety in terms of syllables, vowel and consonant sounds, first letters, etc. or meanings. The name “Miranda” from ETERNAL (Candlewick, 2009) means “miracle.”

When you write do you like quiet, music, or lots of activity around you?

Increasingly, I prefer sort of neutral music-no lyrics, which I generally tune out. It works like “white noise.”

What’s the earliest childhood memory you can think back to? Does it appear in any of your writing?

I remember burning the silver plate off a gold spoon with a candle flame. I think everyone else was eating pie in the kitchen. And no, not so far.

What age child do you have in your head? Is there more than one child there?

It’s very crowded-I have a four, ten, fourteen, seventeen, and a nineteen-year-old.

Do you have any regrets about writing for young readers?

Nope.

What do you have hidden in a dresser drawer? (We won’t tell, will we, everyone?)

Nothing too interesting, I’m afraid. My iPod and the key to my treadmill.

What do your favorite pair of socks look like?

They feature tiny Texas flags.

Given that you won’t sunburn, and you have lots of water . . . would you rather walk through Death Valley or Mall of America? Why?

Death Valley-scenery and peacefulness.

If you woke up in the morning and found someone’s shoes in your refrigerator, what would you think?

That the cats were growing more sophisticated by the hour.

Have you ever been abducted by aliens? If so, did they wear socks? What did they have hidden in their zormorpholater? And did they tell you the titles of any of their favorite books?

No aliens, faeries perhaps.

Will you name a character in your next book after me?

Maybe, but I can’t promise he/she will be a good guy.

Finally, let’s end up looking toward the future. What’s up next for you? Anything you want to tell us about?

I just finished (I hope) text revisions on the graphic novel adaptation of TANTALIZE, which will be told from the point of view of Kieren, the werewolf hero. I’m also jazzed about the short stories I have coming out this year. “The Wrath of Dawn,” co-authored by Greg Leitich Smith will appear in GEEKTASTIC: Stories from the Nerd Herd edited by Holly Black and Cecil Castellucci (Little, Brown, 2009) and “Cat Calls” will appear in SIDESHOW: Ten Original Tales of Freaks, Illusionists, and Other Matters Odd and Magic, edited by Deborah Noyes (Candlewick, 2009).

Thanks, Cyn! 

Now to all of you . . . go forth, and read!

Ciao!

Shutta

Yay! The newest book, THUNDER-BOOMER! is out. It is illustrated by Carol Thompson, and it’s been getting rave reviews. Yes! One always worries about how a book will be received. This one, so far, has gotten two starred reviews, the first in Kirkus Reviews, and the second in School Library Journal (June, 09). These are two of the major reviewing journals for libraries, schools, and bookstores. I can’t copy the whole of the reviews, but below are snippets.

Kirkus reports: *”Vivid imagery . . . dramatic ebb and flow. The child’s engaging first-person voice propels the account of the storm.”

SLJ says: *”Thompson’s illustrations . . . are full of motion . . . . The free-verse storytelling is light, airy, and perfectly matched . . . . The ending fully satisfies . . . .”

Doing the happy dance in Ann Arbor!

Shutta

It’s so much fun to get thoughtful notes from young readers. At a recent visit to Cook Elementary School in Midland, MI, the kids had put up notes around posters of each of my book covers. (Beautifully hand painted by volunteer, Leigh Young.) Here are a few of my favorite notes. What fun!

I LOVE it that the schools are teaching about passion, voice, style, etc. in 2nd grade! And “the spaces between the words” mentioned by 1st grader Lilly . . . well . . . I’ll have to think about that one.

Enjoy!

Shutta

Well . . . I did make it through the 30 Days, 30 Poems (& 30 Forms) challenge for National Poetry Month with some semblance of a brain left over—I think. And though there were many days I would come home late and still have to check in to get the prompt, I could usually figure out a form to use. Also, I’d kept a couple of short forms for those days when I knew I would be away from home.

What did I learn from doing this?

–that writing in a more formal style than I usually do can be challenging and fun.

–I found a few forms I really like a lot.

–writing a sonnet is not as horrible a task as I thought it might be.

–that some forms are awkward fits to the theme of a poem.

