tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45743862267486141562024-03-05T02:57:55.241-08:00The Book GargoyleThe official blog of children's author Julie Berry.Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02988568411272528022noreply@blogger.comBlogger78125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4574386226748614156.post-45998287728005150132020-07-13T13:52:00.001-07:002020-07-13T13:52:04.847-07:00Page Breaks, Art Notes, and Pictures to Order: How NOT to Format a Picture Book Manuscript <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I've been asked many times how to format a children's picture book manuscript for submission, so I thought I'd create a blog post with my advice, such as it is. I'm speaking here to writers, not to illustrators, nor to writer-illustrators, who are proposing a book they plan to both write and illustrate. Expectations are very different in those cases. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">For those of us who only write the books, questions surrounding formatting bleed easily into territory where beginning writers often make mistakes that will damage their submission's prospects, and which reveal a fundamental lack of awareness of how picture books are made. Editors and agents will spot such inexperience from a mile away, and for most, it's a red flag that this writer hasn't taken time to learn the market they hope to enter. So let's not go there. </span><br />
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The short answer to how to format a picture book manuscript is that it's extremely simple. You format it just like you would a novel, or even like a high school essay: 1 inch margins, double-spaced lines, 12-point type, simple and readable typeface (I use Times Roman). Just plop in the text. The first page, you begin about 1/3 of the way down, with a heading something like this:<u></u><u></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">MY CATCHY TITLE<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Picture Book Manuscript<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">475 words<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">by Amazing Author<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Represented by (Agent Name if there is one, OR if not, your contact info -- email, mailing address, and phone)<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Once upon a time, a swamp monster ruled the world...</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> (And you’re off and running.)<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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This means that the total length of your manuscript may only come out to be two or three pages. <u></u><u></u></div>
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The formatting is, in other words, straightforward. I think the question arises in writers' minds because of information they've read about how to format picture books in dummies. Dummies are tremendous tools for your creative process, but they should not show up in your submission. There you see a lot of information about page breaks and portioning the text out across pages and spreads. This can create the impression that manuscripts need to be submitted this way, with page breaks already delineated. They should NOT be submitted that way; in fact, editors would probably be annoyed if they were. It’s their prerogative to decide upon those breaks. However, it’s VERY important that before you submit anything, you go through the process yourself of creating a dummy (just fold and staple some pieces of paper) and mapping out your text to see how it falls within the container of a picture book. It’s super important to make sure that you have enough story (but not too much) to fill the correct number of pages and spreads. Pay particular attention to page turns, as they are the actual dramatic payoff of the picture book experience. Page turns create opportunities for big reveals – for joke punchlines, or scary twists, or informational surprises, or emotional tugs at the heart. Above all else, they should advance things. The reader should reach each page turn eager to find out what comes next.<u></u><u></u></div>
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After you’ve decided upon how you think you would break it up, ask yourself, on each spread, does this text support the creation of exciting/interesting/fun artwork? Will it be artwork that is new and different from the art that came before and that which will come afterwards, or is my story essentially repetitive, with not much changing in terms of scene, location, action, expression, focus, or character count? These questions are almost guaranteed to reveal opportunities for improving and tightening the text, and amping up the story elements. This is true even for a picture book text that is essentially informational (rather than a conventional story where a character embarks on some task or pursuit, faces troubles, and achieves a resolution). </div>
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While you're at it, check to see if your text usurps the illustrator's prerogative. If you've dictated what color the character's hair is, ask yourself, why have I done so? Unless that hair color is absolutely vital to the story you're telling, I would take it out. The illustrator and art director get to make those choices. Not you. Many first-time picture book illustrators, alas, assume that the art is theirs to command -- after all, it's their story, right? They have a certain vision of the visuals in their mind's eye, and any serious departure from that vision is a violation of their artistic autonomy, <i>n'est-ce pas</i>?</div>
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<i>Non</i>. </div>
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It's wonderful if you can see the visuals in your mind's eye, because they can help you write a better story. But if you dictate them as instructions to the artist, whether in the text or in art notes, keep your descriptions of appearances, clothing, decorations, and places to an absolute minimum. A skilled illustrator will see the broad canvas of possibilities you're hinting at, and -- here's the best part -- will see beyond it, and add more richness to it than you could. That's their job. We're in the words business; they're in the visual business. For each of my picture books, I had a loose visual idea of how the art might go, which was shattered to bits by the expansive reality of what the illustrator actually supplied. It's so, so, so much better. That's the fun of watching a skilled artist take your words and add something to them. The whole is greater than the sum of the parts. </div>
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So, like it or not, you have to step back. (And a lot of beginning writers really, really don't like it.) Your story submission needs to give the artist room to breathe, and room to add their own layers of tenderness or humor or mystery or intrigue or atmosphere, to the story, <i>and they will.</i> The submission that treats them like hired contractors who must do their employer's bidding won't make it far in the acquisition process at any reputable publisher, nor will it excite the interest of a talented artist. </div>
