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Laura Hamor posted about trying to quiet the world in order to hear your muse entitled Creative Space. I'm having a really hard time doing this recently. Thoughts of money, relocation and jobs fill my thoughts. I'm trying to (in a Zen way) allow these thoughts to come and then go but I'm bad at that. Instead I hang on to them, turning them into projects. Relocation? Surf the net for maps and chamber of commerce sites for various places to go. Jobs? Browse Career Builders, Colleges I'd like to work at, and even B & B's that are for sale. Money? Obsess. Now that I have an agent, will he be able to sell my work? I couldn't sell it. I need a day job.  So I am sitting at the computer without producing much. However, my writing partner is expecting the next chapter of my current WIP on Thursday so at least that lights a fire under my bum. Maybe my muse is the muse of fire. Hmmm... fire, heat, warmth... that's it, my creative space is somewhere warmer. No wonder I can't get anything done.

Fun in the snow on Saturday. But the current ice storm forecast has me down.

Earl's Diner inhabits a small portion of the space owned by Earl. The country/bluegrass amphitheater and the oversized barn that houses his collection of John Deere tractors and farm machinery take up the rest of the lot. My husband grew up, up the road from Earl's and it was the place his family went for breakfast. "Down to Earl's." I'll remember a lot about Earl's: the Bell jar fruit glasses, the table legs that were jeans and cowboy boots, and the way my oldest son (who was only a toddler then) used to watch the ladies make the cinnamon swirl buns that were as large as a dinner plate. He'd press his little hands and nose against the large window that gave people a view of the mouth watering treats.  I remember the huge tubs of butter and lard. That's what made it so good. YUM . My hubby will, I'm sure, remember much more. A farming community held together by country fairs, school events, and weekends that started with breakfast at Earl's. God speed Earl. Check out the NYTimes article here.

Just a note that I’m feeling better and will be back to blogging tomorrow. Come back tomorrow for my next contest–I’m giving away a mascot school visit to one lucky school!

Karma

" For reasons I cannot explain
There's some part of me wants to see
Graceland"
Paul Simon

Well friends I'm home from Memphis, TN. The snow sparkles and shimmers outside my window and icicles drip on my neck each time I scoot out the door and I am happy. Happy to be home in my comfy bed, happy to empty my suitcase, happy to have my computer and my routines and regular bedtimes. It was lovely to reconnect as a family for 10 whole days. We'll be back together when the snows melt. (Or maybe sooner considering the persistent snowfall.)

We did visit Graceland and I felt that I was, as the song suggests, pulled there by some inexplicable force. I loved the obvious, the stained glass peacock windows, the mirrored TV room with 3 TV's, the fabric covered walls of the billiards room, the golden seat belt buckles on the airplane.

But the lasting memory is the more subtle fact that this man, this celebrity, this incredibly prolific artist was frozen in time. Elvis was frozen in his youth and as a poor youth he bought a fancy house that is actually pretty small compared to the Extreme Makeover homes of today. We still see him as he was because he and his work never had a chance to evolve. The tour and its information were choreographed to move the thousands of people through his life in a clean and organized manner. The treatment of his death gets one sentence about "heart failure" and "prescription medications." Even as we walk through hallways glistening with gold and platinum awards, we, I feel for him because of what could have been.


We did plenty of other things too. I highly recommend the Pink Palace Museum and the Children's Museum of Memphis. FedEx is headquartered in Memphis and has given a lot of corporate funds to the CMOM which includes a great flight exhibit. We also saw A Year With Frog and Toad at the Orpheum theatre. If you are a parent in Memphis look out for other children's productions, including the Very Hungry Catepillar, coming to the Orpheum later this spring. A huge thank you to the Bricks and the Abbots for taking us in, feeding and treating us like family. Take care of hubby while he's down south for me.

ACK! 200 emails and so many friend blogs to catch up on. Well, I'm elbow deep in conference minutiae and my own writing so blogging is going to have to be short for now. I will catch up and be back to update you on my life but for now this link to my friend Gabe McPahail's "Undo Project."

