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If you visit
the workspace of Joann Early Macken, you’ll find it filled with many of her
favorite things, including a lucky pink pig that was a gift from Norma Fox
Mazer, one of her advisors at Vermont College, where Macken earned an MFA in
writing for children.
That lucky pink
pig, along with the skills that she learned while studying for her degree, have
helped her write five picture books,
I’m continuing our Teaching Authors series on good books we’ve been reading. Esther began with her list and highlighted one that carried her heart in its heart. (How I love that description!) April continued with her poetry favorite of the year—one of mine, too! Mary Ann listed three memorable YA novels. I’ve added them all to my long To Be Read list.
Like Mary Ann, I read a lot. Unfortunately, I don’t remember much, so when I find a book I really enjoy, I read it again. And maybe again after that. Here are a few of my recent reads that deserve a second or third look. I’m including brief excerpts to give you a taste of their tone and style.
Lizard Radio by Pat Schmatz. I love the inventive yet understandable language. This book made me think about gender identity and how complicated our society makes it.
“I have ten ticks to clean up and get to the Mealio. I drop the komodo in my pocket with the acorn, strap on my frods, and take off at a run. Pounding the earth, sucking in air, fire in my heart and blood rivers rushing through my body. There’s nothing in the world that feels as good as Lizard Radio in the great non-imaginary outdoors.”
Coincidentally, several of my recent reads have strong fairy tale themes.
Mechanica by Betsy Cornwell. After her father dies, a girl becomes a servant to her stepmother and stepsisters in her own home. She finds her mother’s hidden workshop and learns how to build magical mechanical creatures.
“Most wonderful of all, I found other survivors from Mother’s insect-making days, the buzzers I’d so loved as a child, hidden in little boxes between her books or forgotten at the backs of drawers. By my fourth day in the workshop I had discovered two fat, gold-plated beetles; a week later, a many-jointed caterpillar that made loud ratcheting noises as it crawled across my desk joined their ranks. Within a month, I had found three spiders with needles for legs and steel spinnerets loaded with real thread; a large copper butterfly, so light and delicate that even with a metal wingspan the size of my two hands, it could glide and flutter about the room; and a little fleet of five dragonflies, their wings set with colored glass.”
Ash & Bramble by Sarah Prineas. Pin is a Seamstress, playing a role in a Story controlled by the powerful Godmother. Pin and Shoe, a Shoemaker, decide to break out of its confines.
“Coming around a bend, we see the waterfall slamming into the river with the city high on the cliff beyond. The sun is setting, and the waterfall looks like a veil of lace, and the white stone of the castle in the distance is tinged pink and gilded at its edges.
“Then the sun drops out of the sky and the hollow boom of the castle clock rolls out—it is the sound of a gravedigger knocking on a tomb door.”
Dark Shimmer by Donna Jo Napoli. I haven’t even finished this one yet, but I’m awed by the eerie perspective with which it begins. It turns into a huge surprise that I won’t reveal here.
“My knee split open in the fall. But I’m all right. I pick pebbles from the gash. I’m all right, I’m all right.“The boys creep up on bowed legs white as sticks without the bark, especially Tonso’s skinny leg, the one that never grew right. They peer in all directions.“I stand up. I’m older than these boys, but not by much. Still, they’re half my size.”
Eager to look ahead, I started gathering all the best books lists I could find. Because I think the world needs more awareness, I added a few lists that celebrate diversity. Then I found Publisher’s Weekly’s comprehensive “A Roundup of 2015’s Best Book Lists for Kids and Teens,” a good place to start. Here are links to more lists. - Chicago Public Library’s Kids’ Lists (“Best Informational Books for Older Readers,” “Best Fiction for Older Readers,” “Best Informational Books for Younger Readers,” “Best Fiction for Younger Readers,” and “Best Picture Books of 2015”)
- Toronto Public Library’s “First & Best 2015” (best Canadian books to help kids get ready for reading)
I can’t wait to dig in! Happy reading!
JoAnn Early Macken
For the last three weeks, Teaching Authors has celebrated the season of gratitude by writing Thanks-Giving Thank U Haiku. And with each offering,
Carmela,
Esther,
April,
Mary Ann, and
JoAnn offer hauntingly beautiful poetry that, as JoAnn stated so eloquently, asks us to add our light to the sum of light.
Now it’s my turn. Alas, I am not a poet. After hours of trying to compose a Thank U Haiku, I concede that I cannot do it. It’s worrisome.
There are many things that I cannot do, of course.
I cannot drive a truck. I’m not talking about the little SUVs, complete with manual five-speed stick shift. I’m talking about those eighteen-wheeler, semi-trailer big rigs. Complete with forward engine, steering axle, two drive axles. Ten forward drive gears and two reverse gears. And a bed.
Vroom, vroom! Wouldn’t it be fun to drive across country, to see this vast and changing landscape? To see those very steps where Martin Luther King said he had a dream? Where on Christmas Day George Washington crossed the river for his own country’s honor? Where Abraham Lincoln spoke about a new birth of freedom? What about to walk the ruins of the Alamo or march across the fields of Gettysburg? Or the hills of San Francisco, where Harvey Milk imagined a righteous world?
Well, true enough I have seen many places. And you don’t really need a truck. As a working writer, I visit the landscape where my characters once walked. I do that to make them more alive. But it’s more than that, too. It’s why I write historical fiction. History is important. As
Penelope J. Corfield said, “All people and peoples are living histories,” and studying those stories that link “past and present is absolutely basic for a good understanding of the condition of being human.” That’s true now more than ever, given recent events. Still, wouldn’t it be fun to be a truck driver?
