This has been a busy week so I guess we’ll get right down to it:
1. I went to the Yarmouth Art Festival opening last night and was amazed by the showing. St. Bartholomew’s church in Yarmouth was packed with art lovers. The show will be up through Saturday if you’d like to see it. Also, you can preview the works in the online catalog.
2. I had a great visit with my parents who came up to leaf peep this past week. They enjoyed the maples and the grandchildren and gave hubby and I chance to go out on the town for our…
3. Sixteenth Anniversary! Every year is better than the last. How long have you been married?
4. My son I. tried out for travel basketball and didn’t make it. There were enough kiddos there for two teams but they could only have one. It got me thinking that the kids who DID make it, are automatically the Varsity team for highschool. That’s it. Decided in 5th grade. The kids who made the team get better coaching, a team with more skillful team members to learn from, and more experience with challenging games. Of course the 5th grade travel team becomes the 6th grade travel team, and the A-team in Jr. High and then high school. What a shame we don’t give all kids the chance to succeed. (This sports situation is of course true for music and academics as well.)
5. I did not get an interview for the teaching job I applied for.
6. Had to ask for an extension on my MFA packet because things have been so busy. Must complete.
7. If you have a MG or Picture book fiction or nonfiction) coming out this year, I’d love to review it. Tell me in the comments or contact me at anna at annajboll.com
8. Must work on image for the Maine Illustrators’ Collective Classics Reimagined show!
9.Brrr… I think winter is right around the corner. Windy and cold enough to turn on the heat.
10. Looking at puppies.
Tag: writing
Five on Friday
1. We are wrapping up "Banned Book Week" but the challenges continue. Challenges often ramp up at the beginning of each school year. See for more info on books under attack. I’ve ordered 100 of these buttons…
from the ABFFE (American Booksellers Foundation For Free Expression) and I’m itching to hand them out at PTO meetings, potluck dinners and the like.
2. In the same vein, has a wonderful collection of haikus over in the comment section of her blog this week in support of free expression. Take a look. Here are my contributions.
a.
rooted deep in fear
censors dictate their one truth
micro-manage youth
b.
If all books portray
people who link and think the
same as me? Boring
3. I have completed my sketches for the book I’m illustrating for The Telling Room, in Portland and turned them in yesterday. Yea, me! The project, Fufu & Fresh Strawberries, seems much more real now. The pub date is May of 2010. Would you like a sneaky peaky? Okay, you talked me into it. Here are a couple of sketches…
4. So now I’m going to go work on an oil painting for a harvest show that is calling for entries.
5. Then I need to buckle down and write my critical essays for my MFA, packet number 3, the over the hump packet! Have a great weekend!
(By the way, no one has left any comments in the last three posts, so for my piece of mind, could someone just say "hello" so I know these are posting? Thanks.)
Five on Friday
1. My husband and I were talking about Banned Books and commenting that if a child/teen really wants to get their hands on information they want or need they will do it with or without their parent’s permission. I think my job as a parent is to make the information and myself accessible at the same time. This way I am available to discuss my children’s questions when they arise. Looking at the banned book list on the ALA website (use the sidebar to navigate these lists) I’m surprised by how many of the books are nonfiction books about puberty and sexuality written for children and teens. As an educator, I know that this is information vital. Along with the information, though, they need the support of their parents to help them learn about responsible and respectful relationships.
2. Hubby and I enjoyed a long and lovely bike ride from our home, looping into the farmland near the coast and back to home again. Sometimes it is great to have him at home while I work, but I’m afraid that I take too many breaks when he’s here.
3. Working on inking those sketches for my September 30th illustration deadline.
4. If you live in my area, check out the new Lion’s Pride restaurant. The place has only been open for about two months and is sort of tucked into a mini-mall setting but inside the oversized labels and amazing blow glass tap pulls create a cozy atmosphere. An awesome pub for the over 30 set. Our waiter was incredibly knowledgeable and attentive. I had a great glass of wine and Chris tried a local brew. The food was great (fish and chips, the Philly cheesesteak, the belgian frittes, and the Capitole salad). Portions were huge so sharing is definitely an option.