In case you missed it (or forgot all about it, like I nearly did), back on my birthday I asked for questions and got some great ones! I answered some random ones right away...one more a little later...and now here is another group: If somebody gave you $100 to blow on yourself today, what would you do with it? NO paying bills, etc. You have to spend it on YOU and YOU alone.This is a tough one! I

Well, I'm at Panera again, regrouping. I have read Scripture, journalled, prayed, and now I'm thinking about blogging loose ends I'd like to tie up in the next week or so. Until then, I found this in my Drafts folder (HT to Mental Multivitamin by way of Circle of Quiet): Your Personality is Somewhat Rare (ISTP) Your personality type is reserved, methodical, spirited, and intense. Only

Karma Feels Sick. I’m going through exactly what my character Bear went through in my book Bear Feels Sick. I’m just now getting to the point where I can think long enough to write something moderately coherent (or not). Since I love writing in rhyme I ask you,

What rhymes with flu?

Goo: As in, there is goo collecting in a pool in my lower lungs.

Boo: As in, boo-hoo, woe is me, I’m sick, shivering, and moping on the couch. My Jack Russell Terrier is the only creature in the house NOT annoyed by my whining.  The cat, however, thinks I’m a total wuss.

Shoe: As in, I’m going to throw a shoe at the next person who asks me where something is just as I finally fall into a feverish slumber.

Clue: As in, dear children, get a clue, I’m not cooking…period.

102: As in, my fever climbs to 102° as soon as the Tylenol wears off.

New: As in, I can’t wait until I’m feeling like new.

You: As in, I hope you don’t get this god-awful flu!

Stay healthy dear readers!

Signing off to drink some broth and herb tea….

My character Bear feeling sick like me.

Karma

Let's jump into the time machine and with a whir and a wiggle, jump and jiggle back to last Thursday. There I am in the fifth row of the Minkoff Theatre watching the Lion King. A show I've wanted to see for its puppetry and stage design. After the show, our group of SCBWI Regional Advisors got to go back stage and talk to the cast. An amazing experience.

Friday brought the illustrators' intensive. The highlights of the day were hearing Jerry Pinkney talk about his lovely realistic watercolors and seeing the New Yorker cartoons and children's work of Harry Bliss. Also, the marketing and publicity role play by the Scholastic team was informative and engaging. As a conference planner myself, I have to mention that the schedule was less than comfortable. We sat in the same room listening to others talk at us all day with no scheduled break. Lunch was on our own which is okay, but the portfolio drop off was at the same time so we had about a half hour to find something to eat. I went with the longest line at a street vendor and picked correctly. Great gyros!

Saturday and Sunday were filled with people and speakers. Lin Oliver kept it lite even through a minor emergency. There was a fire in the laundry chute which we didn't really know until later in the day. When the warnings started I was on the top, 44th floor of the hotel and walked down quickly, That's a lot of stairs! We were not required to evacuate but I wasn't going to be up there if there was a real problem. Nikki Grimes's  work blows my socks off and I was thrilled to hear her give voice to her rhythmic poetry. David Wiesner, multi-Caldecott winner, was relaxed as he showed us his early kid work and professional process. Wow. Just wow.

Coming home was not in the luxury of a time machine but on the Amtrak and then driving my van to pick up children and drive the long road home from Providence, RI to Maine. Monday after my trip was a wash, Tuesday I wrote twelve thank you letters and tried to help with the last edits on the SCBWI-NE conference brochure, Wednesday my children were home for a snow day and the dining room table was Valentine production central, today I'm trying to catch up on my colored pencil class homework and laundry. Tonight, after class, I pack up my children and myself and we are on a plane to Memphis tomorrow early to visit my hubby who is working with the navy for two months. ACK!  This chaos is why I've not posted about the end my lovely New York journey. Stay tuned for Memphis memories next week. Back to the time machine!

View Images from Anna's New York Trip On Flickr

A few months ago I did some author visits at two schools (Russell and Franklin) in Missoula, Montana. They went so fabulously I thought I would share some tips I learned from these wonderful school administrators (thank you Pat and Nancy!).

The main component in making an author visit successful is getting the kids pumped for the visit. If the kids aren’t excited for me to come, the visit will not be very exciting–period. I do my best, but nothing beats teachers working with the students before the visit to generate enthusiasm!

To get kids ready involves preparation. I will do my part, which is sending you ideas and materials to help prepare the students for the visit. Your part is spend weeks (not days) preparing students for the author visit. Use the time to read the author’s books, do crafts and activities which revolve around the author’s books, and let the the students check out the author’s website, etc…

This is a great display the schools prepared for my visit. There were dozens and dozens of pictures of students reading my books. What a great idea! Every child felt included in the visit, which ensured the students had a vested interest in the visit succeeding! Eureka!