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So far you're still looking at your picture book manuscripts through the lens of possible page breaks and page turns. Once you’re satisfied that you’ve arrived at a manuscript that’s poised to make the best use of the picture book framework and container, with the right amount of length, the crisis/conflict/resolution all happening where they’re supposed to (there are a zillion blog posts on this to refer to), then you go ahead and reformat the story text into a simple Word document, double-spaced, etc., a la the school essay, and send that in. Take out anything even faintly resembling a formatting note (ie "Spread 1," "Page 5," "Left side," etc.). If you’ve done your work right, the page turns will be evident, and the editor will appreciate that you’ve already done the work of making your text picture-book-worthy. </div>
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One more thing: don’t include art notes or instructions on what or how the illustration will be. It screams “amateur,” sadly. It’s the editor, art director, and illustrator’s prerogative to make those decisions. As above, relinquishing the desire to control that is sometimes hard for first-time picture book writers. There are a few small exceptions to this rule. For example, if your story contains a riddle or mystery, which will be solved by something being revealed as a picture only, you’d need to spell it out, but using as few words as possible. So, if the big surprise is that the missing cat is hiding in the tree, it might look like this:<u></u><u></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">“Where can that kitty be?”<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">“I don’t know! I’ve looked everywhere!”<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">[Cat on tree branch.]<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Or if the story is a question, ie, who’s been making those funny footprints, the text might look something like:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Is it a dinosaur?<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">No.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Is it a woolly mammoth?<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">No.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">What can it be?<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">[A bear]</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u></u><u></u></span></div>
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***<u></u><u></u></div>
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Whatever you do, strenuously resist the temptation to include art notes like, [A bear, with his paw in a honey jar, and a guilty look on his face, while Gramma and kids look astonished, and Gramma has bangly earrings]. <u></u></div>
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Basic takeaway, pretty much 99% rule of thumb, is just don’t include art notes at all.<u></u><u></u></div>
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So, in brief: Keep formatting simple. Don't dictate page or spread breaks in any way. Don't describe visuals in a way that treads upon the illustrator's freedom and territory. Don't dictate art notes unless you absolutely must. </div>
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Sheesh, what's left? </div>
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A story that makes you laugh, or cry, or sparkle with curiosity. That's your job, and your only job, but cheer up. It's not a bad gig. ;) Best of luck! </div>
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My picture books: </div>
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Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02988568411272528022noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4574386226748614156.post-47528114393303290192020-02-04T14:42:00.002-08:002020-02-04T14:42:27.521-08:00Love By Any Other Format: Paperback Release of Lovely War<br />
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<i>Lovely War</i> releases in paperback today! <o:p></o:p></div>
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The brilliant folks at Viking Children’s Books / Penguin Random
House have done an outstanding job once again of creating a truly gorgeous
package for this book. I loved the hardcover, but I might just love the paperback
more, and not only because it includes so many nice things people have said
about the book. (But I do like that, too. Can’t lie.) <o:p></o:p></div>
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Since the hardcover release nearly a year ago, <i>Lovely War</i>
has enjoyed a pretty incredible ride. It has won the 2020 S.C.B.W.I. <a href="https://www.scbwi.org/announcing-the-golden-kite-and-sid-fleischman-winners/" target="_blank">GoldenKite Award</a> for Young Adult fiction, and the last-ever YA prize for S.C.I.B.A.,
the Southern California Independent Booksellers’ Association (now merging with its
Northern California counterpart to form CALIBA). It’s a finalist for the
<a href="https://whitneyawards.com/2019-finalists/" target="_blank">2019 Whitney Awards</a>, and was a finalist for the 2019 Goodreads Choice Awards.
It’s a<a href="http://www.ala.org/yalsa/2020-best-fiction-young-adults" target="_blank"> 2020 YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults</a> selection, and a <a href="https://txla.org/tools-resources/reading-lists/tayshas/current-list/" target="_blank">2020 TAYSHAS Reading List</a> selection. The novel also found its place on the year-end best-of
lists compiled by <a href="https://www.kirkusreviews.com/issue/best-of-2019/section/young-adult/lists/" target="_blank">Kirkus Reviews</a>, <a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/farrahpenn/best-young-adult-books-2019" target="_blank">Buzzfeed</a>, <a href="https://www.booklistonline.com/Booklist-Editors-Choice/pid=9730083" target="_blank">Booklist</a>, <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-best-childrens-books-of-2019-11576254024" target="_blank">Wall Street Journal</a>, <a href="https://www.hbook.com/?detailStory=horn-book-fanfare-1938-to-present" target="_blank">The Horn Book</a> (a Fanfare selection), <a href="https://www.shelf-awareness.com/readers-issue.html?issue=871#m15271" target="_blank">Shelf Awareness</a>, <a href="https://bookpage.com/features/24667-best-books-2019-young-adult#.Xjnv88hKg2w" target="_blank">BookPage </a>(ranking it #3), <a href="https://bccb.ischool.illinois.edu/blueribbons/2019-blue-ribbons/" target="_blank">Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books</a> (a Blue Ribbon title), and the <a href="https://www.nypl.org/bestbooksadults2019" target="_blank">New York</a>, <a href="https://www.lapl.org/collections-resources/lapl-reads/book-lists/best-2019-teen" target="_blank">Los Angeles</a>, and <a href="https://chipublib.bibliocommons.com/list/share/200121216_chipublib_teens/1526330349_best_teen_fiction_of_2019?_ga=2.170272035.2024335781.1580855441-1758729648.1580855441" target="_blank">Chicago</a> Public Library lists. <o:p></o:p></div>
