Festival of the Book and an update

Dear Friends, if you find yourself in Portland, Maine this weekend you will want to take a look at the Festival of the Book celebration. The schedule for kids includes programs by the amazing Lynne Plourde (who did a wonderful presentation at our NESCBWI conference), our own live journal friends Carrie Jones & Robin Merrow MacCready, Rochelle Draper, Phillip Hoose, and Maria Padian. Lisa Bossi, Scott Nash and many more will be signing in the signing tent.

On the moving front: my husband is working vigorously on completing unfinished home repair projects in order to have our home ready to rent. This is good. He built our home and when we decided we needed health care more than trim on the doors he started a regular job that took him away from completing the last bits. We’ve lived comfortably in this home for the last three years. However, it is frustrating that the new screen porch, the master bed/bath, the attic playroom, and linen closets (and the trim), will be completed and we will not get to enjoy them. (This is a vast understatement of my disappointment and his but will have to suffice for now.)

The offer is signed, sealed and delivered. We will move to the PAX river area sometime this summer. I’ve told our current school that they do not have to place my kiddos in new classes. This makes me so sad. We have enjoyed a wonderful elementary experience. The school is truly a learning community based on respect, and cooperation between all stake holders. I am open to whatever the future holds but I realize that we have it really good here. My kiddos have revealed more emotion about the move in the last week. I’ve held them as they cried but I also know that kids are resilient and imagine that a few weeks at the local pool will bring new friendships before school starts.

Writing is going along. I feel a little like the “Little engine that could…” chug-chugging up the mountain looking forward to the zoom toward the end of draft one. (did the engine know that he’d have to circle around and do the whole route again?) Draft 2 is on the horizon. The dummy of Roar is in its millionth draft. (I exagerate.) I’d like to get it secret agent man by the end of May.

Another chapter

Don’t miss this great “Docublog” with my Chautauqua buddy Brian Anderson author of the Zack Proton books. While he makes the publishing thing sound easy, he’s had his share of headaches getting all three books through the publishing process. If your kid loves Captain Underpants, or Diary of a Wimpy Kid they’ll love Zack in his intergallactic misadventures.

And now another chapter in that timeless saga of Creative Chaos II… Will Anna and the family be moving? When last we left the Boll family they were traveling 600 miles to southern Maryland so Hubby could interview for a job.

    Young boy 1: I need to go to the bathroom.
    Young boy 2: Are we almost there yet.
    Mother: Stop eating those snacks, we just had lunch.
    Hubby: Leave Daddy’s chair alone when I’m driving. I said, Don’t kick my chair.
    Mother: Let’s put in a DVD

You don’t want to hear that part… let’s fast forward to the job interview. (squeak, whir, tape forwarding)

    Wife: They took you out to lunch?
    Hubby: Uh-huh
    Wife: They sent you to human resources?
    Hubby: Uh-huh
    Wife: So we need to start packing our stuff?
    Hubby: Uh-huh

And so the company sent the Hubby an offer and he took it and the Boll family found out that after 14 idyllic years in Maine they will be moving to St. Mary’s County, Maryland. It is a welcoming community on the confluence of the Patuxent and Potomac rivers, closer to Anna’s family.

    Anna: Good thing writing and illustrating are portable as are my lovely friends on LJ. I can always stay in touch with my writing friends using email.
    Writing friend: But what about the New England conference?
    Anna: I’ll still direct it and come back for meetings so if you want to volunteer you’ll see me through SCBWI. Actually, a lot of the conference is already planned out as I thought I might be leaving.

Next time: Will the young boys let their mother get rid of toys they’ve out-grown? How will Mom pack up her office? Will hubby melt in the hot weather? Will secret agent man make a sale this summer? Stay tune for this and other chaos on… Creative Chaos II. *

*Notice the different voice when I’m Mother, Wife and Anna? Three distinct characters really. That’s kind of interesting isn’t it.

Sunshine and Through lines

The rain that caused major flooding throughout Northern Maine stopped Monday morning and we have had two straight days of Sun. I do not live in Northern Maine and I send my good wishes through cyber space to those who are dealing with loss in this difficult time. To those who might want to donate you can follow this link to the Pinetree Red Cross.