–some forms, esp. those that require refrains, fit other themes perfectly. (Such as “raging at the gods.” The refrain feels like one is raging.)

–a refrain has to be a great stand-alone line for it to be heard repeatedly in a poem and work well.

What did I get from doing this?

–a little more confidence in myself and my ability to work within given constraints.

–a few great lines.

–fewer good poems, but some excellent drafts that I can polish. (Some will need to have their forms changed.)

–a sense of being able to work under pressure.

–pride in having finished such a challenge with the added constraint of the forms/techniques.

–a broader sense of being part of a community of poets.

– tired fingers, tired brain . . .

–a great deal of satisfaction.

Would I do it again? You bet!

Happy Poetry . . . Keep Writing!

Shutta

I thought I’d take a few moments to catch my breath and make a few comments about what I’ve gleaned, thus far, from participating in the Writer’s Digest National Poetry Month challenge. Robert Brewer, who blogs for WD at Poetics Aside, challenged poets to respond to a given prompt everyday for 30 days—thus creating 30 new poems.

I decided—perhaps, a bit too rashly—to add another constraint to the challenge. I would write 30 new poems, one-a-day, using 30 different forms/techniques. (30 days/30 poems/30 forms) I challenged myself to this, reckoning it would be a good way to force myself to explore some poetical forms I  might not otherwise study.

As of April 19, I’ve written 19 poems using varied formats and techniques. I’ve written a Fibonacci, a kyrielle, a pantoum, a prose poem, a Skeltonic poem, an ode, a rondelet, a roundel, a tanka, a list poem, a shadorma, and Sapphic verses. I’ve used unrhymed distich, Rime Couee’, blank verse, terza rima, ballad stanza, ottava rima, and rhymed tercets.  I just hope there are enough forms/techniques to get me through the month! (NOTE: I have been saving Haiku, found poetry, and an acrostic poem for later this month when I have several gigs that will take me out of town.)

As to what I’ve learned thus far:

1.) It’s fun—though harrowing, at times. It’s like doing a puzzle under a time limit. There are days that I only have an hour or so to get the prompt for the day and get the poem done.

2.) The results: most of the poems are not polished. However, some contain gems that I will polish and work on later. A few are almost polished enough to be presentable. Some are lamentable. (Mere rough drafts.) And it does feel a bit strange to have posted these on my website, as I am used to waiting until I feel a poem is pretty much finished before I present it to others. But I did want to keep these in one spot to see the variety. (I will take them down later.)

3.) I am getting a little better at determining whether the form fits the function of the poem. I am learning this my making myself work with some forms that have refrains/repetition/certain rhyme schemes or meters. And although I am far from a formalist, I found certain forms to be quite comfortable, like the ballad stanza and the pantoum. 

4.) It’s not easy writing to someone else’s prompts. I found these to be uneven—as expected. Some, like writing a love poem, were almost too easy to be much of a challenge and I was grateful to have my added constraint of a form/technique.  Some of the daily challenges were quite good:  like taking the title of a well-known poem changing it to its opposite and writing from that. I love the poem I did as a result. (A take off from Emily Dickinson in the ballad stanza format. See Day 17. )

5.) I discovered some new forms (the tanka, and the shadorma) that I love.

Well, I shall keep on with it—hoping to make it to day 30 with my sanity. At the end, I’ll have a few more notes to add about the pros and cons of participating in such a challenge. In the meantime, enjoy Poetry Month!

And here’s am informative interview Robert did recently with poet Katy Evans- Bush. 

Ciao!

Shutta

Tanya Lee Stone has another wonderful work of nonfiction out, ALMOST ASTRONAUTS: 13 WOMEN WHO DARED TO DREAM ( Candlewick , 2009). It’s sure to get any thougtful person’s bloomers in a twist and make her want to take to the streets. Tanya writes with passion and precision. Hornbook said of ALMOST ASTRONAUTS, “meticulously researched and thrillingly told.”

Tanya is a well-rounded writer who not only excels in nonfiction (ELIZABETH LEADS THE WAY: ELIZABETH CADY STANTON AND THE RIGHT TO VOTE, and SANDY’S CIRCUS: A STORY ABOUT ALEXANDER CALDER and many others) but also writes riveting fiction such as A BAD BOY CAN BE GOOD FOR A GIRL (Wendy Lamb Books, 2007).