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While we're on the subject of other formats, LW's audiobook has been shortlisted for an <a href="https://www.audiopub.org/winners/2020-audies" target="_blank">Audie </a>by the Audio Publishing Association, and been named one of 20 "<a href="http://www.ala.org/news/member-news/2020/01/yalsa-names-2020-amazing-audiobooks-young-adults" target="_blank">Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults</a>" by YALSA, and a <a href="https://www.booksontape.com/booklist-editors-choice-youth-audiobooks-2019-including-top-of-the-list/" target="_blank">Booklist Editor's Choice for Youth Audio </a>title. </div>
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I love it when my books come out in paperback, because the
price point brings the title within reach of many more readers. LW’s paperback
edition includes a list of book club discussion questions, which I hope will be
helpful as I understand many book clubs have opted to share <i>Lovely War</i>
so far, including the <a href="http://foreveryoungadult.com/fya-book-club-locations" target="_blank">Forever Young Adult Book Club</a>, an international club that
has made <i>Lovely</i> <i>War</i> its June selection for 2020. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPHg5daaRZRumVDfV7ms5sLbwcz811gsOAKj_th2vmrTrTVZWn2HauOZWi1nLXOA_ZPL-3Ht_wSFPAFcKqamT65AdWaq-NnbA81tnBFh5VXOI_8kNvWQm7nLsUxhgJ_bTHZDVU_N9vNP-3/s1600/LW_Characters_Gods_FINAL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="851" data-original-width="1600" height="170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPHg5daaRZRumVDfV7ms5sLbwcz811gsOAKj_th2vmrTrTVZWn2HauOZWi1nLXOA_ZPL-3Ht_wSFPAFcKqamT65AdWaq-NnbA81tnBFh5VXOI_8kNvWQm7nLsUxhgJ_bTHZDVU_N9vNP-3/s320/LW_Characters_Gods_FINAL.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Greek gods as narrators. Art by Laura Molnar. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<i>Lovely War</i> remains, for me, an experience I can’t
fully explain. Sometimes the right idea just strikes at the right time, in the
right way, with the right point of view apparent. For creative types like me,
you embrace these miracles when they come. Seeing young lives through Aphrodite’s
eyes was such a joy. Researching the Great War and its impact on the world, on
cultures and communities, on politics and international relations, but
especially on families, sweethearts, survivors, and those who didn’t survive to
feel its impact, was a moving journey and a tremendous privilege. If this story
helps bring readers closer in heart and sympathy to this brave generation that
suffered and stumbled and went before us, then I am grateful. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I hope you’ll love it. (And gift it, and teach it, and recommend
it.) Here’s where you can find this shiny new edition: <a href="https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780147512970" target="_blank">your local independentbookstore</a> (my favorite place) | <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/lovely-war-julie-berry/1128904153?ean=9780147512970#/" target="_blank">your local chain store</a> | <a href="https://www.target.com/p/lovely-war-by-julie-berry-paperback/-/A-77327132" target="_blank">your local departmentstore</a> | <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0147512972" target="_blank">an online retailer</a>. <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02988568411272528022noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4574386226748614156.post-83772137458169242802019-09-03T01:50:00.001-07:002019-09-03T01:50:18.975-07:00Long Ago, On a Silent Night -- My First Picture Book<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE_UU0TRJlwAQKWqLJOlwsfLQ9IZpygyOZ8tHuq2THYflGvbA_bwQWoIr-s3RxgC2T86Ji7gGgG-oDHzCpw9-mIaSgWr1mmDj5r4OPuC_33G4fPakmJCcumH-dq32aT2hmNKOSW6ppb5rf/s1600/9781338277722+Long+Ago+On+A+Silent+Night.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="347" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE_UU0TRJlwAQKWqLJOlwsfLQ9IZpygyOZ8tHuq2THYflGvbA_bwQWoIr-s3RxgC2T86Ji7gGgG-oDHzCpw9-mIaSgWr1mmDj5r4OPuC_33G4fPakmJCcumH-dq32aT2hmNKOSW6ppb5rf/s320/9781338277722+Long+Ago+On+A+Silent+Night.jpg" width="277" /></a></div>
Today, my first picture book releases into the world: <i><a href="https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781338277722" target="_blank"><b>Long Ago, On a Silent Night</b></a></i>, with illustration by the incredibly talented <a href="https://www.anniewon.com/" target="_blank">Annie Won</a>.<br />
<br />
It's published in hardcover (ISBN 978-1338277722) from Scholastic via their Orchard Books imprint, and is available at your <a href="https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781338277722" target="_blank">local independent bookstore</a>, or anywhere books are sold.<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "amazon ember" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"> </span></span><br />
<i style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: "SF Pro Text", "SF Pro Icons", "Apple WebExp Icons Custom", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: -0.065px;"><span style="color: #274e13;"><br /></span></i>
<i style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: "SF Pro Text", "SF Pro Icons", "Apple WebExp Icons Custom", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: -0.065px;"><span style="color: #274e13;">Long ago, in a dusty barn, a mother took a child in her arms, wrapped him snug, made his bed in the hay. </span></i><span style="color: #274e13;"><i style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: "SF Pro Text", "SF Pro Icons", "Apple WebExp Icons Custom", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: -0.065px;">H</i><i style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: "SF Pro Text", "SF Pro Icons", "Apple WebExp Icons Custom", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: -0.065px;">e was her gift that Christmas Day. </i></span><span style="color: #274e13;"><i style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: "SF Pro Text", "SF Pro Icons", "Apple WebExp Icons Custom", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: -0.065px;">T</i><i style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: "SF Pro Text", "SF Pro Icons", "Apple WebExp Icons Custom", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: -0.065px;">here's no sweeter gift than a life so new. </i></span><i style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: "SF Pro Text", "SF Pro Icons", "Apple WebExp Icons Custom", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: -0.065px;"><span style="color: #274e13;">My best gift, little one, is you.</span></i><br />
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<i><b>Long Ago, On a Silent Night</b></i> celebrates the love parents and families feel for the children who arrive in their lives like gifts from heaven. It links the love of every family with the love shining through the Nativity story.<br />
<br />
I've always loved Christmas, with its magic and wonder, its tenderness and warmth toward children, all centering, as it does, on one precious baby.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIQ37A6_zEDAOstH8R-uH_Xr2hZV3JMxYgDeuyA9ROpB_Y-K8ht8IxZVlQ-51m-yQA4pgAet8LKq6uDvbXfxt0cCetlbTgn9J3PXMsulYrh3Z94qUyRDzk8vdAOjcGGqtNPnBYL5MqmKnI/s1600/Postpartum+Julie.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="312" data-original-width="276" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIQ37A6_zEDAOstH8R-uH_Xr2hZV3JMxYgDeuyA9ROpB_Y-K8ht8IxZVlQ-51m-yQA4pgAet8LKq6uDvbXfxt0cCetlbTgn9J3PXMsulYrh3Z94qUyRDzk8vdAOjcGGqtNPnBYL5MqmKnI/s200/Postpartum+Julie.png" width="176" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Joseph at 5 days old with his<br />VERY young mom. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