Rain and reading go well together. I love to curl up in my living room next to a good light. We even have some new chairs. I’ve been reading The Yiddish Policeman’s Union, by Michael Chabon. We took this on for my bookclub last month but I missed the meeting and have renewed the book twice. The book is 400 pages long and takes on a noir murder mystery, a love story, an alternative history that requires creating a believable Sitka, Alaska populated by Jews resettled in 1941, and a new Messiah. The writing is so poetic that I tend to reread the paragraphs to take in the strings of metaphors. This is definitely me reading as a writer. Another observation. Grown-up books have so much back story. Most of my children’s writing friends know the backstory of their characters. They create journals for their characters, pictures, notes, maps, but they don’t include it all in the book. Chabon gives you everything. I look forward to this book as a movie. The Coen brothers are working on it but I don’t think there is a release date.

Sunshine brings me back to work on my own writing. Huge thanks to my writing buddy Katie who helped me plot out the ending of my novel. I’d like to say that was all I needed to get me chugging along the first draft track. But I also looked to Nancy Lamb’s, Crafting Stories for Children. Her chapter on the mid-story crisis, was quite helpful and made me refocus on the through-line of the book. This made me think of my main character and his concrete and abstract wants. I feel that these are not clear in my book, probably because they are not clear to me. More on this when I revise. For now, I’m plugging away at getting the first draft done.

Poetry Friday: Sonnet

Spring romances a poem. A sonnet.
By Anna J. Boll

At night lambs cuddle under wooly coat,
By day the maple sap begins to flow.
The snowman sheds the red scarf from his throat,
his inhibitions melting like the snow.

The air is filled with noisy north bound geese,
and water trickles over rocky ledge.
The scent of soil fills my heart with peace,
I turn and venture toward the garden edge.

A tender greenish shoot pokes from the ground.
Leaves grow, roots tunnel down and twine about,
Thoughts bud and swell ‘till lyric words abound.
A gay bouqet of poems begins to sprout.

I catch a scent of sweetness in the breeze,
And write about the music of the bees.

This is my first and only attempt at a sonnet. Hope you enjoy it. Tonight was the May Day festival at the kid’s school. There were maypole dancers in white with crowns of flowers, pink cupcakes, and a May baskets raffle. More about the completion of Prints & Poems week later.

Stuck in the middle

I haven’t disappeared. I’m here, but working. Writing each morning from 5:30 am until 7:30 then getting my kids out the door. But right now I’m stuck and I figure that if I just keep my fingers moving an idea might come. I’m in the middle of my novel. Page 55. That middle point just before the climax where I need to start ramping up the action but I’m not exactly sure what the climax is so I’m typing, but not really liking the results.

This week I’ve been leading a poetry workshop for a first grade classroom. I love being with them, their excitement is infectious. This class is my son’s class and his teacher is fabulous. She spends the entire month of April celebrating Poetry Month. I am the finale to their month of reading and writing. This week we’ve looked at their own class-written poetry noticing figurative language that they are already using to “paint pictures in the reader’s head.” We are focusing on metaphor and alliteration and the writing process. I explained how I am constantly revising my work. I showed them drafts and notes and drawings in my sketch book that informed my poetry. When I got the kids settled at their desks for some writing time, Mrs. K leaned over to me and said, “First graders don’t really like to change things.” I had to laugh. As a substitute teacher I know that first graders are the most inflexible of creatures. They always correct you explaining that, “That’s not the way we do it, Mrs. Boll.” So getting them to revise has been difficult.

The other thing is that they have been working all year on writing complete sentences. Their poetry tends to be a couple of really nice sentences without the rhythm or song of poetry. They can find rhyme and alliteration and metaphor in poetry that is already written. Now they need to be able to transfer that knowledge into their own writing. Anyone who writes poetry knows that is no easy task. Now they have two rough drafts. One done on a rainy day and one done on a sunny day. I’m hoping that they can take their ideas and build it into a piece they feel proud of.

Tomorrow is poetry Friday. I’ll post the sonnet I made for the Prairie Home Companion contest. Happy writing and re-vising.

Almost two weeks?!

I’m shocked that it has been almost two weeks since my last posting. Shocked, but not surprised. My fingers have been tingling like crazy. Do you get that? That, oh-my-gosh-I-haven’t-been-writing feeling. So there it is. The admission. I haven’t been writing, when I was most charged up to do so. We have been on a long coastal journey which I will tell you more about in paragraph three, but it includes 1400 miles, a job interview, and matzah.

