One small step for the Earth

I have two priorities for the April New England SCBWI conference. One is to welcome and include as many different kinds of people as possible. We have a very diverse faculty and I hope that a diverse group of attendees will be drawn to the "Many Voices" conference.

My second priority was to reduce the carbon foot-print of the conference. My goals were to increase recycling, reduce the numbers of water/soda bottles used, and go paperless for the brochure and registration. Because it is the first year that we are doing online registration, all NESCBWI members will get a postcard to point them in the right direction. The online registration will be up and running on January 24th. The tests have gone really well, and we’ve gotten good feedback. Anindita, my co-director, is made of patience and awesome as she has formated the site and tackled the issues and glitches. Today I got the good news from the hotel that, because of my green requests, they will have recycling receptacles for all bottles and the "boxed lunch" boxes for our conference. 

I feel great about these achievements and look forward to seeing you all at the conference. 

Monday Thoughts

Sometimes when I think I have nothing to say, I actually have so much to say that I don’t know where to start. 

My sons have had very little writing in their new school. Everything seems very test driven and rote. They seem to scratch the surface of topics without diving in long enough to really swim in the information or let it soak in their hair. You need this soaking so that the new knowledge can leak out of you drip by drip by drip into assignments certainly, but into your everyday life. The new knowledge needs to be secured to other pieces of information that you already have at your retrieval to stick for good (or at least a good long time).

Writing about what you know requires us to look the information square on and realize what we do NOT know. Where the questions and holes in our information lie. Then, an assignment needs to provide time to fill in those holes. My eldest is dealing with a good writing assignment that has come with little support writing support and even less time spent on research skills. Had I given this assignment, it would take a good month to complete in a classroom and it would include numerous exemplars, group writing time, peer and adult conferences. Maybe I should go back to teaching.

Conference registration goes live online on January 24th. Will we be ready. I sure hope so. The site was in testing phase last week and all the Regional Advisors weighed in with their comments. There is much to work on. I’m a little nervous but know everything will work out fine.

The family is headed to Maine this weekend. I won’t be able to see everyone but hope to see a few people. The kids want to see friends. We are gathering all our bundling clothes and snow pants and the kids are so excited to make snow angels. Me too!
 
My parents are off to sunshine and warmth in their annual pilgrimage to Puerto Rico. "Glub-glub Mom!" That’s "Have fun, Mom!" in scuba. (That’s Mom on the left.)
 

Cows. I’ve been thinking in cow for the last couple of months and now I’m busy drawing them. I wake up thinking of cows. Now it is time to leave the computer and go draw. 

Recent Reads

I am embarrassed to say that I am still in my bathrobe. After packing the lunches, signing notes, and buttoning up my children against the wind, I sank back into the covers to read "just one more chapter" of Amy Bloom’s, Away.  Needless to say, it wasn’t one more chapter. It was many and more until the book was done. 

Away, follows the journey of Lillian Leyb, a Jew escaping from the pogroms of Russia to Ellis Island then follows her trip across America to Alaska and back to Russia to find her lost daughter. Bloom’s stream of conscious language sets the rhythm of the twenties, and the rhythm of desperation of the various characters. The characters, from New York Yiddish theatre kings to Seattle Prostitutes, are each flesh and bone and motivation and clothes and relatives and back story and future story and yet… they never take over the story. The reader is always eager to follow Lillian in the next steps of her journey. 

The research for this book must have been fun and hard and long and, I imagine, frustrating at points. The list of acknowledgements is lengthy. I was particularly struck by the symbolism in the text. Scars, in particular. Scars are stories of our pasts and Bloom mines them beautifully. When and to whom do we tell the true stories of our scars? When do we exaggerate? When do we downplay our experiences?Just lovely.

If you have a gift card from a book store, and are looking for a grown-up novel, don’t pass up Away. My husband picked up our copy in the airport and so I waited to read it. Perhaps I was just waiting for a day when no one would stop me from immersing myself in the vibrant world that Bloom creates so skillfully.

Back to work.

Google Images

There seems to be a change in the world of Google images and I suppose it is for the better but I’m going to gripe about it for a moment.
It used to be that I could find a bunch of, let’s say cow images, and then cut and paste them onto a single page and print them out to use as illustration reference. This no longer seems to be possible. Now, when you right click to copy the image, then paste it somewhere else it only pastes the image address. Of course this is great for all the photographers, and illustrators who don’t want their images hijacked and redistributed without their knowledge so I support it. But it does limit reference. Off to the library for cow books.

The Manuscript-a poem

The Manuscript
By Anna J. Boll

Two copies of my WIP
bounce and zip
through Manhattan island
postal machines  
"Priority"
to my agent
and
(cross-your-fingers)
editor.  

This closure
brings lightness.
Removing work.
Cleaning the desk.
Sending it away.
But then you wait.

Waiting is not light
or heavy
but  a spasm,
a knot
twisting your gut
whenever you remember
the WIP
is out of your control.

Perhaps some one is reading it,
or it is in the  to- be- read pile,
or it is in a tote bag
hauled back and forth
on the subway
(are the clean pages now crumpled and coffee stained?),
or maybe
(God forbid)
they didn’t want it in the first place. 

The good thing about waiting
is that it is not yet,
no.

 

Happy New Year!