When I became a mother for the first time, and brought my own first-born son into the world (and wrapped him in modern diapers and a onesie, thank heavens), Christmas took on a completely new meaning for me. Suddenly I could consider Mary's situation more knowingly. As I watched my extended family gather around to gaze in wonder at my baby son, it wasn't hard to imagine shepherds, wise men, and angels.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8bkVL22OH2uQjnI7diKlN1LISjprvW5TphHo_62b7js-wJr9ZK-kcaavCWiWACDt7NYfkVUDhmbbYdcmS7C3P6j8D7GQ2FqLrbDtlQWvIz6D6IOkmxAyjAOj9uWphXGcgIsf1UkTKRS8G/s1600/1996_Baby_Joseph_0001_a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1022" data-original-width="707" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8bkVL22OH2uQjnI7diKlN1LISjprvW5TphHo_62b7js-wJr9ZK-kcaavCWiWACDt7NYfkVUDhmbbYdcmS7C3P6j8D7GQ2FqLrbDtlQWvIz6D6IOkmxAyjAOj9uWphXGcgIsf1UkTKRS8G/s200/1996_Baby_Joseph_0001_a.jpg" width="138" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Baby Joseph</td></tr>
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<span style="text-align: center;">Like Mary, I didn't know how to be a mother at first. When my mother left, I wondered how on earth I would ever manage to care for a baby by myself. I didn't even know how to get through the day. What does one do, between feedings and diaper changes and naps? At a loss for better ideas, I danced. It was November, and I was already in a Christmas mood, so I listened to holiday music and danced with Joseph in my arms. We sang -- well, I did -- and though he couldn't yet smile, he clearly loved music. He lit up in particular when we danced to an upbeat bluegrass Christmas song, one of my favorites: "Christmas Time's A-Coming" by Emmylou Harris. It's gorgeous. (Give it a listen, below.) Ever since then, when that song shuffles up on my holiday playlist, it takes me back to those nervous, blissful days of new motherhood, getting to know my own little miracle.</span><br />
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In December of 2017, Joseph was nearly ready to leave the nest, and I was feeling all the emotions that go with that painful transition (not all of which, I confess, were adoring), and "Christmas Time's A-Coming" popped up on my iPod. It yanked me back like a tether to that long-ago Christmas, when this great big man was a tiny bundle in my arms. I realized how much he'd taught me about Christmas, and how much Christmas had taught me about loving him. So I wrote a poem about it. Dear friends encouraged me to submit it -- many who aren't moms, or don't celebrate Christmas -- which confirmed my hope that there was something universal, not denominational, about the message. Scholastic bought it, Annie Won illustrated it with loving care, and now, here we are.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiETYl7XMf2eoZdae0eZmiOzIJ6-F8dTnOC1Qr_S3wIxp0ntcmhN0JnQYeqnX9l55BJr0fPiYehtn5-bi84QWLn4KDrFSEFl18fipfhF_wpYH_gwz0GBoNLQE_BsyUubqh9zS7sWfds7-k4/s1600/1996_Baby_Joseph_0002_a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="977" data-original-width="677" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiETYl7XMf2eoZdae0eZmiOzIJ6-F8dTnOC1Qr_S3wIxp0ntcmhN0JnQYeqnX9l55BJr0fPiYehtn5-bi84QWLn4KDrFSEFl18fipfhF_wpYH_gwz0GBoNLQE_BsyUubqh9zS7sWfds7-k4/s320/1996_Baby_Joseph_0002_a.jpg" width="221" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Baby Joseph at 6 months</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Reviewers have embraced it thus far. Kirkus calls it "Joyful, joyful," saying "<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "crimson text" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif; font-size: 16px;">Berry’s debut picture-book text offers readers moving, graceful verse in the voice of a present-day new parent linking the birth of a child with Jesus’ birth." Booklist says, "</span>Won's bold pictures are full of energy and delight, and tiny
touches—stars here, wind chimes there—add to the appeal. These families,
transcending race and skin color, radiate love."<br />
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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I hope <i><b>Long Ago, On a Silent Night</b> </i>will find its way to new and not-so-new families, and help them to remember, feel, and express the love that filled their hearts and homes when a new child entered their family -- however and whenever that arrival occurred. I hope it will join other classics in people's Christmas picture book collections. I hope you'll love Annie's art as much as I do.<br />
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Merry Christmas.<br />
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P.S.: Look for me at any of the <a href="http://www.julieberrybooks.com/events" target="_blank">festivals or signings</a> I have scheduled this fall.<br />
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<br />Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02988568411272528022noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4574386226748614156.post-87154420719867412452019-05-19T16:06:00.000-07:002019-05-25T10:12:12.800-07:00Work, Relax, Believe: A Confessional Keynote Address<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS25CbOk3ICL7O8_nW_uO0WgkUkfMtxby4CyISiYuMZDUsbhM7_PeJIHPdGNxDCP5NxKzvcDMRRT5wC9dbTJlZAeN5_MYm8QamumBKchMcTkTWJzTsVN0aKMROCHFOdPCvRRTdJXE-tzqe/s1600/Work+Relax+Believe+by+Julie+Berry.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="1600" height="100" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS25CbOk3ICL7O8_nW_uO0WgkUkfMtxby4CyISiYuMZDUsbhM7_PeJIHPdGNxDCP5NxKzvcDMRRT5wC9dbTJlZAeN5_MYm8QamumBKchMcTkTWJzTsVN0aKMROCHFOdPCvRRTdJXE-tzqe/s400/Work+Relax+Believe+by+Julie+Berry.png" width="400" /></a></div>
Today's post is a keynote address I gave two years ago at a writing conference in Arizona. (ANWA, Gilbert AZ, 9/15/17.) It's long, but I post it here in hopes that it will offer some encouragement, or at least, companionship, for writers.<br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">If my remarks are at all worthy of a
title, and you can be the judge, it would be something like this: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">You
Want to <i>Write</i>? What’s the <i>Matter</i> With You? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">–
or – Ye Shall Do the Work, and the Work Shall Set You Free*<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">*From
writer’s block, self-doubt, self-loathing, and Candy Crush<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">That’s
a lot of titles. Long ones. But don’t worry. I’ll add a few more titles
before I’m through. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Not to be a big complainy-pants, but
since I do have the microphone at the moment, what the heck, I’ll go ahead and
be a complainy-pants. Let me tell you about the last couple of months. They’ve