Vroom, vroom! There are many things I cannot be, of course. I cannot be a worm. How important are worms! Big worms! Small worms! Rain worms! Dew worms! And everyone’s favorite, angleworms! They burrow beneath our feet, sight unseen, churning the inorganic into the organic. Even their poop – I mean, worm casts – are invaluable in enriching soils. Which grows gardens. Which feeds the world.
I am not near as important as a worm. Still, I am a writer, and if I do my job as well as a worm does his, perhaps I might enrich at least one mind.
Speaking of important, I suppose I cannot be a rose either. Even the most imperfect rose is perfect compared to other flowers. Or, so a rose thinks. They are an old, old flower. Maybe that’s why they feel so entitled. Sacred to their Goddess Venus, Romans covered their sofas with roses. Cleopatra covered her floor with roses whenever Marc Antony was about to visit. Roses even have their own language: red rose for love, yellow rose for joy, purple rose for royalty, and white rose for innocence and peace. “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet,” wrote William Shakespeare. In a story that has lasted hundreds of years.
I have wild roses growing like brambles in my back yard. They certainly share the same hoity toity attitude as their hybrid cousins, despite having the nastiest thorns around. Still, bees love them. And in their thorny tangle hide rabbits and wild turkeys with their fledglings. And skunks. There’s nothing sweet smelling about them.
All the same, I prefer the dandelions that blanket my acres every spring. When they bloom, they look like a thousand bright yellow suns, shooing away the last memory of winter. When the blooms turn into puff balls, they look like a thousand moons. And when the puff balls explode, dispersing their seeds, they look like a thousand shooting stars. My galaxy is growing!
Of course, the result of all those shooting stars is a yard full of weeds. But I like weeds. “And, constant stars, in them I read such art as truth and beauty shall together thrive,” as Shakespeare also wrote.
But the question remains, how can I write a haiku? I'll try once more...
My Broken Haiku
Discover your world
Honor what lies beneath
Expand your galaxy Thank U for being a part of my universe.Bobbi Miller (PS: All photos courtesy of morguefile.com)
Continuing our “Three Weeks of Thanks-giving” series, I add my Thanku:
Like so many people I know, I’m struggling to respond to acts of terror around the world. I search for wisdom, look to other thinkers, try to make sense of the senseless.
In his book
What Then Must We Do? (first published in 1886), Leo Tolstoy asks that question over and over. Jane Addams said in an Introduction, “Tolstoy’s presentation of the contrast between the overworked and the underfed poor on the one hand, and the idle and wasteful rich on the other, was felt as raising unanswerable questions in every country where the book was read.”
I learned about the book in a scene from
The Year of Living Dangerously that has stuck with me for years. Linda Hunt’s character Billy Kwan, a photojournalist, says, “I support the view that you just don’t think about the major issues. You do whatever you can about the misery that’s in front of you. Add your light to the sum of light.”
James Taylor sings about light in his “
Shed a Little Light.”
“Let us turn our thoughts today to Martin Luther King
and recognize that there are ties between us,
all men and women living on the Earth.
Ties of hope and love, sister and brotherhood,
that we are bound together
in our desire to see the world become
a place in which our children can grow free and strong.
We are bound together by the task that stands before us
and the road that lies ahead.”
What then must we do? One person alone can never make up for lives lost, homes destroyed, families torn apart. But I believe that we are bound together. Together we can begin to lift a burden for someone.
We have so many burdens to lift.
What matters to you? Poverty? Hunger? Refugees? Racism? Health care? Education? Women’s rights? Voter rights? The environment? Climate change? Animal welfare? The list goes on and on.
The only response I know is to try to do some good in the world.
Do whatever you can about the misery that’s in front of you.
Add your light to the sum of light.
Be sure to see the other posts in our “Three Weeks of Thanks-giving” series:
We invite you, our readers (and your students), to join in by sharing your own "gratitudes" with us in one of three ways:
- Share them in a comment to any of our blog posts from today through Nov. 28.
- Send them to us via email to teachingauthors [at] gmail [dot] com, with "Thanks-Giving" as the subject. Depending on the number of emails we receive, we may share some of your gratitiudes in our posts.
- Post them on your own blog and then share the link with us via a comment or email. (Feel free to include the above image in your post.) On November 28, we'll provide a round-up of all the links we receive.
Today’s Poetry Friday Roundup is at
The Miss Rumphius Effect. Enjoy!
JoAnn Early Macken
For this brief series of posts, we
Teaching Authors are celebrating Internet Day.
April started last Friday with a little history, a Paul Simon song, and a thought-provoking poem.
On Monday, Mary Ann discussed movies, marriage, and misinformation. Here
’s my take: Like all technology, the Internet is wonderful when it works. Unfortunately, it can’t do everything.
Take my brand-new Dell Inspiron laptop—please. I bought it during a back-to-school sale and used it just long enough to invest in and install some new software, create a couple of conference presentations, and transfer a few files. Last weekend, the entire left half of the keyboard went dead.
At Dell’s Technical Support center in New Delhi, technicians work at night so we can reach them during our daytime hours. My email got no response and the chat option was unavailable, so I finally called. Two hours later, after the technician took control of my computer from halfway around the world, I had a diagnosis (faulty motherboard), a promise that a shipping label would be on its way as soon as I hung up (It was.), and multiple reassurances that my computer would work just fine in five to ten days if I sent it to a service center. (I did.) I hope the old one, which now shuts itself off spontaneously, lasts that long.
I went for a walk. Stomping through the park, I started thinking in haiku. Short, curt lines expressed my frustration but didn’t give me enough room. Back at home, I decided to explore the tanka form. I started (of course) with a Google search.