This is a craft (a little blurry, sorry) the kids made that is suggested on the Features for Teacher’s activities on my website. It is a paper quilt made of students’ drawings based on my bear books. It was truly adorable.

But this wasn’t all they did! They also did hippo crafts for Hilda Must Be Dancing, they did Frog art, they made posters. The hallways were a tribute to reading and my books! This isn’t about my ego (really). It’s about getting the kids thrilled for the visit, and boy were they! Kids were literally coming up to me, hugging me, saying how excited they were. They were talking about how much they love books and reading and how long they had waited for the visit. It literally reminded me of kids who had waited for Christmas. The schools even did a countdown for weeks before the visit! Every day they would count down one more day until “Karma Wilson Day!”

Here is one of the posters that was made especially for the big day. Isn’t this great? When children see that the teachers are this excited, they figure it must be something big!

If you are planning an author visit with me or ANY author I ask you to do what Russell and Franklin schools did. Get your students begging for the visit! There should be a carnival air to the whole event.

Here are a few more ideas:

1. A week leading up to the visit hold lotteries each day for a signed book.

2. Help kids think of great questions for my Q&A period, and be diligent about explaining the difference between a question and a statement or story. (I love hearing the names of their cats and their latest injuries, but it does eat time…heh heh!)

3. Kids are excited to share their stories with me, so have them write a story to give me when I leave.

4. Ask art teachers, librarians, and even the PE teachers to contribute to the visit. Art projects can revolve around themes in my books, librarians can encourage kids to check out my books or use my books in story time, and PE teachers can do physical activities related to themes in my books (Frog hopping, Bear crawls, etc…) You can even enlist the lunch cooks! Can Bear book themed foods be served on the day of the visit?

The more involved everybody in the school is, the more the kids will catch the enthusiasm for the visit. They will naturally be excited about reading and writing, and that is the whole purpose of any author visit! So go CRAZY and use your imagination! I guarantee, you won’t regret it!

Karma

Dear Friends,
I'm back from NYC and can't wait to update you on the tail end of my trip. Speaking of tail end... I got this link for a video in my in-box while I was away and I'd love for you to watch it.

Delaney and her mother Erica, featured in the video, are close friends of mine. Delaney was born a few weeks early after a healthy pregnancy. Things quickly turned bad and Erica was rushed to a hospital with a NICU staff. It was touch-and-go for a while but now you can see the beautiful, strong and lovely nine year old child Delaney has become. Perhaps in your giving this year, you will remember Delaney and "her" horses.

Thanks,
Anna

I have had an amazing couple of days in the big apple. Hold on to your hats, ladies and gentlemen there are bound to be lots of smiles and maybe a squee or two.

On Tuesday, I was pleased to interview Cameron Dieck, and up and coming 19 year old from Mount Cisco, New York who has been dancing since the age of 3. He entered the School of American Ballet his fifth grade year and has had his eye set on the New York City Ballet ever since. He was the recipient of the 2007 Mae L. Wien award for outstanding promise. Cameron is  on the far right with the other young people.

Below is an excerpt from my notes of the experience:
"The teachers break room at the School of American Ballet (SAB) is furnished with modern furniture: strong lines, steel and chrome are joined with grey and black cube inspired furniture. The young man seated across from me is the opposite of his surroundings. Tall, a little over six feet, Cameron Dieck sits folded into a couch in a cozy maroon Harvard sweatshirt and jeans that accent his lean long legs. He has an infectious grin and sparkling eyes that light up when he talks about ballet and cloud over when he discusses the bullying he had to endure in middle school because of his love for dance. Our interview was more of a conversation and lasted for about an hour. These are the best interviews of all. Cameron is intelligent, well spoken and kind. I keep wondering if he is this way with all reporters or if we’ve so quickly become friends."