been hectic. Over-the-top hectic, actually. Absolute bonkers. After a year of a
bicoastal marriage, practically single parenting, a health issue in the family,
paying for two homes, getting one home sold, trying to raise the two kids who
still belong at home, if they would for-the-love-of-Mike-stop-fighting, and
trying to get the two kids who ought to be moving on somewhat more ready to do
so, as in A) educated and B) employable – scarcely the same thing – moving
across America, from Boston to LA, making my third cross-country move in three years
– it’s complicated -- I am pooped. I am wiped. My cup doth not run over. It
shattereth into smithereens when I drop it on the brand new </span></div>
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<a href="https://secure.img1-fg.wfcdn.com/im/03664142/resize-h300%5Ecompr-r85/6414/64147503/High+Street+3%2522+x+15%2522+Porcelain+Field+Tile+in+Charcoal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="300" height="200" src="https://secure.img1-fg.wfcdn.com/im/03664142/resize-h300%5Ecompr-r85/6414/64147503/High+Street+3%2522+x+15%2522+Porcelain+Field+Tile+in+Charcoal.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
slate tile floor in
my newly renovated bathroom that the people who bought my house get to enjoy,
instead of me. Renovating the bathroom – the only full bathroom in my Victorian
home -- <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>has been another of my projects
of the last few months, because who doesn’t love being showerless for days on
end while grout dries? Body odor is my favorite! <o:p></o:p><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">So. For most of the last year, my writing was
going precisely nowhere. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">And that is a great place to be when
you’re asked to share inspiring and encouraging words with a roomful of
talented, committed, serious writers who really hope you can offer them something
that will make a difference in their journey. And you want to, because you
really do care. But you are brought face to face and nose to armpit with the putrid
truth. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">YOU ARE A FRAUD. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">You’ve known this all along, of course.
But this time you really mean it. You’re extra fraudy. You’re a super-fraud. Mega-fraud.
You’re fraud-tastic. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">You’ve written a few things, and by a
miracle, some people said some very nice things about them. Seven people, to be
precise, and three of them were related to you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">If anything you wrote in the past was any
good, you were probably having an out-of-body experience, because when you try
now to write anything good, your bloaty, perspiring hollowness bulges out like
a muffin-top over too-tight jeans. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<a href="https://wi-images.condecdn.net/image/72OJ068O85A/crop/1620/f/candy-crush-saga-key-art-gameboard.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="111" src="https://wi-images.condecdn.net/image/72OJ068O85A/crop/1620/f/candy-crush-saga-key-art-gameboard.png" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">So you try to return to the basics. Butt
in chair. Can’t hardly get my butt out of this chair, so check. Write a poopy
first draft. Calling these pages a poopy first draft is an insult to poop.
Doing brainstormy stuff. Oh, who are you kidding, you’re playing Candy Crush.
Cut it out. Check the news. Go cry. Return to your manuscript. Maybe get on a
little bit of a groove where some words are coming and energy is happening and
you try a new trick, only to see on your editor’s blog the next day that she
loathes and despises that trick whenever it crosses her desk. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">No. Tell the truth. Not her blog. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">…when you see it in a rejection letter
from your editor on the new thingy you sent her this month. You love her, and
she loves you, but she can’t love this thing. It’s kinda like you’re married to
your dream guy, true-love-forever-amen, and you present him with the baby you
just bore him out of great love and sacrifice, and he says, “Ew. Not <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">that</i> baby. I prefer <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">other</i> kinds of babies.” Where, exactly, does one go from there?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">To the fridge, of course! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://assets.ajmadison.com/image/upload/c_limit,f_auto,fl_lossy.progressive,h_350,q_auto,w_500/v1/ajmadison/images/large_no_watermark/wrs321sdhz-whirlpool-33-inch-freestanding-side-by-side-refrigerator-ss-open259f0b2436daf3_812bb.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="325" height="320" src="https://assets.ajmadison.com/image/upload/c_limit,f_auto,fl_lossy.progressive,h_350,q_auto,w_500/v1/ajmadison/images/large_no_watermark/wrs321sdhz-whirlpool-33-inch-freestanding-side-by-side-refrigerator-ss-open259f0b2436daf3_812bb.jpeg" width="297" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">The fridge has become your familiar friend
of late. Because no matter how beastly your kids are, nor how terrifying the
finances, nor how inert your creativity, nor how crushing the rejection, starch
and glucose are always there with their loving hydroxyl arms outstretched. “Come
here, Baby,” they tell you. “We know. We know.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">So you wallow in your inbox, or your
Twitter or Facebook feed. And because you’re connected to twelve billion
authors online, plus also your entire third grade class, your news stream is
nothing but a string of bestseller announcements, new deal announcements, award
announcements, and movie deals, with the occasional divorce thrown in. And even
if you’re genuinely happy for them all – which is Extreme Sainthood if you ask
me – except for the divorcees, that’s case-by-case – these happy news-grams are
still daggers in your heart. Whatever you’ve accomplished so far is hollow, feeble,
false, but everyone else’s good news is epic, real, true, and forever. Plus
they’re gorgeous. Rich. Popular. They always know what to say, and what to do
with scarves. Because their ideas are likeable, and THEY are likeable, and you
are not. Neither you, nor your ideas, nor your armpits. You all just stink. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">How do I know all this? Not from
experience, surely? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">No, my experience is sunshine, roses, and
brilliance all the time. But I have been sent here as an ambassador by a
special delegation of your collected insecurities. I am the voice of your deepest
fears. “We’re right. You’re really do stink. Your work doesn’t even deserve an
“E” for Effort. Because your effort stinks. We see right through your phony
façade. We see you playing Candy Crush on the toilet. You will never reach your
goals. And we are all talking about you behind your back.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">I’ve been there. I am there. Rejections?