Tanka have syllable counts similar to haiku: five lines of 5, 7, 5, 7, and 7 syllables. Many poems have a turn or pivot in the third line. Other than that, as
this helpful article by Michael McClintock points out, “in form, techniques, and subject matter, the modern English-language tanka shows wide variation and invention, and appears disinclined to observe any rigid set of ‘rules’ or conventions.”
Fancy new laptop
diagnosed from India
but not fixed. Oh, well.
I’ll write with paper and pen
and flaming leaves streaming by.
I’ll play with the form some more while I wait for my laptop’s return. Wish me luck!
[Note from JoAnn: Today’s Poetry Friday Roundup? Not where I thought it would be. I'll post an update when I find it.]
JoAnn Early Macken
I’ve so enjoyed reading this current Teaching Author series on how to make a living doing what you love. And, of course, JoAnn’s timely
wisdom about taking a break during the busybusybusy making is especially important.
The internet has changed the nature of business, especially publishing. It has made this business so much more complex. Like it or not, writers now need to take charge of their own promotion. And for some of us Luddites who use pen and paper to write drafts, use notecards to make outlines, and stick purple postnotes on a manuscript to highlight changes, the task of internet promotion is a daunting, downright squirrelly endeavor.
Now I have to cross-platform? What? Do I have to twit now? Jane Friedman defines cross-platforming as creating visibility, establishing authority and reaching your audience. The strategy involves presenting content across new and different media.
I joined Facebook. But apparently Facebook barely scratches the surface. In fact, as Michael Alvear suggests
here, Facebook won’t necessarily help you sell books, at least not directly.
That’s just nuts. What’s a Luddite to do? I so admire
Roxie Munro. She’s the author and illustrator of more than 40 books, including the wonderful Inside/Outside picturebooks. She is also an all-around gizmo-wizard, creating a slew of interactive apps and speaking about how artists can use the internet to their advantage. And, according to Roxie (
here) most of us are already disseminating content across media formats, and we don’t even know it!
Really? Really? Even me?
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Every writer has (or should have) a website these days, even those who have yet to find the perfect publisher. What a cracked catch-22: You want to build a presence in order to convince your publisher that you can build a presence, even before your book comes out! Likewise, most every writer is connected to a blog, sometimes an individual blog, a group blog (like Teaching Authors), or several group blogs. Roxie also highlights several online projects that use videoconferencing, connecting authors and illustrators with librarians and schools to talk about their work.
While Facebook may not directly sell books, it does reinforce and can sustain important relationships. And these connections can lead to further opportunities, all of which can influence sales.
Other social media sites include Goodreads, an amazon company with a base of 20 million members. There’s also Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, LibraryThing, Youtube, Tumblr, LinkedIn, and so many more. It’s enough to drive one nutty trying to figure out which site is the best. Natalie Sisson breaks down the demographics (
here) to the different social media sites, so you can see which one might suit your needs. However, as she warns, focus only on your top three choices, and create a plan that will help you maintain these connections. If you tackle everything at once, it becomes overwhelming, and then you're up a tree.
From these connections, writers join teachers, librarians, parents and reviewers (and children's literature enthusiasts in general) to engage in blog tours and scavenger hunts and book giveaways. They share information, classroom activities, resources and ideas, all the while making even more connections. Some enterprising and clever sorts pool together their internet resources to create marketing co-ops, unfettered by geography. Such co-ops help members build their online presence even as they also help market books.
Sylvia Liu and Elaine Kiely Kearns highlight
here ten top signs that you are building a successful platform.
And look! Look! You're doing it, too!It seems that you are limited only by your imagination. And writers, as we all know, have great imaginations.
What do you think?
Bobbi Miller
P.S. No squirrels were harmed in the making of this post. All squirrels courtesy of morguefile.com.
If you’re anywhere near Sheboygan, Wisconsin, look for me this weekend at the
Sheboygan Children’s Book Festival. The celebration, October 9-11, features free programming for children, teens, and adults with 16 authors and illustrators presenting at three venues.
I’ll be presenting a program for children on Saturday at 11:30 at
Bookworm Gardens. I’ll read
Flip, Float, Fly: Seeds on the Move, and we’ll do a milkweed seed activity and talk about monarch butterflies. I can hardly wait!
On Sunday at 1:30 at the
Mead Public Library, I’ll present a workshop for adults about writing lively nonfiction and share examples from exciting nonfiction books for kids. I found such wonderful resources!
The following weekend is our SCBWI-Wisconsin Fall Conference, where I’ll present a breakout session on Activating Passive Language. I’m also doing critiques.
Here, I’m interviewed on the new SCBWI-Wisconsin Blog. You can read interviews with some of the other presenters
here.
Just in time for my conference planning, I finished revising a test passage for an educational publisher. Sometime before I take off for Sheboygan, I intend to send out a letter about a school visit. All this preparation can be a bit overwhelming, but it’s all fun stuff. After a pretty quiet summer, I’m happy to be busy! So when work is available, I always say "Yes!" if I can.
This week’s To-Do list demonstrates our current
Teaching Authors topic: the variety of ways we try to make a living in addition to writing and marketing our books for children. Marti started us off with a post about her two articles in the
2016 Children’s Writer’s and Illustrator’s Market, including "Make a Living as a Writer." Last week Monday,
Esther mentioned teaching, writing book reviews, and educational writing. On Wednesday,
Laura Purdie Salas shared an exercise about writing on assignment. On Friday,
April gave us three tips and a story.
Mary Ann started this week with another story and her take on school visits and teaching. We all wear multiple hats!
When I’m busybusybusy, I have to remember to take breaks. Yesterday, I walked to the lake and saw this brief, tiny rainbow overhead.
Here’s a cloud-watching poem to go with the view:
Summer Job
My favorite occupation
is to lie back and look at the sky.