Yesterday, I spent the day at SAB. Amy Bordy, the public relations person at SAB has been welcoming, friendly, and supportive and really opened the whole school to me. I know this is a treat and an honor and I am thankful beyond words. Amy took me on a tour of the school taking particular pride in the newly built additional studios which are suspended above two original studios that once had 30 (?) foot ceilings.
They each have deep, sprung floors and are surrounded by glass walls to take advantage of the huge windows in the original studio below. I also got to learn more about the residential program for students. Security is number one priority for the students who are sometimes as young as 12 in the summertime. Programing provided by the Residential Director helps build community, and integrates these talented young people into New York City safely. Many of their students are selected from a national audition tour so they have young people from all over who may be new to city living. After the tour, I was honored to observe the partnering class for advanced students taught by retired NYC dancer Jock Soto who is famous for his partnering techniques. More here. I will never watch ballet the same way again. His instruction was precise, demanding, and filled with examples from the everyday. Teaching 14 and 15 year olds is never easy. Teaching them to  create characters that understand the intricacies of relationships (including intimacy and sensuality) is near impossible but he did it all with a lovely sense of humor. The next class I saw was the 12 and 13 year olds. I was struck by their strength, centering and ability to remember the combinations. My kid can't even remember the lunch box on the counter. The instructor John Stafford, principal dancer for the NYC ballet, was kind and gentle even when they lost focus. According to Balanchine, all music at SAB is live. The baby grand pianos are staffed by experienced accompanists who are able to pluck the perfect bit of music out of the air to go with the combinations that the instructors develop on the spot. If you are a boy interested in ballet SAB is the place to be.

I was a little star struck at meeting veteran ballerina and school administrator Kay Mazzo. I'm afraid I said little but "thank you so much," over and over again. The thank you's continued when Amy produced two press tickets to the NYC ballet for last night's performance. My sister-in-law Sarah and I sat 10 rows back from the stage at dead center of the State Theatre at Lincoln Center. More here. We watched "Double Feature," a homage to the black and white silent movies of the 20's choreographed by broadway choreographer Susan Stroman. (The Producers, Young Frankenstein) One ballet was a melodrama the other a Buster Keaton type comedy and both were infused with humor and of course incredible dancing technique. While the choreography was not difficult for the dancers it must have been fun. The storyline required a bit of over acting which was fun to watch. Sets and costumes were all shades of black, white and grey and the occasional subtitles on the back screen completed the cinema feel.

I feel that I've gone on too long, but let me just say my meeting with Secret Agent Man (Don't you love that song?) was so uplifting that I ended up on the 86th floor of the Empire State Building with the city wind in my hair. Everything looks rosy from up there.

On Sunday, I'll go home, see my children and get to work feeling validated as an author/illustrator. Someone with good work to add to the world. But first, the conference... Read the rest of this post

Day three in New York City and uptown, downtown and crosstown are starting to become part of my vocabulary. I'm also adapting to the Euro scheduling. In Maine, I go to bed at 9:30 and wake at 5:00 am. Here, nothing even opens until ten. I won't bore you with the details but just give you a few highlights.

Yesterday, I met with the Creative Director of Clarion books. She was very kind to give me her time and her critque of my work was helpful and hopeful. The funny thing about critiques is that I don't believe others tell us anything we don't already know in our hearts. She wanted to see more energy and emotion in my work. This doesn't surprise me as I've been working on capturing the energy of my sketches  in my final images. I was surprised to hear her say that I needed to work on the narrative quality of the images because that is something I think I've finally got. But the two are closely related so I think that as I master the emotional the story will also be more apparent. Most important, she said she'd like to see revisions and new work and that is the most any writer or illustrator can ask for in this business. Next I went to F,S, G and met with two lovely Assistant Editors. They currently work in the triangular Flatiron building and the security was interesting. I had to speak into a digital camera and say who I was and where I was going. When I got to their floor I had to call from outside their door to be let in. The editors were much more effusive about my work and would like to see more.

I was able to meet up with my childhood friend Michael Learmonth yesterday at the Books of Wonder children's bookstore on 18th Street. Mike is great but the bookstore was even better. (smile) The collection of rare, and classic books was educational and fun to browse. I am a huge Crockett Johnson fan and I often wonder if his minimalist illustrations would get passed over in today's technicolor market. Sometimes simplicity is more effective with children then the over-stimulation of many images that are published today. The bookstore also had wonderful original art and prints from illustrators. My favorites? A David McPhail watercolor and Mark Teagues paintings. I did take some pictures of the shop and will try to post them if my sister-in-law has a cable.

I'll post about interviews and observations at School of American Ballet this Thursday!