In honor of National Poetry Month here’s a special downloadable poetry tribute to the Mercury 13 women by Tanya Lee Stone.  Enjoy! I did.

Happy April!

Ciao,

Shutta

I love reading—it’s an obsession of mine. But I also love hearing the written word spoken. Last night I attended one of the many poetry readings being held around the country in honor of National Poetry Month. This one was at the Ann Arbor District Library and featured poet Robert Fanning.  (One of the founders of the InsideOut Literary Arts Project in the Detroit schools.) It was so much fun. His voice is wonderful whether imitating Elvis, or a big box store announcing closing time.

Another highlight of the evening was KiKI, a child of about nine, who got up at open mic and sang a song she’d written. It was her first time before an audience. She captured all our hearts . . . (Thank you, Kiki. “It will be alright.”)

Now, since it’s National Poetry Month, I thought I’d repost something I wrote for the SCBWI-Mi chapter newsletter about listening to poetry. (That’s the Soc. of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators newsletter.)

Enjoy! 

Finding Passion in the Spoken Word

“I would like to walk out of my heart under the wide sky.”

from Lament, by Rainer Maria Rilke

 

Like a lot of writers I started out writing poetry at an early age. In the 70s and 80s I participated in poetry readings, guerilla poetry (”taking it to the streets”), and I contributed to small literary presses. In addition, I worked as an assistant editor to a local small press that had a national distribution. In short, I was part of the whole “poetry scene” that swelled in the mid 70s. Then life intervened-college, career and family.

 

In the late 1990s, when I began to consider writing for children, poetry slamming (competitive poetry performance) had taken everybody by storm. I found myself drawn to the spine-tingling energy, the heart-on-the-sleeve emotionalism, and the bittersweet pain that can be conveyed by speaking the written word with passion. I wanted another shot of that rarified 100% liquid silver wordsmithing that I had so adored in my youth.

 

I attended local poetry readings again, participated in open mic sessions, was invited to read and even had more of my poetry for adults published. This work on adult-themed pieces became a counterpoint to my writing for children-a place where I could tackle themes not appropriate for kids, or use symbols and metaphors that took an adult sensibility to interpret.

 

Grappling with images, line length, caesuras, rhythm, metaphors, etc. . . . Yes! It was like a homecoming. What delight there truly is in unlocking one’s heart and walking out under a wide sky. Rilke had it right. I’ve stenciled that line of his around a mirror in my home to remind me.

 

Certainly, some of the poetry you hear at readings may be pretty bad. Some poems you may not understand. And some will keep you awake at night so that the only cure is getting up, opening your journal and writing. However, almost all of it will be either deeply felt, or will gloss our human foibles with the shine of humor.

 

No matter what you are writing, I urge you to hear our wonderful language spoken in performance. Look locally for colleges, universities, bookstores, libraries or coffeehouses that are presenting poets or hosting

poetry series. Listen and observe. If you’re comfortable in the setting -and most groups are pretty open, supportive, and non-ageist - sign up for the open mic sessions. If it’s a group that meets afterward to critique each other, listen.

 

Then go home and walk out of your heart by writing a poem.

Keep wordsmithing!

(And don’t forget to keep up with the National Poetry challenge: 30 poems/30 days. And if you’re poetry-addled, like me, 30 forms, as well!)

Ciao!

Shutta

Call me fruity, idiotic, insane, kooky, lunatic, mad, maniacal, mental, moonstruck, or nutty as fruitcake . . . still, I’m having fun (So far!) and learning a great deal. In addition, I’m unblocking some of the creative flow.

Not only am I taking the 30 Days, 30 Poems challenge at the Poetry Asides blog (Writer’s Digest), where the poem prompt for each day is given. I am also challenging myself to use 30 different poetic forms.  Are there 30 forms? Not sure, I think so.  (I know, I’m completely off my rocker!)

This will be difficult for a person who normally does not use rhyme in her stand-alone poems. (I do in my picture books.) Today I used an Ottava Rima. This is an Italian form that is 8 lines long, usually iambic pentameter (5 iambs—a soft & a hard beat—and thus 10 syllables long). It has a rhyming scheme of abababcc.  Wow!