If you find the right spot,
you can see quite a lot
in the shapes of the clouds rolling by.
You can study the habits of insects.
You can see how they flutter and fly.
You’ll see birds on the wing.
You can hear how they sing
as they swoop and they soar through the sky.
All in all, it’s a fabulous habit.
You really should give it a try.
There’s nothing to do
but consider the view.
As the day drifts away, so do I.
JoAnn Early Macken
I hope to see some of you out and about! In the meantime, be sure to
enter our book giveaway for a chance to win a copy of the
2016 Children’s Writer’s and Illustrator’s Market (courtesy of Writer’s Digest Books)! Saturday, October 10, is the last day to enter.
JoAnn Early Macken
We're back from a brief camping trip in
Wildcat Mountain State Park, where we hiked along nearly empty trails hoping for a glimpse of the Kickapoo River,
looked down on vultures soaring over the valley,
and rested and read in a secluded campsite.
At night, we stared up at a skyful of stars, warmed by a cozy campfire.
Every once in awhile, I remember the advice I give to students:
- Walk. The regular motion helps ideas flow.
- Read. Take time to appreciate the sounds of the words as well as the meaning.
- Slow down and pay attention. A change in scenery (especially outdoors) can bring inspiration.
Works for me, too!
JoAnn Early Macken
I only recently discovered the
Dear Teen Me site, where young adult authors post encouraging, honest, heartfelt letters to their teenage selves. For this series of posts, we
Teaching Authors are writing to our younger selves, inspired by those letters.
When our kids were still small, I started writing for children—poetry and picture books, fiction and nonfiction. I carried a pocket notebook around to keep track of ideas. The notebooks piled up in my desk drawer until I dumped them all into a box that I’ve been slowly weeding out.
Here’s what I’d say to that young mother:
Remember the notebooks! Yes, you carry one around most of the time. You’re always jotting down a favorite word or a quick observation or something funny one of the kids said. From time to time—especially when you’re stuck—stop and see what treasures you’ve gathered. Ideas and stories and poems are in there! Go back and find them!
The same thing with pictures. Look through them once in awhile. Remember the silly, wonderful, brave things you did. In another unsorted box, I just found this one of me and our (little!) boys on a camping trip. Priceless, right?
More weeding ahead!
Charlotte S. is the winner of our latest Book Giveaway, the autographed copy of Write a Poem Step by Step. Congratulations, Charlotte! Your book is on its way!
Enjoy!
JoAnn Early Macken
In
Esther’s last post, she pointed out a series of “re-” words related to
Kate Messner’s
Real Revision. I’ll add another: Repetition. Along with rhythm and rhyme, it’s one of the three important patterns in poetry that I discuss in
Write a Poem Step by Step. (By the way, we’re giving away an autographed copy! See below to enter for your chance to win!)
Here’s an excerpt from the book:
What do you do when you want to remember something? Do you say it to yourself again and again until you learn it? That’s using repetition. Repetition is an effective technique in poetry. It helps create a pattern in a poem. It can help us remember. It can add emphasis to a certain word or phrase. It can connect the parts of a poem to each other.
(Rahel Spilka wrote the following poem in one of my workshops many years ago. It's still one of my favorites.) Repetition ties Rahel’s poem together.
Blowing in the Wind
The tree’s branches are
blowing in the wind.
Like a cradle rocking
blowing in the wind.
It sounds like a baby crying
blowing in the wind.
The branches are swiveling
blowing in the wind.
Seems like a Mom saying,
“Shhhh!”
blowing in the wind.
Rahel Spilka, Grade 2
If your poem includes a word, a phrase, a line, or even a stanza that you want to use more than once, go ahead. Just make sure that what you repeat is important to the poem, or it can feel or sound overdone.
Have fun! Have fun! Have fun!
JoAnn Early Macken
For the first time in nearly twenty years, no one in our house is going back to school! I won’t miss packing lunches or saying goodbye every day. But I am looking forward to visiting schools myself. I love working with students and teachers in poetry presentations and writing workshops. (For program details,
see my web site.)
Many teachers and writers I’ve worked with have asked for a poetry writing plan they could follow on their own. Write a Poem Step by Step is that plan, based on the workshops I present in schools. It describes a simple, logical method of writing a poem. It includes examples written by elementary school students in my workshops. And we’re giving away an autographed copy! You can enter to win below. The giveaway is set to begin on Friday, August 7, and run through Friday, August 21.
In our neighborhood, we’ve still got time to squeeze in more summer fun before the back-to-school frenzy begins. Here’s a summertime poem from Write a Poem Step by Step.
The Beach
The waves come
and crash on shore.
Shosh, shwash, shosh, shwash
The sand is as smooth as a wooden polished floor.
The sand goes through my toes.
The day was as hot as a heating vent.
I built a sandcastle,
but the waves washed it away.
Shosh, shwash, shosh, shwash.
Sarah Ilbek, Grade 3
The line “Shosh, shwash, shosh, shwash” uses invented words that sound like waves crashing on the beach. Like many creative writers, Sarah made up words to fit her poem. I recommend using this technique sparingly and only when a reader can understand the meaning from the context.
Sarah also repeats the line “Shosh, shwash, shosh, shwash.” Watch for a Wednesday Writing Workout on using repetition in poetry next week.
Don’t forget to enter our Book Giveaway below!
Tabatha Yeatts is hosting this week’s Poetry Friday Roundup at
The Opposite of Indifference. Enjoy!
JoAnn Early Macken
a Rafflecopter giveaway 
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| morguefile.com |
“We are like islands in the sea, separate on the surface but connected in the deep.” ~ William JamesI have so enjoyed this unit on summer experiences presented by the Teaching Authors. At the core of these discussions is the importance of making connections.