Still getting them. Self-doubts? They’re my long-time friends at this point.
Scarce and sorry ideas? Yep. Feels that way. That’s me. I remember a time in my
life when, on a day that was extraordinarily busy and fraught with
disappointments and stress, when I was dancing on my very last nerve, I
returned home to three rejections for my writing on two different projects. I
crawled into bed and cried. I called my husband and sobbed into his ear about
what a sorry loser I was, whom no one would ever want to read. I remember this
moment. I remember it well, because it was a few weeks ago. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">I am at war with myself. Because I know
better. I’ve written 20 books in the last 12 or so years (many of them were
short, so don’t be too impressed), and I’ve learned a few lessons along the way
about believing in my ideas, about celebrating the dream of making up my own
stories, about trusting my instincts, about writing boldly, blocking out
competition and insecurity and anxiety, and just getting the darn work done. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">I know that on a fundamental level, if
you’re going to pursue the life of an artist, along with the life of an artist/businessperson
who makes their living arting, that you’ve got to choose to believe, to place
faith in yourself, to take the chance on creation, regardless of what others
think. You’ve got to believe before anyone else does, and you’ve got to continue
to believe even if nobody else cares, or if they all think it must just be easy
for you by now, with all those books. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">So – here’s another title -- let’s agree
to title this talk “Physician, Heal Thyself.” I hope you will allow me to share
with you what my better self has learned through experience and deeply believes
to be sacred and true, even as I confess throughout that I make all these
mistakes too, and that I need these reminders as much as anyone. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Today I’m going to hone in on three words:
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Work, Relax, Believe. <o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">But first I have to ask you some
questions. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">So. You want to be a writer. Are you
sure I can’t talk you out of that? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">In earnest: <i>Why </i>do you want to write? Why
do <i>you </i>want to write? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">What does this actually mean to you? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">What place do you go to in your mind to
draw inspiration from when I ask you that question? Is it a memory involving
reading? Or sharing what you’ve read? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Now, here’s what’s important: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">In the innermost sanctum of your mind,
where nobody can see you or tease you or scold you, I want you to picture this:
You are successful as a writer. You have achieved your goals. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Now, the question is, “What goals?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">What does “successful as a writer” look
like to you? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">In the quiet of your mind, tell the truth
to yourself about that. What would you love to have happen? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">No two writing lives or careers are the
same. What can you envision about what you’d like yours to look like? Tell the
truth. Don’t be timid, don’t be modest. Don’t apologize. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Lots of people come to me for advice
because they want to be a writer and they don’t know how to start, or break
into print, or whatever. So they sit down with me and say, “What advice do you
have for me?” To which I answer, “That depends entirely on what your goal is.”
To which they say, quite awkwardly, “Well, I dunno, I just have some stuff I’ve
written, and I wonder if maybe I could do something with it.” Sure – frame it
on your wall. That’s not a goal. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.brilliant-books.net/sites/brilliant-books.net/files/newbery.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="234" data-original-width="236" src="https://www.brilliant-books.net/sites/brilliant-books.net/files/newbery.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">When I started writing, I knew what I
wanted. I wanted to write many books. I wanted to be in libraries and
bookstores forever. I wanted to win the Newbery Medal and hit the New York
Times bestseller list. I wanted my books to outlive me. I wanted to be a
beloved figure in the children’s book world. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">I have a really long way to go to
accomplish my goals. But I know what they are. That has made an enormous
difference. Having a firm sense of what real success would look like in your
mind saves you heaps and barrels of frittered time and wasted effort. Knowing
where you want to go creates the power to get you there. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Take a minute to close your eyes and
picture your dream of success. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Now, write something about it, in code if
you must, in your notebook. Commit it to paper. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">So, goal in mind, let’s proceed.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Let’s talk about work. Actually, let’s
talk about what isn’t work. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">When you say you’re a writer, what do you
mean? Do you mean that you go to writing conferences and read agent blogs and
hobnob with writers and tweet New Yorker articles about writing? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">These are potentially fine and useful
things. But they aren’t writing. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Do you spend lots of time thinking about
writing? Fretting about writing? Wallowing, as I so aptly demonstrated – call
me Exhibit A – in anxious navel-gazing, useless comparisons, and narcissistic
tracking of one’s Amazon sales rank? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">That’s not writing. That’s not work. It’s
a preferred time wasting ritual for many writers, my sorry self included, so
let’s get honest. Are we writing? Or are we playing pretend? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Writers write. They put some words down on
paper on a regular basis until they’ve accumulated lots of sheets of paper with
their words on them. Whether those words are good words or bad words or “the
best words” is entirely beside the point for the moment. If there’s one thing I
have learned, to my chagrin, is that there’s room in the world for fifty shades
of awful writing, and a market for it, too. So let’s not be too precious, and
let’s factor quality out of the equation, temporarily. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Writers are people who write things. They
fill many sheets of paper, real or digital, with words of their own concoction.