Yesterday’s poem was a Fibonacci poem. That was fun, though relatively easy compared to today’s.

You can read my poems here or click on the “Poet’s Corner” logo in the right-hand sidebar.

How are you challenging yourself?

Happy Poetry Month!

Shutta

There are a great number of wonderful poetry related happenings this month in honor of National Poetry Month . . . time to get yourself motivated.  Get your rear in gear!

Write, read, share, inspire . . . here are some things to do.

1.) Gottabook!  At Gregory K’s blog, the first annual 30 Poets/30 Days, a celebration of children’s poetry taking place at GottaBook during National Poetry Month. Every day in April, Gregory will be posting a previously unpublished poem by a different children’s poet. Lots of great poets with fresh poems. Soak it up!

2.) A Poem a Day!

Poetic Asides blogger Robert Lee Brewer is calling all poets (and even non poets) to take part in his annual Poem-A-Day Challenge! Participants who complete the poem-a-day challenge will receive a certificate, an online badge (for display on your blog or website) and will be considered for publication in a free eBook designed by Writer’s Digest’s own wonderful designers. Participation is free. All you have to do is show up to the Poetic Asides blog on April 1, write a poem a day, and have a great time.

3.)  At the Miss Rumphius Effect. At The Miss Rumphius Effect a Poetry Makers series will feature at least one interview (sometimes two!) with a poet every day during the month.

4.)  At Poetry For Children, Sylvia Vardell will be reviewing a new children’s poetry book every day.

5.)  At the Pencil Talk blog, Anastasia Suen will be collecting school poems written by children throughout April… and posting one each day.

6.) If you work in a school . . . take a poetry break!  Back in the 70s when guerilla poetry was big, it was fun to get a principal, custodian, bus driver or other school person to walk into a classroom with a “Poetry Break!” sign and then read a short poem to the class. This happened impromptu and the responsibility rotated amongst the staff during the month of April. It kept the kids on their toes, and showed them that poetry could be fun.

Celebrate!

Shutta

It started off with a visit to Abbot School in Ann Arbor—2nd and 4th grades. So much energy, fun, and many good questions! I loved it. I left the older kids with snippets from SPITTING IMAGE and the new book I am working on, THOMAS AND THE QUEEN OF THE DRAGONS. “That’s so unfair,” they yelled, wanting me to continue reading. Unfortunately, I didn’t have all day just to read to them. Great kids. I hope to have some photos to post later.

Then I heard the Newbery winning writer, Cynthia Kadohata (Kira,Kira, 2005) speak at the Sarah Marwil Lamstein Children’s Literature Lecture at the University of Michigan. It was interesting to hear how she writes, so differently from the way I do. She started out in adult fiction. Therefore, sometimes, the move to writing what is appropriate for children can be difficult for her. I really enjoyed the photos/slides of her family and what led to the writing of several of her books. And I do completely agree—there is room in this wonderful great world of literature for books that spring from all sorts of backgrounds. She indicated that, at first, she wasn’t sure her books about Japanese-Americans would appeal to a wide range of readers. They certainly do!

On Friday, I visited Community High here in Ann Arbor, and spoke with a class of high school creative writing students. So earnest! And, again, so  much energy. I loved it—though I’m afraid I might have spoken really quickly to get everything covered that I wanted to cover. I do think I was able to reveal much of the joy I feel about writing for kids.

Today—Saturday—I heard our national Poet Laureate, Kay Ryan read at the new Art Museum opening. Her poems are gems of clarity, humor, and intelligence. She has a way of looking at subjects and making such fine, and sometimes, obvious connections.  E.g.; “it takes two points to make a distance.”  I was floored by the precision of her word choice, her use of some end rhymes (not the easy ones!), internal rhyme and slant rhymes (all almost unused by poets today). I loved her freedom from self-indulgence. A wonderful relief in this world of “me, me, me.”  She’s been compared to both Dickinson and Frost. (Not bad!!!)

About her work, J. D. McClatchy has said: “Her poems are compact, exhilarating, strange affairs, like Erik Satie miniatures or Joseph Cornell boxes. She is an anomaly in today’s literary culture: as intense and elliptical as Dickinson, as buoyant and rueful as Frost.”