JoAnn connects to nature, offering interesting experiments with monarch butterflies.
Esther ,
Carla and
April explore the important connections to be made at writing conferences that go above and beyond the business of writing.
Mary Ann connects to the next generation of writers in her discussion of summer camp,
“We cannot live only for ourselves. A thousand fibers connect us with our fellow men; and among those fibers, as sympathetic threads, our actions run as causes, and they come back to us as effects.” ~ Herman MelvilleWe know stories are old. Humans have been telling stories for over 100,000 years. Not every culture had developed codified laws, or even a written language, but every culture in the history of the world has had stories. Some research suggests stories predate language, that language came about in order to express story concepts.
And those first stories are found in paintings buried in prehistoric caves. An ancient man reaches out and across 40,000 years to his descendents, connecting past to present. It is the essence of humankind to connect. As Eric Booth states, in The Everyday Work of Art,
“Art is not apart. It is a continuum within which all participate; we all function in art, use the skills of art, and engage in the action of artists every day.”
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| Kinza Riza/Courtesy of Nature.com. |
“It really boils down to this: that all life is interrelated. We are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tired into a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one destiny, affects all indirectly.” ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.Thank you for connecting with me and the Teaching Authors!Bobbi MillerAbout the photograph: A stencil of an early human's hand in an Indonesian cave is estimated to be about 39,000 years old. Kinza Riza/Courtesy of Nature.com.
See More about the Cave Art here: Rock (Art) of Ages: Indonesian Cave Paintings Are 40,000 Years Old. Cave paintings of animals and hand stencils in Sulawesi, Indonesia, seem to be as old as similar cave art in Europe. Read more:
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/rockart-ages-indonesian-cave-paintings-are-40000-years-old-180952970/#8DR5O3DYTByKccpx.99.
The topic of a few TA blog posts this summer will deal with conferences and other types of summer learning experiences.
JoAnn Early Macken has a fascinating post about tending monarch butterflies in her garden,
Summer Science Experiments.
Since I live in an area through which monarchs migrate, I couldn’t help but wonder if maybe JoAnn’s butterflies will flutter by my house and land on the blooms in my flower bed.
Esther Hershenhorn detailed some of the great blog posts she is working on this summer in
One Writer’s Nuggets from Her Summer… So Far.
Not only does she give lots of wonderful details about Chicago, Esther also talks about SCBWI conferences.
I attended several national conferences while I was a SCBWI Regional Advisor. They are an exciting adventure. It’s great to meet the authors whose books you admire, hear them speak, and buy an autographed copy. Conferences give writers the opportunity to meet others who share their passion of writing for young readers. The world of children’s book authors is a friendly place and conferences give you the chance to get to know people from all over the county and the world. Writers find themselves in the midst of a crowd of people who understand the joy and the rejection of writing to publish.
Nearly every pre published writer at an SCBWI conference hopes they will make a connection with an editor who will publish their book. And that is always possible. But when I look back to my early years as a writer, I see now that the most important lessons I learned at SCBWI conferences did not result in a published book. One clear benefit is the wonderful friends I made, including Esther Hershenhorn. For me, another benefit was that I began to see how the creative side of writing must coexists with the business of publishing.
Conferences teach writers about the craft and the business of writing. What can be learned at SCBWI conferences can speed up the process of both sides. Like Joann’s butterflies, change happens and pre published writers change into published authors.
So far this summer, we’ve stuck close to home. We’re working on projects around the house and the yard, and some days, everything feels like a science experiment. Lucky for us, we’re still learning!
I’m tending monarchs in the backyard—this is my sixth year—and finding them fascinating as usual. I learn something new every year. This year, I’m taking a more hands-off approach. I trust that they know what they’re doing. (You can see more photos, monarch info, and the tent where I keep them on
my web site.)
I started milkweed plants from seed again this spring. A couple of last year’s butterfly milkweed plants are blooming, but this year’s are still tiny. I was surprised to see when I repotted a few that the roots were filling the pots. Lesson learned: Larger pots to come.
We’re experimenting with food, too. My husband discovered a mulberry tree, so we’ve been picking, baking, and eating them fresh by the handful. And in our granola, of course, the latest batch of which includes the maple syrup we bottled last winter. So satisfying!
This year’s garden includes way too much kale, which we’ve added to salads, given to neighbors, and last night baked in a quiche with oven-roasted tomatoes and cheddar cheese. Possibly the best quiche ever—so glad I made two!
My summer reading includes a large pile of botany books for a new nonfiction picture book I’m excited to work on. My writing group gave me positive reviews, encouragement, and a number of helpful suggestions I can’t wait to try. Must get back to it! But first, here’s a mulberry poem:
Squirrel stares at me—
mulberry stained, pail half full.
We can share, can’t we?
Kimberley Moran is hosting today’s
Poetry Friday Roundup. Enjoy! And happy summer!
JoAnn Early Macken
Hooray for good news! After 2 1/2 grueling years, our son is cancer free! My husband retires today! And I have a new book! The padded board book edition of Baby Says "Moo!" is here, and you could win an autographed copy for you or your favorite baby.
You can read more about
Baby Says "Moo!" in
this interview with the VCFA Launchpad, the Vermont College of Fine Arts MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults blog. Enter below to win an autographed copy. The giveaway runs through June 22. We'll announce the winner on June 26. Good luck!
Today's Poetry Friday Roundup is at
Jama's Alphabet Soup. Enjoy!
JoAnn Early Macken
a Rafflecopter giveaway 
When I finish a big project, I usually have to take a few days to get my bearings. I look around, dazed, trying to figure out what to do next. Morning Pages help. Walking to the lake helps. Spring is inspiring!