I have been drawing and revisioning my Roar, dummy…AGAIN. Actually I got a great brainstorm while on my recent journey. Another secondary character, a mouse, who watches the action unfolding. I’m excited to finish this up and get it to my agent. Secret agent man has given me permission to put aside the Ballet project for a while. He says that it is best not to put too much work into a non-fiction work lest it be changed by the publisher who is interested in the proposal and first chapter. Instead, Secret agent man has advised me to get to work on the novel that the editor at the conference wants to see. That is all good with me. The characters have been calling to me as I re-read Bird by Bird this week and I am eager to see what they have to say.

The journey started on Friday 18th when we drove from Maine to Pennsylvania to visit with my parents. We admired their forsythia bushes and awoke to lovely birdsong. On Saturday we had Passover Seder #1. It was very casual as we really made it our own, inviting comments and linking the traditional with current events and issues of the day. I love including everyone in the Seder, especially kids. I & E were great and had a lot of wise things to say. Passover Seder #2 was at my cousins’ home. Thanks Robin and Bob! A much bigger and more traditional event, it was great to see the whole fam damily.

Monday we drove to St. Mary’s county where Chris had an interview. Things went well and we are awaiting an offer from the company. Assuming this all goes well we will move from our wonderful home in Maine to a new adventure south of D.C. (Anne Marie are you out there?) I grew up in Northwest DC and I’m looking forward to being closer to my parents, cousins, sister and one of my brothers. It will be tough to leave our home that Chris built for us and our community of 14 years. However, we are planning on renting out our current home for a couple of years until things are clearer. The best thing about blogging is that I know that I will still be connected with all of my writer friends when and if we move. LiveJournal and writing are portable.

But wait, there’s more!

A Poetry Class Plug, The Conference, and Friends

A Plug:
On May 3rd I will be teaching an all day workshop on Writing Poetry for Children through the University of Southern Maine’s Continuing education program. Check out more information about the class here. If you have any questions for me about the class I’m happy to answer them through comments. I hope to see some of you Mainers who I met at the conference!

The Conference:
Conferences are a celebration of the essence that community. This weekend, our New England SCBWI community celebrated in a big way. Five hundred fifty people on Saturday and almost 300 on Sunday, came together to learn and “Stretch their wings.” As a conference coordinator I am flying high.

When Saturday came I was braced to put out fires all day long. What would go wrong and would I be able to handle it? I worried. It turns out that I shouldn’t have worried. As Sally Reilly reminded me, all the work that you did in the 10 months leading up to the conference pays off. She was right. So many wonderful attendees stopped to tell me how much they enjoyed the conference. From workshops, to friendships, to speakers people have been so positive. It is great to read everyone’s blog this morning and hear how much fun and learning went on.

The conference is a group effort and I give huge kudos to Francine Puckly, and Janet Arden, my co-directors. The speakers, Kevin Hawkes and Laurie Halse Anderson were lovely. Down to earth and well prepared. The workshop presenters gave it their all and the volunteers kept the whole thing running behind the scene. The staff at the hotel, were fabulous as always.

I’m especially proud of the Illustrator Academy and the poster showcase. These events brought the talents and craft of illustrators, and the illustrators themselves, out of the studio and into the light.

Thanks goes to Dick Blick Art Supplies and Picture Book portfolio directory for the amazing prizes. Also, thank you to

laurajacquesart

Laura Jacques for organizing the showcase. You will be seeing her art on the 2009 conference materials!

Brian Lies, Susan Sherman, Lita Judge and Victoria Jameison were the amazing faculty for the Illustrator Academy. I learned so much from their critiques and presentations. Mostly, I learned that as Edison said, “Genius is one percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration.” Drawing after drawing, after sketch, after color study, after research for reference all combine to make great illustration. Revision is not an option it is a necessity just as in writing. No one gets it right the first time. Those who I most admire, authors and illustrators, dig in deep and accept the challenge of hard work. Everyday.