At any rate—if you haven’t read any of our current Poet Laureate’s poems. Do! And read them with a little grain of salt, as her humor is often tongue-in-cheek. In fact she said she is all in favor of “distance, impersonality, and not learning new things.” Hah!  Loved it.

Next Monday, I have another school visit. This time to Cook Elementary in Midland. I’m looking forward to it. What a way to wind down National Reading Month!

I hope you have been busy reading this month. I am currently listening to Suzanne Collins’ Gregor the Overlander series, and A Drowned Maiden’s Hair by Newbery winner Laura Amy Schlitz. I’m rereading Titus Groan by Mervyn Peake, and reading for the first time, I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith. Well you can’t say my tastes are not eclectic!

Giddy and Glad to be a Writer!

Shutta

Recently I visited the schools of two of my grandchildren. One of them was a middle school here in Michigan. Several of the kids in the school had seen me at other presentations talking about writing and books, so I wanted to do something different. And since I like to leave the kids with a writing starter, I devised a sheet about exploring a fictional character through some probing questions. Not your typical kinds of questions. These were questions about the hidden aspects of a life. These are the aspects that interest me the most.

Hopefully, this would make the young writers really think about character in a deeper way. After all, it is often what we have hidden that tells the most about us.

Some of the questions I like to think about in relation to creating a character are:

What does your character have hidden on a shelf in a closet?

Why is it hidden?

What does your character do when no one is looking?

What does your character really wish he or she could do over?

When does your character tell lies?

What would your character like to scream at the top of his/her lungs, but is too afraid to?

Just some things to think about . . .

Ciao!

Shutta

It’s time to remind folks where they can get the famous cat shoes (or dog shoes).  Every year when I start visiting schools I get asked about them. Here’s the link:  Cat Shoes.  Enjoy!

Shutta

At 57 it is not surprising to be an orphan. It is a passage that all who survive their parents go through. Fortunately, I had both mine up until this past winter-still it seems too short a time. I wish I’d had more time with them.

It is the small things that hurt the most; the wanting to go to the phone and call them up, talk about the day, make plans.  It’s the knowing that there is no one to call and say, “Mom, I made it home OK.” Or, “How ya doing today, Dad?”

The adult in me tells me death happens. But the child in me refuses to believe that there hasn’t been some kind of mistake. Perhaps, because writers for children are so used to identifying with the emotions of the young, it is simply hard to rid myself of that little bit of hope . . . maybe it was just a mix-up . . .  maybe tomorrow it’ll all be righted.

Then I find myself thinking about the orphans that have graced our finest children’s books: Anne of Green Gables, Mary Lennox of the Secret Garden, Harry Potter, Oliver Twist, Peter Pan, Frodo, Dorothy. How much we feel for them because of that empty space in their lives, because of their need to fill it somehow with surrogates, and because of their great capacity for hope.

True, it’s a child’s hope. But it’s a fiercely innocent flame that keeps the darkest dark at bay-the belief that life will get all sorted out soon. No small thing this endless capacity for hope. And how utterly truthful, no matter the age at which we are orphaned.

Keep reading,

Shutta

Just before I left for Florida, I did a major rewrite marathon (8 days, 10-13 hours a day!!) on a fantasy novel I am doing for Knopf. (Tentatively titled, THOMAS AND THE QUEEN OF THE DRAGONS.)

Now that I am back from Florida, I am working on picture books again. Sometimes, switching between the two formats has my head swimming. And thinking about swimming made me remember a post I did for Big Universe a couple of years ago. So I thought I’d update it and repost it here . . . as it is relevant to my emotional and mental state these days.

Enjoy . . . 

Recently I was interviewed for an online piece to accompany an adaptation of one of my books into a reader’s theater script. (MY MOUNTAIN SONG) During that interview I reflected upon the difference between writing picture books and novels. I’ve done both. What I’ve found-at least for me-is that these are two very different processes, and my emotional response to the task at hand is different for each.