My camera helps me focus—literally—when I need to slow down and pay attention. For me, that can be the key to opening up to new ideas.
I just turned in the fourth (and final) book in a nonfiction series for an educational publisher. It drained me more than I expected. So I’m filling the well. Here are some things I’m paying attention to.
Last fall, I buried 40 potted milkweed plants (3 varieties) under dry leaves next to the house. When the weather warmed up, I put them in the sun next to the garage. So far, 18 of them have sprouted. Three more plants (and one more variety) have popped up in the flower bed, which is shadier. Now I'm watching for monarchs. (Are you? Check the
migration map to see if they're in your neighborhood yet.)
A pair of white-breasted nuthatches were cleaning out a hole in a branch above the garage the other day. Will they build a nest there? I hope so. I love their weird calls (described by the
Cornell Lab of Ornithology as "a loud, nasal
yank") and the way they hop down tree trunks head first.
One of my favorite wildflowers, a
shooting star, is blooming in the park. What an encouraging surprise! Maybe I can go back to work now.
Bobbi started this series of
Teaching Authors posts about inspiration with a collection of wonderful quotes. Be sure to check it out if you need a dose of inspiration—and who doesn't?
Congratulations to Karen C, who won our giveaway of the YA novel in verse
Dating Down by Stephanie Lyons. (Read all about it in
Esther's interview.)
Baby Says "Moo!" is now a board book! Watch for a
Teaching Authors Book Giveaway in June.
The Poetry Friday Roundup is at
Radio, Rhythm & Rhyme. Enjoy!
JoAnn Early Macken
By:
Carmela Martino and 5 other authors,
on 4/17/2015
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Sylvia Vardell,
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Poetry Friday Anthology for Celebrations,
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Howdy, Campers! Happy Poetry Friday! (the PF link is at the end)
Authors-anthologists-publishers Janet Wong and Sylvia Vardell have written an article well-worth reading (it's brief!) for National Poetry Month in the online magazine Bookology which begins:
"We are pressed for time, so we multitask. You might be eating breakfast while you’re reading Bookology, or doing laundry, or both. “Killing two birds with one stone” or “hatching two birds from the same egg”—integrated teaching—is the best way to fit everything in, especially in the K-5 classroom." (read the whole article
here)
Janet and Sylvia's
Poetry Friday Anthology series does a LOT of heavy lifting including:
1) helping pressed-for-time teachers and librarians teach poetry while meeting the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), and the Texas TEKS for English Language Arts (ELA)/Poetry and Science & Technology,
and
2) including a “Take 5!” mini-lesson with every poem in their collection for librarians, teachers, and parents with instructions for sharing, picture book pairings, and curriculum connections.
And in their NEW collection Janet and Sylvia have added another bonus
: each of the 156 poems in this newest book appears in both English and Spanish--WOWEE!JoAnne's recent post sang out about this book (which includes JoAnne's terrific Graduation Day poem), and
Esther's post continued, including
an interview of these two visionaries and Esther's very
green Saint Pat's Day poem.
As JoAnne writes:
I’m thrilled to be one of 115 poets (and 3 Teaching Authors!) whose poems are featured in the brand-new Poetry Friday Anthology for Celebrations! I'm thrilled that they've included two of my poems. This one's for National Thrift Shop Day (who knew?)
(Click to enlarge )
Have a fabulous Poetry Friday...and consider donating to a thrift shop today and then shopping in one, too ~
Remember to enter our
Book Giveaway to win an autographed copy of Paul Janeczko’s 50th book, DEATH OF A HAT, illustrated by Chris Raschka. You can enter between now and April 22 (which just happens to be our SIXTH
TeachingAuthors Blogiversary!).
And...please stop by
my poetry blog where all Poetry Month long I'm posting PPPs--Previously Published Poems--from anthologies, Cricket Magazine and
my novel in poems.
Yippee! I’m thrilled to be one of 115 poets (and 3 Teaching Authors!) whose poems are featured in the brand-new Poetry Friday Anthology for Celebrations! Each of the 156 poems appears in both English and Spanish.
Here’s mine! (Click to enlarge if your eyesight is like mine!)
The Poetry Friday Anthology for Celebrations is the newest in a series of Poetry Friday anthologies compiled by Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong. Watch this space for more details and poems by
Teaching Authors April Halprin Wayland and Esther Hershenhorn.
Look for more Poetry Celebrations fun at
PoetryCelebrations.com. Then you can order your own copy of
The Poetry Friday Anthology for Celebrations from
Pomelo Books.
Don’t forget to
enter our Book Giveaway for an autographed copy of Paul B. Janeczko’s
The Death of the Hat: A Brief History of Poetry in 50 Objects, illustrated by Chris Raschka. You can also read about
Paul’s approach to writing poetry with young writers.
For
National Poetry Month, I’m posting a haiku each day on
Facebook and Twitter (@JoAnnEMacken). As soon as I catch my breath, I’ll gather them all up on
my blog.
Our friend Laura Purdie Salas is hosting the Poetry Friday Roundup today at
Writing the World for Kids. And Jama Kim Rattigan has a
2015 National Poetry Month Kidlitosphere Events Roundup. Hooray! Celebrate! Enjoy!
JoAnn Early Macken
Today, I continue our Teaching Authors series on libraries: how we use them, why we love them, and what we love about them.
Whenever I hear about a book I want to read—on a listserv, on the radio, in a conversation—I search the library catalog online. I can reserve books from anywhere in our county library system and pick them up from my local branch. For research, it’s priceless. I've even emailed articles to myself. Wonderful resources! And free!