In personal conference news. My critique editor requested the full manuscript of my novel. I feel that I should whisper that instead of shouting it from the cyber-rooftop. Do not mistake this announcement as a solicitation of congratulations. Instead it is the of the acknowledgment of the challenge ahead. A happy challenge and an important step on my journey but I’ll need your support. This is the novel I started during JoNoWriMo.
Thanks Jo!

jbknowles

Friends:
Speaking of support, thank you for your kind words on the passing of my dog Sam. I notice today the lack of noise in the house. No click, click of doggy nails on the wood floor, or jingling of collar as he scratches beneath his chin. I miss him and these flashes of memory will certainly stop me in my tracks from time to time. I gave myself permission not to write yesterday and to feel the grief fully. Don’t think me callus, but I’m also noticing the lack of black fur in my house and the extra time I have to enjoy the morning. Today, I am writing and working and moving forward.

Write On!

Good-bye Sam the Dog

This is not the entry I had planned for today. I’ll write about the conference and other good news tomorrow. Know that while this is a sad entry, there is much joy in my life. As we ride the roller coaster of life we never really know or control what is around the next bend.

It is with deep sadness and regret that I tell you, we had to put our dog Sam to sleep today.

Sam was probably 10 or 11 years old, and his dark blue black fur was almost completely gray at his muzzle and on his belly. Over the last six months he had grown thin loosing 30 pounds. Where once he was meaty and muscley, today he was only skin and bones. In the last 24 hours he lost control of his bowels entirely and I knew it was time. I will miss his loyalty, company, and protection.

We brought Sam home from the Edgecomb shelter in September of 1998. Already two or three years old, Sam had his share of issues. He ran off, he got into garbage, he tried to sleep on the couch at night, he was the worst mooch at the dinner table and he stole food from the counters when you turned your back on him. But Sammy loved to swim and fetch and get a good belly rub. Scratch him on his bum just above the tail, around the ears or under his front legs, and he’d be your buddy forever.

He loved cold weather, so our home in Maine was perfect for him. He’d explore the snowy landscape as I cross- country skiied nearby. This always made me think of an abstract painting that I hope to create someday– “Black dog in the snow.” It will be a black smudge on an otherwise white canvas. “Snow doggy!” I’d yell, and he’d leap through the snow, bounding over drifts. I threw snowballs that he caught and munched. He rolled over on his back and wiggled side to side taking a snow bath. Then he’d jump up and look where he’d been. It seemed that these were his doggy snow angels.

Sam had a super sniffer. He could snif out mice, garbage and food anywhere. If something tempted Sammy’s nose, whether it was under snow, in the ground, buried in the woodpile, or in the rafters, he’d root, dig, and climb to get it.

Sam inspired my art and writing. In “Watch that tail Sammy,” I wrote about his whacking, smacking tail that swung right at toddler eye level. Sam was great with our boys and other children who could get past the fact that he was an 80 pound big, black dog. I’ll never forget the image of Sam lying under the basinet guarding I. when we brought him home from the hospital nine years ago.

Sam had a special relationship with my father. Whenever Dad visited, Sam stuck close to him. Sam nuzzled Dad, putting his nose on my father’s lap and pushing his hand to the top of that doggy head. My father in turn scratched and pat Sam around the scruff of the neck and around his ears. The two old men seemed to appreciate an afternoon nap in the sun and each other.

Good-bye Sam.

Sonnet Worksheet

I’m trying to upload this sonnet worksheet I made for anyone who wants to give it a go. This might make the iambic pentameter a little easier to deal with. You should be able to click on it and get a bigger version but not exactly full letter size. You can get the idea and then copy it on your own or put your email in the comments and I’ll email you a PDF of it.

Sonnet Contest

Garrison Keillor is having a sonnet contest. The winner gets a sleep number bed and a dozen roses. “A bed of roses…” if you will. A sonnet is a 14 line poem where each line is in iambic pentameter and it often (not always) uses the rhyme scheme: a-b-a-b, c-d-c-d, e-f-e-f, g-g. I’m not going to go much further on this for fear of stepping on the toes or our resident poetry form expert

kellyrfineman

I’m sure she has posts that you can find that give lovely examples of sonnets and the exceptions to the rule. In fact, if you are interested in the ways you can stretch your poetic wings, don’t miss her two part workshop on Saturday the 12th at the NESCBWI conference. Until then, try your hand at the sonnet and enter before you go to Nashua!

Speaking of Nashua. We are at seven days and a wake-up. Spring must be here.