 

When I write a picture book it feels more like solving a puzzle. How can I get this, and this, and this, into very few words? If the text is in verse, there are the added constraints of rhyme, meter, and other patterns. Finally, I cut to the point where I feel something triumphant in my chest if I can find just one more “the” to delete. I use more of the problem-solving side of my brain with a goal of getting it all into the sleekest lines I can. Thereby, lots of the story remains for the illustrator to depict. It feels quick and fun, and like a satisfying splashy romp through a sprinkler on a hot day.

 

When I write a novel, I feel like I am jumping into a warm lake. I am overcome with the need to kick my feet, keep my head above the water, and keep swimming. I need to reread all I’ve written since the last time I worked on it (usually from the day before)-or a great deal of the entire manuscript up to that point. I need to do a lot of thinking rather than simply cutting, rearranging, and looking at pattern as I do with picture books. I need uninterrupted time to visualize my characters into being-first, he moves his hand to cover his eyes . . . then he raises his eyes and sees . . . what? What, then, does he say? What effect does it have on the character who hears what he says? How will his words move the story forward?

 

Writing novels is an altogether a slower, longer, deeper immersion. I am using more of the intuitive side of my brain as I figure out how to settle in for a marathon swim across a dark lake whose other side I can’t quite see from here. And when I get there, though it may not be anything like I expected, there is the exhausted satisfaction of having done it.

 

If you’ve a mind to write, join me! The water’s wonderful. We can chase each other across the lawn and dive into the lake, or leap over the misty rainbow-making sprinkler on a hot day.

[Excerpted & summarized by permission from an interview conducted by author Toni Buzzeo. The full interview is at the LIBRARY SPARKS website under "Web Resources."  Or click here for a direct link: Meet the Author: Shutta Crum . ]

Happy Swimming!

(I know, it’s crazy—here I am blogging from Michigan in “0″ degree weather and I am talking about swimming.)

Testing my new downloaded Windows Live Writer as a writing app. for my blog. Supposedly you can do all sorts of things easily . . . like inserting photos (And automatically making links–like to this website of a very fine writer, Hope Vestergaard. She has lots of tips there for writing books for children. Check it out!)

Enjoy!  Shutta

(And forgive me for testing on you!)

Writers are human, after all.  We can’t always come up with the perfect title, nor remember to use the delete key when we should. Along these lines, I offer here some info about, and a couple of links to, great lists. One is the annual “Oddest Title of the Year” list and the other is the shortlist for books that should have used the delete key more.

I.  Oddest Title of the Year

For oddest title of the year, 2008, the shortlist below is to be voted on and the winner announced March 27th. The nominees are:

1. Baboon Metaphysics by Dorothy L Cheney and Robert M Seyfarth (University of Chicago Press).

2. Curbside Consultation of the Colon by Brooks D Cash (SLACK Incorporated).

3. The Large Sieve and its Applications by Emmanuel Kowalski (Cambridge University Press).

4. Strip and Knit with Style by Mark Hordyszynski (C&T).

5. Techniques for Corrosion Monitoring by Lietai Yang (Woodhead).  [Note: a friend recently told me that monitoring corrosion is what her husband's job is all about!]

6. The 2009-2014 World Outlook for 60-milligram Containers of Fromage Frais by Professor Philip M Parker (Icon Group International).

The prestigious award was first conceived by The Diagram Group’s Bruce Robertson as a way to avoid boredom at the Frankfurt Book Fair. Run by Horace Bent, the first ever winner was the University of Tokyo Press’ Proceedings of the Second International Workshop on Nude Mice, in 1978. Last year’s winner was If You Want Closure In Your Relationship, Start With Your Legs.

The winner of the 2008 award will be chosen by a public vote at www.thebookseller.com  <http://www.thebookseller.com/> . Why not vote on your favorite?

II.  The Delete Key Award for Bad Writing

Check this list out at the One-Minute Book Review blog site (a fun site to subscribe to).  The 2009 finialists include:

1. Why We Suck: A Feel Good Guide to Staying Fat, Loud, Lazy and Stupid (Viking), by Denis Leary.

2. Death Benefits: How Losing a Parent Can Change an Adult’s Life — For the Better (Basic Books), by Jeanne Safer.

3. The Underneath (Atheneum, ages 8 and up), by Kathi Appelt with drawings by David Small. [Oh! Say it isn't so!!!!]

4. Wolf Totem (Penguin), by Jiang Rong, translated from the Chinese by Howard Goldblatt.

5. Change of Heart (Simon & Schuster/Atria), by Jodi Picoult.

6. Leisureville: Adventures in America’s Retirement Utopias (Atlantic Monthly Press), by Andrew Blechman.

7. Read All About It! (HarperCollins, ages 4–6), a picture book by Laura Bush and Jenna Bush, illustrated by Denise Brunkus.