Our library offers an amazing array of services from read-aloud programs for little ones to candidate forums for voters to book deliveries for shut-ins. Miss Heide, the children’s librarian, raises monarch butterflies every summer for visitors to watch.
I stopped in yesterday to drop off books I had read, pick up books I had requested, browse a bit, and take a few pictures for this post. Alas, although I can see the photos on the camera, my laptop will not read the disk.
Don’t we love technology?
Only when it works. I’ll leave you instead with some lovely spring flowers, photographed with my phone.
You’ll have to imagine the community bulletin board, the student art on display, the helpful staff. Imagine Miss Heide herding a flock of chirpy kids through the picture book area. Imagine two rambunctious boys rifling through a pile of books on a little black cart. They inspired this poem.
Little Black Cart
Are you done with your books?
Please don’t put them back.
Shelving is tricky,
and we have the knack.
Whatever you’ve finished—
The Farm Almanac,
Training Your Yak,
Baking a Snack,
Riding Horseback,
Ducklings that Quack,
Your Zodiac,
How to Kayak,
Programming a Mac—
belongs in this stack.
If you’re not checking out
that collection of art,
decided against
the novella with heart,
don’t need the recipe
for strawberry tart,
leave your books here
on the little black cart.
Not sure what your library has to offer? Check out the web site. Better yet, stop in and visit!
Today’s Poetry Friday Roundup is at
Reading to the Core. Enjoy!
JoAnn Early Macken
Today, more than a million people in at least 80 countries around the world celebrate World Read Aloud Day. This annual event “calls global attention to the importance of reading aloud and sharing stories.” How will you take part?
My cousin Mary Jo and her sweet dog Molly volunteer in the Paws for Tales program at the
Weyers-Hilliard library in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Kids who are looking for good listeners can come in and read a book to Molly or one of the other “friendly, trained four-legged friends.” What fun—and what good practice!
Reading aloud is good practice for writers, too. Before you consider a poem or story complete, give it the read-aloud test. Read it yourself. Read it to a child or a pet. Ask someone to read it to you. Does it flow well? Does the rhythm fit the message? Listen to the sounds of the words. Do they match the tone of the manuscript? Be alert for any stumbles.
Note any issues on your manuscript as you listen. Focus on those spots in your next revision. Repeat as necessary. Have fun!
JoAnn Early Macken
P.S. I’m also celebrating March 4th (one of my favorite holidays) on
my blog. Stop in and see why!
By:
Carmela Martino and 5 other authors,
on 2/27/2015
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Flip Float Fly: Seeds on the Move,
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JoAnn Early Macken,
Lola Schaefer,
Fiona Bayrock,
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In this series of Teaching Author posts, we’re discussing the areas of overlap between fiction and nonfiction. Today, I’m thinking about creative nonfiction.
What is Creative Nonfiction? According to Lee Gutkind (known as the “Father of Creative Nonfiction”), “The words ‘creative’ and ‘nonfiction’ describe the form. The word ‘creative’ refers to the use of literary craft, the techniques fiction writers, playwrights, and poets employ to present nonfiction—factually accurate prose about real people and events—in a compelling, vivid, dramatic manner. The goal is to make nonfiction stories read like fiction so that your readers are as enthralled by fact as they are by fantasy.”
One critical point about writing creative nonfiction is that creativity does not apply to the facts. Authors cannot invent dialog, combine characters, fiddle with time lines, or in any other way divert from the truth and still call it nonfiction. The creative part applies only to the way factual information is presented.
One way to present nonfiction in a compelling, vivid manner is to take advantage of the techniques of poetry. When I wrote the nonfiction picture book
Flip, Float, Fly: Seeds on the Move (gorgeously illustrated by
Pam Paparone), I made a conscious effort to use imagery, alliteration, repetition, and onomatopoeia while explaining how seeds get around. When she called with the good news, the editor called it a perfect blend of nonfiction and poetry. Yippee, right?
Fiona Bayrock’s
“Eleven Tips for Writing Successful Nonfiction for Kids” lists more helpful and age-appropriate methods for grabbing kids’ attention, starting with “Tap into your Ew!, Phew!, and Cool!”
Marcie Flinchum Atkins has compiled a helpful list of ten
Nonfiction Poetic Picture Books. She points out that these excellent books (including some by
Teaching Authors friends
April Pulley Sayre,
Laura Purdie Salas, and
Lola Schaefer) can be used in classrooms to teach good writing skills. We can all learn from such wonderful examples!
Heidi Mordhorst has this week’s Poetry Friday Roundup at
My Juicy Little Universe. Enjoy!
JoAnn Early Macken
When this topic came up, I thought it would be an easy one to write about. I make a lot of mistakes. I tried to think of one I turned into a positive experience. Not so easy.
Brainstorming gave me a couple of ideas. One was
Milton the Monster. The other was Mom saying “Oopsie Daisy” when one of us kids fell down.
The mistakes that haunt me now are often errors of omission—things I should have done but didn’t. Given a difficult choice, I can agonize until it’s too late to do anything. What if a better option comes up? Mom used to say, “Sometimes not to decide is to decide.”
 |
| Bird feeders outside Mom's window. Can you tell I'm craving spring? |
Fear can be paralyzing, so sometimes almost any action is better than none. What if I make the wrong choice? No use crying over spilled milk, Mom says.
I always try to make the best of whatever situation I find myself in. But when I try to think about my mistakes, well, I don’t want to. Mom's advice? Don't dwell on them. Maybe blocking them out is the best way for me to be able to pick myself up, dust myself off, and carry on.
Thanks, Mom!
Don’t forget to enter our drawing for an autographed copy of the young adult novel Skin and Bones by Sherry Shahan. Today’s the last day!