 Each year I check the archives and see what I wrote last January.  I’m amused that I was contemplating an MFA a full year ago and that I’m back to the same discussion. It seems a perennial inner conflict. Now to the top 10 high points of 2009.

1. The Move. While it has not been an especially happy highlight, I’d be remiss if I didn’t give it some space. Interestingly, it has become its own character in our family story. The Move and the Job sit on our shoulders a menacing reminder of grown-up decisions. Certainly, we are lucky to have Job and therefore Move was necessary. However, they are the characters that catch your eye in the mystery. Red herring or villan?

2. Old friends. My old writing group disbanded and I moved, but I became even closer with some of my writing buddies. The Schmooze was again a high point as was my collaboration with Joyce. Facebook and my 20th high school reunion allowed me to reconnect with friends of long ago from school and camp. It is good to know that those folks are well.

3. New friends. A move is hard on everyone but I’ve made a few new connections here in Maryland that have helped me through difficult times.

4. Family. The best part of this year has been being physically closer to my family. It has been great for the kids and even better for me to be able to get to see my parents and siblings more often.

5. Freelance work. I really loved writing to deadline and interviewing some amazing military servicemembers and tradesmen and women about their work, and their dreams for the future. To all of those who are away from their families in service to our country I send you wishes of Peace.

6. WRITING. Even though things have been crazy (the move, freelance work, the conference) I have continued to write. I finished and revised a novel for submission, revised a PB for an editor (still waiting to hear), and collaborated on a new PB.

7. The election. What an amazing year for a political junkie. The results. I’m confident that President Obama will bring honesty, and intelligence to the office and restore our standing in the world even if he cannot "fix" the great number of issues that plague us.

8. The 2008 NE SCBWI conference. While it is a ton of work, being involved in the regional SCBWI on this level is incredibly rewarding. I loved working with our fabulous volunteers, meeting industry professionals, and seeing it all come together. See you April 24-26, 2009 for this year’s conference. Note: registration will happen online, and participation will be limited to the first 400 registrants. Watch the mail for your informational postcard and http://www.nescbwi.org come mid-January.

9. My kiddos. From piano to  poetry, plays to playoffs this has been a big year for my children. I’ve so enjoyed watching them solve problems, try new things, excel, grow and question the world. I’m very proud of them.

10. I got an agent! I am very thankful that Steve Fraser is such a supportive agent. It has been difficult for me to release control of the manuscript marketing piece but letting go is part of shaping a relationship. The other is communication and honesty. I found that when I was straightforward about my needs, I felt more comfortable about representation.

The year is brandy new and I’m looking forward to all that it has to offer.

Holiday Hello

Hope everyone had a happy holiday season. We are still lighting the menorah (2 nights left). Last night we read Herschel and the Hannukah Goblins. My absolute favorite Chanukah book. As I type, the rest of the family (3 pairs of adults and 9 children) are finishing up at the local pool in Bonita Springs, Florida. It has been like paradise here, 80’s and sunny. The sunsets over the Gulf of Mexico are amazing. Even so, my kiddos are pining away for white Christmas like we had in Maine. 

Parenting is a truly personal path. Sure, there are some things we all agree on: please and thank you, be respectful to your elders, keep your hands and feet to yourself… but some things are not so black and white. How about donuts and sugar cereal for breakfast? Sandwich before oreos or straight to dessert? TV for hours on end? When can you watch a DVD on a long trip? Expensive electronics for children under the age of 10? Totally subjective and personal decisions that parents have to make. 

When you get families together, those personal decisions become public and often conflict. How does one tread this emotionally charged path? Sorry, I don’t have the answer. My course of action is to stay in the background, talk to my boys quietly and personally about what our family rules are and hope that the guidance I have given them thus far will be enough. I also know that this is vacation and that we all let loose a little. No worries. 

Happy New Year. I’m counting down to January 20th. How ’bout you?

Five on Friday

1. Once again, after all the hand-wringing and fuss, I made deadline on my freelance work. I guess I should be happy but I must say the next deadline is right around the corner and I’ll gear up for that again soon. What I’d really like is about a month retreat without any other responsibilities but to focus on my WIP’s. (I think that is what everyone wants though.)

2. Collaboration on a manuscript is challenging as you pair the difficulty of writing with personal give and take. Most of all, my experience collaborating has been a whole barrel of fun, laughter, and honest sharing.  Thanks Joyce! 

3. My deepest respect to all the Picture Book author/illustrators out there who make it look easy. Those of us who are struggling at the computer and drawing board know better.

4. I am so happy to feel my relationship with my agent grow as we handle challenges together. I totally feel that he has my career and best interest at heart. Thank you, Steve!

5. I am going to do all the last minute errands before we go to Florida including: cleaning out the van (ick, was that a banana peel?), packing up gifts (my present sack will be black plastic sealed with duct tape), delivering teacher gifts and volunteering at holiday parties at school. Then we’re off!

Stress

 My list of things to do:
Complete 2 more freelance articles by Friday.
send last year’s illo academy blurb to casey
call storybook cove or find a volunteer to be in charge of conference book store
confirm crit faculty contracts and send questionnaire link
send greg fishbone the conference info for the website
work with joyce on PB
read through 1st reader notes, make changes and send to editor who wants manuscript
Do laundry, pack for Florida. We leave Friday night.