To be considered writers in any serious sense of the word, they have to be
persons who engage in this putting-words-on-paper activity on a more or less regular
basis, producing, over time, lots and lots of those pages. The hack writer who
churns out pages of dreck day after day earns my respect over the would-be
writer who produces little to nothing because <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">they are doing the work</i>. They are doing something. You can only
steer a car if it’s moving. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Worrying about writing isn’t writing. It’s
the opposite of writing.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"><a href="http://www.thewriteratwork.com/site/images/001%20-%20Income.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.thewriteratwork.com/site/images/001%20-%20Income.jpg" data-original-height="481" data-original-width="432" height="320" width="287" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Writing, and engaging thoughtfully and
critically with your work to make it better, IS writing. But that’s not usually
so fraught with self-loathing. It’s more grounded in the work, in the pages, in
the words, in story problem-solving, in questions of craft as opposed to
questions about YOU. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">The self is the enemy of the work, I
think. The self is the sticky, immature baby, sitting in soggy diapers, slobbering
on a lollipop and demanding that everything be about him or her. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">The work itself is the most liberating
thing. It sets you free from your sticky self. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">I have come to suspect that
writers are all insane, and the act of writing is our medication. No, I’ll say
it this way: writers are all starving, and the act of writing is our food. At
least, this has been true for me. The work itself, the task, the story, and its
needs, get me out of my own way. When I really go into my story, that’s a happy
place to be, even if the story’s sad. Incidentally, when I really get into the
writing, I also visit My Friend the Fridge a lot less often. My hungry soul is
fed by writing so it’s less inclined to go foraging for Scooby Snacks.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/d/d8/Scooby-Snacks-F.jpg/220px-Scooby-Snacks-F.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="322" data-original-width="220" height="200" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/d/d8/Scooby-Snacks-F.jpg/220px-Scooby-Snacks-F.jpg" width="136" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Writing isn’t hard. Life is hard. Writing
is the antidote. Writing isn’t hard because you can give yourself permission to
write badly anytime you want. And I hope you do. Just keep on lowering that
bar, baby. I couldn’t do anything if I didn’t give myself permission, over and
over and over again, to write things badly. You can always fix it later. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Knowing that revision exists should free
the creative mind to experiment and play. You don’t have to fix it now. You’re
not supposed to. Let the story burble out. Let it be flawed. Let it have
glaring problems. Just let it out. Revision comes later. Revising a story to
death before it’s had a chance to be written is like trying to teach the
multiplication tables to a baby still passing through the birth canal. It’s
well-intentioned, but this is not the time. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">What is with all these birth and baby
metaphors?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Allow
yourself to write a bad novel. I would rather you wrote a bad novel than no
novel. Feeling you must write well constipates your creativity.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Are we happy that I’ve switched metaphors?
Hm. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">You’re busy, I know. You only have so much
time you can devote to writing. Even full-time authors are swamped, running
their author businesses and their travels and their messy lives. For each of
us, there’s only a sliver of the day or the week that we can devote to the work
of writing. So how are you spending your time? Are you doing the work, or are
you wallowing / slash procrastinating in a writer-ish way? Be honest with
yourself. Be brutal. If your art or your career isn’t where you want it to be,
ask yourself, are you doing the work? If you can honestly say that you really
are, and you’re giving it all you can, you will move toward your goal. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Here
is the work of a writer:</span><br />
<div style="text-indent: 0px;">
</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">Reading the books that will help you write better.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">Conducting
relevant research.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">Writing
words on paper.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">Thoughtfully
revising those words.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">Learning
how to do all these things better and smarter through study, mentorship, practice.</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">That’s
it, and that’s all. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">I’m
going to share that list one more time, with just a little bit of unpacking. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">A writer’s work is, #1:</span><br />
<b style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Reading the books that will help you
write better.</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; text-indent: -0.25in;"> Don’t skip this one. Read a lot, and read
critically. Force yourself to write something down about each book you read.
Keep a little journal or list. Force yourself to articulate, in writing, what
did and didn’t work for you, and why. Make comparisons to other works. Provide
a succinct synopsis. Take note of the publisher, and, if you can figure it out,
the editor and agent. Write it all down in an organized way. Trust me. You love
to read anyway, or you wouldn’t be here, but turn it into a teaching tool that
works for you. All it requires is a little diligence. Don’t just read
haphazardly. Read to learn something. Good book or bad. I believe that the
books you despise have as much to teach you as the books you love. Why do you
despise it? What rubs you the wrong way? What does it have to teach you about
what you value in good writing? What are its sins? Are you committing them,
too? If it’s a book you love, force yourself to reach past fangirling to a
thoughtful analysis of why you love it, why it speaks to your soul. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Read the books that will help you write
better.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">A
writer’s work is:</span><br />
<b style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Conducting relevant research</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; text-indent: -0.25in;">.
Whatever time you take to locate information you need in order to write your
work better is time well spent, is work time, is writing time, just like
putting words down on the page is, IF you discipline yourself to be purposeful
about your use of this time. Research can be a rabbit hole, and a rabbit’s nest
of snaky tunnels and useless distractions. But if you are searching for the
information you need, and you know what you’re looking for, you are working. Good
books need a good, smart, factual foundation, even if they’re wild fantasies,
so do your homework. Just make sure that you also write while doing this, so
that the project doesn’t get lost in the research, and so the research doesn’t
lose sight of why it’s happening.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Take
good notes. Whenever you learn something through research that can affect your
story, write down how and why. You think you’ll remember, but if you’re like
me, you won’t. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Conduct relevant
research.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Number
3, a writer’s work is:</span><br />
<b style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Writing words on paper.</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; text-indent: -0.25in;">
There are lots of great books out there about how to get words down on paper. I
don’t have any magic to add here except this: look at where your piece left
off, and add something there. It can be good, and it can be bad. It. Does. Not.