JoAnn Early Macken
I read way too fast. I skim over details to find out What Happens. In the process, I sometimes miss important points. Plus I usually read at night. Because I’m tired, I often forget what I’ve read, and I have to go back a few pages the next night and reread to figure out what’s going on. I’m always trying to make myself Slow Down and Pay Attention. When I read a book I really enjoy, I start over at the beginning as soon as I reach the end. The second time through, I notice the language, the writing techniques, the way crucial details are revealed at just the right moments. I zip through a lot of books that way, and they tend to blur together in my mind. Because I’m always researching picture books and poetry, I read mostly young adult novels for pleasure. Here are three that stuck with me this year.
Where Things Come Back by
John Corey Whaley. Although the plot involves several issues, the one I remember best is the relationship between the two brothers. I ached for the narrator. I cried at the end.
I’ll Give You the Sun by
Jandy Nelson, another sibling relationship story. I read this on a plane, and I never read on planes. I could not put it down.
Egg and Spoon by
Gregory Maguire. I remember telling my husband that I could leave this one on my bedside table and reread it for the rest of my life. The writing is gorgeous, and the story is compelling, with plenty of food for thought.
Most of the poetry I’m reading these days is research for my
Poet’s Workshop series for Crabtree Publishing. I’ve finished books 5 (Haiku) and 6 (Cinquains). Now I’m looking forward to moving on to Concrete Poems and List Poems. One more nonfiction series is lined up for another educational publisher in 2015. I'm looking forward to researching four more interesting topics!
Happy holidays, all!
xox,
JoAnn Early Macken
the whole alphabet
is somehow not enough
to express my thanks
Hello from the depths of a big freelance project—for which I am grateful, of course! Today I continue the Three Weeks of Thanks-Giving series, in which each Teaching Author is supposed to share three things she is grateful for. Like the others who posted before me, I tried, but I can’t limit it to three. So I’m sharing three categories.
People: my dear husband Gene, our strong, determined, and healthy (!) sons, my mom and my sisters, my cousins, my writing companions: my wonderful
VCFA classmates the Hive, my writing group (How is it that we’ve never given ourselves a name?), the amazing current and former fellow Teaching Authors (and the readers who make our posting so rewarding), my Poetry Friday pals who inspire me even though many of us have not met yet, editors who respond with thoughtful comments even when they reject my work, teachers and students, writers everywhere who share their joys and woes, plus anyone who works for justice, anyone who tries to save the planet and its inhabitants, and anyone who tries and tries and tries again
Places: home with all its connotations (warmth, respite, a place to put my feet up), Lake Michigan, wilderness wherever it still exists
Things: sunshine, opportunities, courage, even (or especially) when it’s borrowed, reliable transportation that enables us to visit family and see a bit more of the wide, wonderful world, and the Internet, which makes worldwide communication possible--along with travel directions, weather reports, and planning for family reunions (Yea, cousins!)
That’s all I can think of for now, although another thing or two will surely pop up as soon as I click “Publish.” As in years past, we also invite you, our readers (and your students), to join in by sharing your own thanks with us in one of three ways:
- Comment on any of our blog posts through Nov. 28.
- Send them via email to teachingauthors [at] gmail [dot] com, with “Thanks-Giving” as the subject. We might share some of your comments in our posts.
- Post them on your own blog and then share the link with us via a comment or email. (Feel free to include the Three Weeks image in your post.) On November 28, Carmela will provide a roundup of all the links we receive.
Don’t forget about our
CWIM Giveaway! You can enter until November 28.
Today’s Poetry Friday Roundup is at
Tapestry of Words. Enjoy! And happy Thanksgiving, from the depths of my heart!
xox,
JoAnn Early Macken
Last week, I had the opportunity to attend David Harrison’s “Poetry for the Delight of It” workshop, organized by the Highlights Foundation. I’m happy to report that I found not only the poetry but the entire experience delightful. From my ride from the airport to the tour of the Highlights for Children offices to the comfy couches where we discussed poetry to the massive fireplace on the patio where we roasted s’mores, every detail was taken care of so that I didn’t have to think about anything but poetry. And the food—oh, my! We were spoiled. During breaks and in the evenings, we retired to our own cozy cabins with rocking chairs on the porches and plenty of wonderful books to read—a writer’s heaven!
David Harrison (
a Guest Teaching Author in 2012) led group discussions with a reassuring blend of wit, humor, explanation, and examples. He supplied writing prompts that resulted in humorous and heartfelt poems, and he provided perceptive, encouraging critiques of our work. Poets
Jane Yolen and
Kenn Nesbitt visited via Skype to share their own tips and examples.
Boyds Mills Press Senior Editor Rebecca Davis participated in a session about editorial and marketing practices, and Executive Editor Liz Van Doren joined us for dinner.
Lucky me! I’m still floating.
Here’s a poem I wrote there, inspired by one of David’s prompts, about waking up early:
Day
Catbird screeches up the morning.
Acorns drop to mark the minutes.
Knock! Woodpeckers count the hours.
Crickets sing me back to sleep.
Another lucky surprise: I got to meet and hang out with our longtime friend Linda Baie, who wrote about
connecting the experience to writing in one of her blog posts. What fun!
Today’s Poetry Friday Roundup is at
The Miss Rumphius Effect. Enjoy!
JoAnn Early Macken
View Next 25 Posts
By: Bruce Black,
on 4/3/2016
I can’t wait to dig in! Happy reading!
Take my brand-new Dell Inspiron laptop—please. I bought it during a back-to-school sale and used it just long enough to invest in and install some new software, create a couple of conference presentations, and transfer a few files. Last weekend, the entire left half of the keyboard went dead.