Sometimes my webwanderings and research for my ballet book link up with my webwanderings as a conference director. That's how I came upon Mark Siegel's blog posting on First Second Books blog. This is a great posting about character development. Short sweet and visual. Mark Siegel is the illustrator for the graphic novel To Dance, with the subtitle A Ballerina's Story (Simon & Schuster/Atheneum) written by his wife Siena who danced at School of American Ballet with Balanchine.  The connection is that I'm trying to pull together a group of graphic novel folks for an Illustration Academy at the 2009 conference. For info on this year's Illustration Academy, keep your eyes on the mailbox and at NESCBWI for the conference brochure. It will be posted and mailed in Mid-February.

In other news...
1. I got a digital voice recorder for my interviews in New York. My kids want to record burps and other such bodily functions, so I've had to hide the recorder.
2. My lovely writing partner gave me feedback on my first chapter yesterday. I had high hopes that she would look at it and say, "Oh this is perfect don't change a thing." I'm glad she didn't. The revision is a million times better.
3. We got a storm of "wintery mix" here last night and my driveway is like a skating rink. Only down hill. Eek.
4. Balanced the check book yesterday.
5. Printing images for the portfolio today.

Here is a unique idea in the world of gallery shows. "Fill in the Blanks" marries art and performance art by providing canvases, frames and lumps of clay for artists to develop over the course of the show dates. Mary Brooking of the Maine Illustrators' collective will be one of the featured artists.

I am busy prepping for my trip to New York. The SCBWI conference does not start until Friday, the 8th but I am going early to show my portfolio to Art Directors and do research at the New York Public Library and meet up with friends and family. A week away from home! ACK! I've thrown myself into a whirlwind of laundry, packing, and list making. Lists for portfolio revisions, lists for what to take, lists of addresses and phone numbers, subway maps, amtrak timetables... I like traveling, love the train, and can't wait to visit the city but I am a little nervous too.

A list:
1. Remember to breathe
2. Work on Chapter 2, Ballet
3. Revise cat montage
4. Finalize portfolio, make sure you have 2, dummy books attached
5. Pack clothing
6. Pack sketch book, traveling drawing kit.
7. Confirm appointments
8. Mapquest directions for Providence train station
9. Highlight relevant subway routes.
10. Check on subway passcard for the week
11. Society of Illustration hours?
12. Breathe.

Those that know me well know that my deep love of children’s fantasy books can trace roots back to The Chronicles of Narnia. C.S. Lewis is my favorite children’s author.

I enjoyed both reading and books before discovering Narnia, but it was the Narnian world that revealed to me the true escape the most special books can offer. I still remember the remarkable discovery.

I was in the third grade. An excerpt from The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe was included in our reading text book.  Being an avid reader, I always read far ahead of the assigned stories. It was there in that tattered text book I first encountered the enchanting Lucy Pevensie. 

She took hold of my imagination and pulled me through the wardrobe into a snowy, lamp-lit world. Together we met Mr. Tumnus the faun, who led us to his delightful cave to share a proper English (er, Narnian) tea. We heard flute music, magical tales of dryads and nymphs, and alarming news of a White Witch and a land of forever winter, never Christmas.

And then, horror upon horrors, Lucy abandoned me!  The excerpt ended a few chapters into the story, and I didn’t even realize it was part of a larger work (I skipped all the boring textbook explanations and descriptions and went straight for the stories).  I simply thought the tale ended there, with no resolution, no conclusion.  My dear, new friend Lucy had not nearly lived up to her great potential.  She had been discarded by some lazy writer in a half finished tale!

Well, I would have none of it! Right in the middle of class I marched to my teacher, plopped the book down upon her desk, jabbed my finger at the incomplete story, and demanded, “Why does it end there?”  Nevermind that it wasn’t reading period.  Nevermind that even if it was, I was not reading the story I was supposed to be. I needed to know what happened to Lucy and the faun! “Why Karma,” said my teacher (the dear and beautiful Ms. Berry), “It’s just part of a story.  It is actully a few chapters of a book, and the book is one in a series called The Chronicles of Narnia. I believe there are seven. We have them all in the school library.” 

Dear readers, I cannot describe the moment.  Imagine an angelic chorus of Hallelulahs and streaks of heavenly light beaming down upon me.  “Seven?” I whispered blissfully.  “May I go to the library?  Please!”  I could not imagine waiting one more second to know Lucy’s fate.

A gentle smile and a shake of Mrs. Berry’s head.  “Not now. You may do math. But you can go the library afterwards.”  (Thank God for teachers that recognize and encourage the love of a good book.)  I did manage to survive the wait (luckily the book wasn’t checked out), and the series did not dissapoint.  I haven’t keep track of the number of times I’ve read the Narnia series through the years, but I can assure you, I am far past ten and probably past twenty and approaching thirty.