8. The Host (Little, Brown) by Stephenie Meyer.

9. Bright Shiny Morning (Harper), by James Frey.

10. Audition: A Memoir (Knopf), by Barbara Walters.

The winners of the 2009 Delete Key Awards will be announced March 16 on the One-Minute Book Reviews blog. There you will also find Janice Harayda’s one minute reviews of each of these titles and lots more.

Have fun!

Shutta

A belated Yay!  Slumdog Millionaire did well at the Oscars.  Based on a novel, it truly is a writer’s kind of movie. [See my earlier post for a review ... Jan. 29th. ]

8 awards, all the major ones: best picture, directing, adapted screenplay, original score, film editing, original song, sound mixing and cinematography.

It just goes to prove that the public still loves a rags to riches story.

The film is based on the novel Q&A by Vikas Swarup, which is available in two tie-in versions, Slumdog Millionaire (Scribner, $15, 9781439136652/1439136653) and Q&A (Scribner, $15, 9780743267489/ 0743267486). Also available: Slumdog Millionaire: The Shooting Script (Newmarket Press, $19.95, 9781557048363/1557048363).

Enjoy,

Shutta

I read Neil Gaiman’s THE GRAVEYARD BOOK on a flight to Florida recently, and enjoyed it very much. I’ve not been a big Gaiman fan in the past—though I did find CORALINE interesting reading. The man is a wiz at creating suspense.

Being a librarian, I’m also especially curious about the buzz a book gets. There was some grumbling that this book was too episodic with not much holding the episodes together. It is episodic, but I think it holds together well. In each of the episodes he finds an ally, or learns a task, technique, or trick that he later employs in defeating the Jacks of all trades.

There are those who say the book is too dark, starting as it does with the murders of his parents and his sister. Yes, it is dark. Yes, it does start that way . . . but we see no blood, no gore, no fighting, etc. However, we are riveted in suspense as the man called Jack searches for the boy to murder him, also.

What is especially fresh and exciting is the weaving together of history and other stock characters of horror fiction to create a caring community in a graveyard—in this case, not to raise the dead, but to raise a live child. I love the wild inventiveness of this story; though I might not give it to a child younger than eleven or twelve to read. Hurrah for THE GRAVEYARD BOOK and its Newbery medal.

Keep Reading!

Shutta

I know I should be thinking more about the recent children’s book award winners. Instead, I’ve been thinking a lot about Slumdog Millionaire.  (I was glad to see it nominated for an Oscar!) One thing I especially like about the movie is its literary structure. I love that it starts in medias res (the protagonist is getting slapped by the police), and after that great hook to get the story going, we slip backward to the recent past to catch us up to the present. Then the whole movie is structured so that there is a romance/gangster story told in chronological flashbacks with each flashback tied to a question in the Indian version of So You Want to Be a Millionaire. Finally, I love the way the director/writer handled the climax of the movie. About half-way through the movie the kids come face to face with their tormentor. Now this may seem like the climax, but it isn’t—it’s simply the crisis before the climax. Once we’ve gotten past that high point, we see the dangerous mountain that’s looming behind it—the real climax—the crisis between the two brothers. It’s a very satisfying movie on many levels. I highly recommend it for writers, as well as movie lovers.

Ciao!

Shutta

The awards have been made, and the winners are:

2009 Coretta Scott King Awards

Here’s a cup of cheer coming your way—to all those who braved another several inches of snow, and -6 degree temperatures, to make it to the Writer’s Fest at the Farmington (MI) Comm. Library on Saturday, Jan. 17th—YAY! You made my day. I had a lot of fun and I, for one, was warmed by all your enthusiam and energy.