5. Five, hmmm… time to write!
It has been a crazy couple of days here in Maine. In order to complete illustration sketches for a Tuesday meeting, I stayed up until 3 am Monday night. I had completed most of the sketches previously and had planned to scan and print them to create a draft dummy. However, when I found the moving box with the scanner, I could not find the power cord. Very frustrating. I ended up re-sketching all the images.
Last night, a fire alarm woke my two kids and myself at 3:30 am. We high tailed it outside, called 911 and waited for the firefighters to show up. Luckily, it was a false alarm. Perhaps a faulty fire alarm device. We were back in the house by 4:30 but none of us could sleep. It’s hard to sleep when you are scared that maybe it wasn’t a false alarm. The two kids ended up in my bed. Then they fell asleep fine. I couldn’t get my heart to stop thumping through the blankets. I kept hugging and holding them. The alarm went off again tonight. I think it is faulty so I replaced it with another that we had. I hope that will be the end of that.
Of course our night time schedules have not changed the last-week-before-school-starts-day-time schedule. Days have included school shopping and a trip to Funtown Splashtown USA. (I hear you singing the theme song, Maine-ahs)
On a writing note…um…well…
So kids are going back to school on Monday. Maybe that will help things out.
Good-bye grads
Big party night here in Montpelier, Vermont. The fourth semester students throw a themed party for the graduating students. The theme– Hawaii. I can’t imagine the end of the tunnel, as I have just started to travel this road but the community here is such that I am extremely happy for my new friends who are moving on in their journey. The alumni who visited this weekend have also been kind. I know quite a few people from SCBWI-NE so it is nice connect without having to wait from next spring’s conference. Jennifer Richard Jacobson, Sally Reilly, Julie Berry, Martha Caldero, Sarah Aronson, and Anindita were here too. Anindita is busy already on plans for next year. (By the way the CFP is up on the website if you are interested in presenting in 2010, due date September 15)
My biggest epiphany this week is that I didn’t know what I didn’t know. I came to the program thinking that I knew how to write and read and this week has shown me how much I have to learn. The lectures were certainly helpful for me and I took something from each. The workshops, though, were crucial and most educational. Certainly it is important when someone gives me feedback but it was listening to co-workshopers critique another person’s work that was most helpful and accessible. They unveiled the psychic distance, POV issues, flat characterization, etc. in the writing we analyzed. I have a lot to work on this semester, that’s for sure.
No emails
For the last 12 months I have had a plethora of emails. Every time I sat down to the computer there would be at least 30 emails and this would be true about three times a day. Yesterday 10. Today 6. I am not complaining. I am rejoicing. The conference is done and it far exceeded my expectations. Our keynote speakers, Cindy Lord and Floyd Cooper were absolutely amazing.
Cindy gave us a practical and touching keynote about the work that is necessary to create honest writing. It is this kind of writing, she explained, that will allow your readers to connect to the story in an authentic way. Cindy is a personal friend but we have not been in close proximity for a while. Never the less, her speech seemed like a conversation that discussed all the challenges I currently face in my writing. It was as if the other 400 people in the room melted away and we were sitting together having tea and cake. Truly, this is the mark of an excellent speaker.
Floyd was charming, funny and informative. HIs positive and laid back style was accessible to everyone in the room (artist or writer). He told us about his experiences in the industry over the last 20 years, and the challenges facing illustrators willing to take on characters from diverse cultures. He shared his subtractive method with ease and aplomb. (Which anyone can do. Ha.)
Our faculty was generally knowledgeable, prepared, and accessible. I actually got to attend three workshops over the weekend and all of them were excellent.
Of course it is the conference within the conference that takes my breath away: seeing old friends, making new connections, learning from peers.
Thanks to everyone who made this conference a reality. I delegated quite a bit this year as I was directing from afar. Everyone kept the juggling balls in the air and put on a super show.
Now I’m free to do my creative work, and that’s what it is really all about. To do:
- Final 36" x 36" drawing for college drawing class due Wednesday on "The mythology of epiphanies."
- Submit application packets for Falmouth and Brunswick art teacher positions.
- Work on VCFA personal and critical essays for submission next Friday.
- Final paper and project due for Color Theory, May 11.
- Revise picture book for agent.
- Re-read novel taking notes.
At least I don’t have as many emails.