All that is just to tell you that I’ve found an essay penned by C.S. Lewis titled On Three Ways of Writing for Children.  And though it was written at least a half a century ago, it very closely mirrors my own thoughts on writing children’s books. It was a joy to read the essay, which I’d missed up until now. I felt a special thrill to know that I share many setiments about children’s writing with the late C.S. Lewis, my favorite children’s author.  Anyway, if you have no time to read the full essay, here are a few of my favorite quotes.

“I am almost in­clined to set it up as a canon that a children’s story which is enjoyed only by children is a bad children’s story.”

“Those of us who are blamed when old for reading childish books were blamed when children for reading books too old for us.”

“About once every hundred years some wiseacre gets up and tries to banish the fairy tale.”

“Noth­ing seems to me more fatal, for this art, than an idea that what­ever we share with children is, in the privative sense, ‘childish* and that whatever is childish is somehow comic.”

“The worst attitude of all would be the professional attitude which regards children in the lump as a sort of raw material which we have to handle.”

“The child as reader is neither to be patronized nor idolized: we talk to him as man to man.”

There is no need for me to expound.  I agree with him whole heartedly, and I am glad his books never talked down to me as a child or up to me as an adult.

K…

1. It is amazing how normal things continue to happen even though extraordinary things dot the landscape of life. Preparing dinner, cleaning up after, walking the dog, carpooling children... these things still need to be done even though I'm staring at a contract from a lovely agent.
2. Because of snowdays and Martin Luther King Day my children will end up with only one full week of school in January. Those luck dogs. No wonder I'm behind on my blogging duties.
3. Anne Marie is right. (Of course) Just having the agent offer has given me a sense of purpose and time to create. No longer do I have to worry about where the proposal is going next or running to check my mailbox for rejections. I can concentrate on the project that is most important now and give it my full attention. I got so much done on Ballet yesterday.
4. My trip to NYC is fast approaching and I am so excited. If you are going to SCBWI-NY I hope to meet up with you. Leave me a comment. While I'm there, I'll be able to meet with "my agent" (oooo, that sounds so sweet) and hopefully do more Ballet research at American Ballet Theatre and School of American Ballet. I'm crossing my fingers that I get to meet Angel Corella. (swoon)

5.When I get up at 5 am on a Saturday to work, my children (who refuse to get up at 7 am on school days) manage to wake up by 6:45 needing me.

I'm working hard to break through the middle of my novel manuscript. It seems that the characters need me take a break so that they can reconvene and figure out where they're going. I won't let them rest for too long though. I'll be plugging away again tomorrow. For now, a joke. Where do fish keep their money? Answer: In a river bank. I. told me this one but my answer was "In off shore accounts." I laughed hysterically but he didn't get it.  I need to make portfolio appointments in NY for the week before the national SCBWI conference. Anyone else going? Let's meet!

Dear Friends:
It seems that it is 2008. Funny that. I'm just going along, writing, mothering, and drawing... and planning conferences, submitting manuscripts, researching agents, job hunting, developing adult ed classes... that another year has come and gone. It is true that 2007 was a busy year and I've come a long way but it was not as fruitful as I'd hoped. Looking back on my 2007 journals it seems that some goals never seem to be complete. I keep saying I'll write the first two chapters of my non-fiction but never do. My Roar book is a like a millstone around my neck. I keep revising and reworking getting farther from the original vision of the book.

What a downer. Who wants to read that? Okay... 10 highpoints of 2007!
1. The awesome feeling of possibilities when I started my novel for JoNoWriMo.
2. Fall Folio Feast 2007. Third time was a charm. Great speaker, great event and I was relaxed enough to enjoy it.
3. Volunteering for Meals on Wheels. I love what I do there and it makes me feel great.
4. New Friends and old. The schmoozes at Tami's, the amazing LJ community, Botherhood 2.0, (The Project for Awesome was indeed awesome!)
5. Go SOX! Go Patriots!
6. Proposing classes for adult ed and being accepted.
7. Being asked to direct the NESCBWI conference and getting to know Janet and Francine.
8. My family is healthy and happy. My boys are growing into very nice people that I like to spend time with. My parents and siblings are well.
9. The satisfying feeling of doing interviews for various projects.
10. Travel up and down the east coast and through NY State that allowed me to see people and places I don't usually see.
11. (Okay 11) I read A LOT this year and loved it.