From my “For Writers” page (  http://shutta.com/for-writers/  ) you will now find the link to the poetry 101 handout I spoke of. There you will find other bits from the rather large handout you got at the program.  [What can I say? It's the librarian in me . . . I tend to go overboard when gathering information.]

Keep writing, and may your writing mojo keep you warm!

And—for those who want it again—here’s the TODDLER’S CREED. (As well as a pic of my granddaughter!)

 Shutta

                               TODDLER’S CREED

 If I want it, it’s mine.

If I give it to you and change my mind later, it’s mine.

If I can take it away from you, it’s mine.

If I had it a little while ago, it’s mine.

If it’s mine, it will never belong to anyone else, no matter what.

If we are building something together, all the pieces are mine.

If it looks just like mine, it is mine.

For those of you who want to get a jumpstart on writing and publishing in the new year . . . I’ll be presenting a day-long (2 -part) writing program for the Farmington (Michigan) Community Library on Saturday, January 17, 2009.  The basic info is below . . . and at the Farmington Comm. Library site at:  http://www.farmlib.org/ .

Event Type: Teen & adult
Date: 1/17/2009
Start Time: 10:30 AM
End Time: 3:00 PM

Call today!  248-553-0300

I hope to see you there!

Shutta Crum

Having just spent the first Christmas without my parents, I remembered this blog post I originally wrote a while ago for another site. It’s a favorite Dad story. 

Enjoy.

My Dad’s War

I’ve known that life is a story since I was a child standing big-eyed and listening to my Appalachian relatives tell hair-raising tales about mountain folk. However, it took me years to learn that stories can also create a life.

You see, not too long ago, my niece invited my father to her history class to talk about his experiences in World War II. He spoke of being a platoon leader, of a soldier’s life, and fighting. According to the teacher, the class hung on his every word. My niece glowed in the limelight, the teacher was pleased, and the students interested. What they did not know—including my father—was he’d never been in the war.

He was in the service after WWII and before Korea. His army experiences get all muddled-up for him. My father has Alzheimer’s. The problem is, despite the disease, Dad’s a great storyteller. Only now, he believes his own stories.

Born and raised in the hollers of Kentucky, Dad was the last child of twelve. He had to talk to be noticed; and he talked with a passion. Then as our family grew, we pestered him to repeat favorite stories. These included the relative who got bit by a rattle snake and saved his life by drinking a quart of moonshine, how Dad learned to run faster on his knees than his feet while working in the coal mines, and the times he had outpacing the law in his 1941 Mercury Coupe while running moonshine.

Perhaps these are not the sort of stories we tell children today, but they gave a mythic quality to my father. He was faster, stronger, and wilder than all my friend’s fathers—and he truly was for many years. He raced motorcycles, he won championships in archery, and he built speed boats and water-skied—barefoot. He did anything he “set his mind to,” as he used to say. At seventy-four he was hill-climbing four-wheelers. In his mid-seventies he was still bear and wild boar hunting, though Mom had to go along to make sure he didn’t get lost. And always, he had a storyteller’s silver tongue to embellish his exploits.

Dad remains a talker. At eighty-two-with the disease advancing—there are new stories about leading groups of men, fighting in a boxing ring, doing deeds in places, and at events, he’s never been—like in WWII. We used to cluck and say, “But Dad, you couldn’t have done that . . .” Not anymore.

One day, my mother told me she’d let him go to my niece’s class to speak because it kept him alive. That’s when I realized the stories Dad tells these days are the chapters of a life he is still in the process of creating. For him, it is a necessary world where despite his weakening body, his worsening eyesight and his tremors, he fights a good war-and lives to tell the story.

Happy holidays—and keep telling your stories!

Shutta

I just had to post this picture. He’s probably dancing with Mom, now.

  Dance on,

Shutta

As many of you know my Dad suffered from Alzheimer’s, and I’ve written of the sometimes funny and insightful things he’d said, or done.  Before he went to live in an assisted living home he would totter after mother around their house—he was afraid to let her out of his sight—wherever she went, he went. True to form, Dad followed her when he could . . . he died Sunday, Dec. 14th, less than a month after Mom.   (See below, Nov. 29th posting.) 

        MELVIN CRUM

1925 — 2008

Goodbye, Dad

Love, S.