Four Days Left
Well friends, at this point the conference is pretty much on auto pilot. Saturday is sold out and I’m so excited to see it all come together. What isn’t on autopilot is my creative work. For some wacko reason I signed up for the poster showcase and a portfolio review. HA! Ha-Ha. This is me laughing at my insane overestimation of my own ability to create on deadline. I’ve got the next three days to paint a couple of new images that are all sketched out and get copies of them. The poster needs to be printed out too. I figure if worse, comes to worse, I can just bring my laptop and show it to the art director. (I’m joking! Don’t do this.)
In other news, Scholastic said "no" to my novel. This was a big disappointment as I met the editor at the conference last year and she had asked for my full manuscript. I was so hopeful. I wasn’t even expecting a "yes, we’ll take it," I was hoping for an editorial letter. Basically she told my agent that there was some nice writing but it was a little didactic and heavy handed. (My words not hers.) I’m looking forward to the time to revise it with this in mind. I’ve applied to the Lesley MFA program. If I get in, it will be the perfect environment to break my work down and build it up better than before. And so, this quote:
Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan "press on" has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.
30th president of US (1872 – 1933)
My Life. So similar to yours I’m sure.
When I wake up in the morning (around 6ish) my brain kicks into overdrive. With my eyes closed, illustration ideas play for me like a slide show. Sometimes I squeeze them harder trying to make out the details, the colors, the gestures, space, composition… Without fail they fade as I open my eyes.
I take this time to plan too. "Today," I think, "I will jump right up, do some research for my class paper, write the "one-month-left" letter to faculty of the conference, revise Regular Bus, I need to dummy up First Came the Deer"… and on and on until I’m so overwhelmed that the warmth of my husband and the bed lull me to inaction for another half-hour.
Then it’s up and at ’em. Unload the dishwasher, get up the boys, make lunches. Has everyone has breakfast? Get your lunch box, shoes on, shoes on, homework packed. Mom did you sign my… Shoes on! Let’s go. Run, run, let’s not miss the bus…
Then quiet. Clean the kitchen or check email? Check email.
Oh no, I’m late. Shoes on. Get to class.
Did I mention one month left. I’m so excited for the conference but part of me wishes it was April 27th. Maybe then I’ll get to that 6 am list.
Do I have everything?
Yesterday, we were not ready for Monday. My son’s scribbled on homework sheets that they "forgot" were due. We missed the bus. We jumped into the truck but it wouldn’t go. I had to ask my neighbor to take my kiddos to school. My usual Mommy-mobile was at the BWI airport with my husband who took it at 6 am. That was fine, I figured it didn’t matter what car I had as long as I could get around. After plugging in the truck for a half-hour it started right up. That’s when I realized that the college parking sticker I bought was on the Mommy-mobile too. Ack! The security people at the college were very nice and gave me a temporary pass for the week.
Today my sons jumped out of bed for waffles and strawberries. They packed their bags. My "organizationally challenged" child utterer the following words, "Do I have everything?"
Illustration by Ian Yates
Yes my friends… self awareness. I hugged him and kissed him. Then he zipped up his backpack, and put on his shoes without me asking. Have we turned a corner? Ask me in a month.
In conference news…
Special events are filling up quickly so get your registration in. Remember that if spaces fill for something, that offering will not appear on the registration form. novel intensive with Sarah Aronson (thru_the_booth ) is closed. (If you want to be on the waitlist write to shirleydpearson at yahoo dot com) We currently have…drum roll please…185 attendees registered.
In writing news…
I’m still in the waiting room on a PB manuscript and a novel. I’m working on the illustrated dummy book for my collaboration with Joyce Johnson.
In other news…
I’m taking two college classes this semester to further my art knowledge for illustration and to expand my teaching certification to include an Art Educators endorsement. I have the same instructor for both Color Theory and Drawing. She’s a great educator and artist and I look forward to learning a lot.
Finally, it is snowing. There might be a inch but I doubt it. However, it is a big deal for these Southern Maryland folks and I just got a robocall that kids are being sent home 3 hours early. Early? Have you ever heard of such a thing? How are the parents suppose to get off of work and make it home to be there for their kiddos? I have class then. Good grief.
Edited to add:
Turns out the college is closing at noon. You call this snow?
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.
Creative Chaos 