Hope that is better reading for you. Finally, a question. What do you think of getting and MFA  in Writing for Children? Is it all for the experience? Do the contacts and crits help you get published? Or do you feel that the experience made you a better writer and THEN you got published?

DH and I have been staying up VERY late.  But I’ve been getting up with my daughter to get her off to school each day.  I like the quiet time in the morning.  It helps me think and get things done.  However, by midday I’m dragging.  This afternoon I had to take a nap, but before dozing off I read some Shel Silverstein poems from A Light in the Attic.  Growing up I loved Shel, and he’s still my one of my favorite poets (Robert Service is another).

I read Hippo’s Hope about a hippo who wanted to fly. The poem has three alternate endings, which I find hilarious in light of all the DVD movies we now have with alternate endings.  I read The Adventures of a Frisbee, which is funny, yet philosophical as well (we all need to be true to our nature). I could go on and on about Shel’s work. 

It’s amazing what a nap and few Shel poems can do for inspiring creativity.  I woke up with four complete poems in mind–a strong start for my next poetry book. I’ll never be as clever as Shel.  He had such a gift for thinking around the borders of the obvious and getting to the heart of silliness.  And yet, so many of his poems used humor as an insight into human nature–both the good and bad. I love that.  I want to be like Shel when I grow up–well, kind of.  He was rumored to be a little crazy.  So am I, but in a different way. 

So what are some of these new poems?  One is titled, Mary Ellen’s Watermelon.  Another is, My Sister’s Toenails.  Mmm…hmm.  Nothing too philosophical in this batch folks. But I do have a vague, cobwebby wisp of what might be the title poem.  Do you have a favorite Shel poem?  Do you hate Shel?  Discussion is welcome.  Of course, I realize you might all be too busy wrapping presents, eating cookies, and keeping the kids out of the presents. That’s okay too.

I’ve been getting lots of giveaway entries!  Keep sending entries and tell your friends.  The contest is open until 12/27/07. 

K…

Well, you all my remember A Quilt for Fergus McGinny, which is a book I wrote that never sold.  Here is another book I wrote which never sold.  Enjoy! (Please excuse formatting errors–this will just not post in the prettiest fashion!)

See Ya Later, Alice Gator!

by

Karma Wilson 

Alice Gator lived all alone in Gullywater Marsh.  Every day

say howdy back.  They were afraid too.

“See ya later, Alice Gator!”

Splish…splash…splish…. 

S..s..s..lither…s..s..s..slither…s..s..s..slither…. 

Since Alice had nobody else to talk to, she took to talking to herself.  When she woke up she said, “Good morning

Then she answered.  “Lovely.  Thank you for asking.”

At brunch she would say, “

She would answer, “My pleasure.  Here you are.”

And when she left for her romp through the swamp she never said, “See ya later,

Alice Gator.”  Instead she said, “Ta…ta…

As she slumped through the swamp she said, “Goodbye frogs.  Goodbye fish. 

Goodbye snakes.  You’ll be glad to know I’m leaving!” 

The only reply was, “HURRAY!  See ya later, Alice Gator!”

  Hop… Splash… S..s..s..lither…. 

Possum with three babies.  The babies smiled so

She answered, “I do hope so.”

Alice stopped to rest and have a chat with herself.  “It’s very hot isn’t it

cool dip in Gullywater sounds quite refreshing.”She answered, “Yes.  Yes it does.”

“You know, Alice, it’s not that I don’t like you. Of course I do.  But sometimes I

wish I could talk to somebody else.  Do you?”

 She answered, “Yes.  Yes I do.”

 “Nobody likes you in Gullywater, except me, of course.  But it’s the same every where, isn’t it?”

Alice sniffed and replied, “Yes.  Yes it is.”

Alice wiped her tears, picked herself up and said, “Well, sniveling won’t change

anything.  Buck up and let’s go home.  You do know the way, don’t you dear?”

Alice thought.  “No.  No I don’t!

Alice set out to find home.  After awhile she came upon a swamp.  It looked familiar, but it couldn’t be Gullywater.

“Why just look at those strange creatures,

She answered, “No.  No we didn’t!  Let’s go say hello.”

 So she slipped into the water and swam over to introduce herself. 

that one of the creatures squeezed several squiggling snakes.  Another was poking sticks at some frogs.  Still another had a fish hanging from the end of a pole!  She

raised herself from the water and said, “Hello, I’m Alice Gator.  May I ask what you’re

doing?” 

 “ALIGATOR!  RUN!”

Tromp…tromp…tromp! 

The creatures dropped everything and ran screaming into the woods.  The fish,

frogs and snakes were free! 

was home!

Alice said, “You’ll all be very sorry to know I’m back!”  But to her surprise the

only reply was,“HURRAY!  Welcome home Alice Gator!” 

From that day on the strange creatures avoided Gullywater and Alice.  But Alice

had plenty of friends to chat with, including the frogs, fish, snakes and herself of

course.  Nobody ever, ever said, “See ya later, Alice Gator.”  Instead

they said, “Ta…ta… Alice, come back soon. 

And Alice always did.

I have good years and bad years when it comes to Christmas.  Some years I get my cards made early and have them mailed off with the quickness and all gifts purchased and wrapped and tucked tidily under the tree by the 15th.  Last year was a good year, this year is not.  I just got my cards designed and ordered (I make my own cards using my photos every year).  My gift list?  I haven’t even written it.  So yea, not a good year. In all honesty I think I’ve had a grand total of two good years.

If I could ask Santa for anything it would be some organizational skills.  I can be so scatter-brained.  I need more left brain.  Which got me thinking, am I left or right brain dominate.  I went and took a bunch of online quizzes.

This test is interesting.You watch a graphic of a dancer spinning and if you see it turning counter clockwise you use more of the left brain and vice versa.  Sadly, I spent a good minute trying to figure out which way was clockwise/counter clockwise.  When I sorted it all out I realized I saw her counter clockwise. Then I looked away and when I looked back she was spinning the other direction.  I think the fact I couldn’t figure out the clockwise/counter clockwise lands me squarely in the right brain category. 

This quiz has me much more right brain dominate. I was only about 30% left brain according to the site. One question asked if I felt the phrase “Life is just a bowl of cherries” made any sense. I had to ponder that one for awhile and came to the conclusion that it really doesn’t make much sense. I mean, I see what it’s trying to convey but ultimately I disagree.  Plus, it’s kind of a bummer cliché for people who hate cherries.

According to this test I use boths sides equally.   I don’t know if that’s true or not. I think it’s simply all the questions that asked me if I would like things to be very organized, or if I preferred structure to chaos.  That’s the kicker–I do LIKE things organized, I just can’t achieve it.  I do PREFER structure to chaos, but find myself at the mercy of disorder. 

 This test weighted me to the right again. The first question asked if I liked sitting on the right or left side of a theater or room. Huh? People think about that? I honestly couldn’t think of a good answer and just picked one (right). It also asked if can explain how I get the answer to a math problem.  I was like, “Duh–I go get the calculator and punch in the problem. Done.”  I don’t do math problems–that’s what husbands and fifteen-year-old sons are for.

And finally this test shows me right brain dominate again. But at least this test was fun. The first question asked if when writing a story I’d prefer to describe the planets in the solar system or if I’d rather write about an ant who saves the world.  That was a no-brainer (catch that pun?)  And it got me thinking, I really do need to write a story about an ant who saves the world! I could call him Plez.

So are you right-brained or left-brained?  Don’t want to take all those quizzes?  Just answer this–are your Christmas cards in the mail?  If you answered, “Oh crap, I forgot to buy Christmas cards again!”–you’re right brain.  If you answered, “Uh, yea–like a week ago.”–you’re left brain.  If you answered, “I don’t celebrate Christmas.”–oops, sorry about that discriminatory question.  Imagine if you did, would yours be mailed? If you actually stopped to imagine that you’re right brain.

Now you might read this and wonder, “What does all this have to do with Karma, her website, her writing or children’s writing.”  The answer–I’m right brain dominant and have no answers for you, dear reader.  But if you’re really upset that I’m not sticking to task you’re probably left brain. 

That was fun!  Now I’m off to order gifts–but I’ll probably get distracted halfway through by something more fascinating.

Karma

1. I am a master procrastinator.
2. The world is wintery white and cold as icicles.
3. I would like to curl up and crawl into the clothes dryer.
4. Chocolate brownies make me happy.
5. My husband makes awesome soup. Today is pumpkin soup.
6. I got a bike for Chanukah last night. How cool is that. I'm not too old to get a bike for a gift!

I'm writing, I'm writing.

3:00 Yeehaw!