Matter. If you don’t know what should happen next in your story, guess. If
you’re not sure what method to use to move forward, to outline or not to
outline, to storyboard or not to storyboard, to character sketch or not to
character sketch, I say, think about what makes the most sense to you, and then
do it, provided that sooner or later it gets you back to the stage of putting
more words down on paper. I’m going to say that one more time: when you’re
stalled by a story problem, or there’s something holding you up – a problem
with character, with plot, with logic, with worldbuilding, with
something-but-you’re-not-sure-what – consider all the things you might do to
solve the problem, and do the thing that makes the most sense to you. This will
usually not be the easiest fix. Go with the one that’s most right, no matter
how hard it will be. If you have to start over, start over. Make a list of your
options and choose the one with the most sizzle. Follow your instincts. I say
this whether you’ve published a thousand books or whether you’re working on
your very first one. Why? Because it’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">your</i>
book, and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">your</i> creative brain is in
charge of it. No one else’s. So trust it. It knows what it needs, and it knows
what it’s doing. More than you think. Go with the first solution that presents
itself to you and feels right. If it fails, you can always try another. Go with
the ideas that present themselves. Take a chance on the bizarre ones that pop
up where they weren’t planned. I don’t write entirely blind – mostly blind, but
not entirely – but I can say that my best work, and the places within my work
that readers tend to respond to the most strongly, are those where an unplanned
twist presented itself to me as I plodded along, and I went with it. I trusted
<i>me</i>. I listened. And I wrote it down. Why not? There’s no harm in that. Words
can always be changed or deleted. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Write
your words on paper.</b></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Next, #4, a writer’s work
is:</span><br />
<b style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Thoughtfully
revising those words.</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; text-indent: -0.25in;"> This is where the magic comes in, and it
can be really fun. Find another committed and skilled writer to have as a
manuscript-swapping buddy. Make sure you like and admire their work. Hopefully
they will like and admire yours as well. Practice providing encouraging,
constructive, but thorough critiques of each other’s work to each other. You
will see in their manuscripts the flaws you can’t yet see in your own. Spot
those flaws enough times and you will wax eloquent on the problems of that
flaw. Don’t tell them <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">how</i> to fix
their problems, but do let them know where you feel problems exist. Then, when
you return to your own manuscript, you’ll see that flaw where it’s been hiding
in plain sight, but this time, you’ll know how to fix it. Revise a lot. Revise
on the micro and the macro level. If you haven’t made an outline by this point,
make one now. Cut a lot out. Before you even get down to the serious business
of revision, just go chapter by chapter and cut out a third or more of your
words. This is what I do. I am not exaggerating. Maybe some writers write
lovely, lean prose the first time around, and if so this advice might not work
for them, but for me, the first and most powerful pass of revision comes simply
by going chapter by chapter through my piece and saying, “Do I need this
chapter? Do I need this scene? Do I need this conversation? Do I need this line
of dialogue? Do I need this description? Do I need this speech tag? Do I need
this adverb?” It’s amazing how much you don’t need. And just by cutting, you’ve
made things so much better.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not only
that, but the deeper, more structural or character-based concerns bubble to the
surface when you’re thinking about trimming. I’m not sure why this is so, but
it is. I guess that when you trim the fat, it’s easier to see the bones. I
almost always end up cutting out at least one entire chapter. Usually many. It makes my
husband gasp in horror. Be willing to write words and willing to cut words. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Thoughtfully revise your words.</b></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">I
want to say a bit more here about critique groups and critique partners.
They’ve vital to your growth and progress, especially as you develop your
critical skills, but they can also do a lot of harm. These are intimate
relationships, and like other close friendships, they should be chosen with
some care. Don’t just join a group with anybody. Date a critique group before
you marry it. I too often hear of dominant personalities in critique groups who
try to impose their literary tastes onto everyone else, who squawk about rules,
who denigrate others’ writing to bolster their own egos, who dictate what you
need to do to fix your story instead of just pointing out possible areas
needing attention, and, heaven forbid, even get in there and rewrite it for
you. Don’t subject your work, and your fragile artistic consciousness, to this
kind of usurpation and abuse. Don’t surrender your sovereignty over your own
work. Also, your critiquing obligations to others will of necessity take some
of your time, but they shouldn’t devour it all. If you’re in a group that’s
sucking all your writing time away, something needs to change. And if you’re in
a group where you can’t learn anything, where nobody has instincts that you
admire, where nobody’s input is actually useful to you, politely get out of it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Last, number 5. A writer’s work is:</span><br />
<b style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Learning
how to do all these things better and smarter through study, mentorship,
practice.</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">That’s why you’re here today. Writing
is not a job you can just show up to. It has no punch-card. It doesn’t have a
“go through the motions” track. You can’t leave it at the office; it will
always come home with you. Complacency isn’t an option, and coasting isn’t an
option. If you’re not spending serious time thinking about how to get better at
doing this, you never will. Literary craft is a prize kept locked in a tower
and guarded by a dragon. You won’t arrive at narrative art by accident or
without getting sweaty and bloody trying. So don’t be passive about your growth
as a writer. Make a study of what excellent literature is. Know what’s at the
top of its game in your genre or style of choice. Take courses, take classes,
buy an expert critique at a charity auction. Get an M.F.A.. Attend
craft-intensive writing retreats and conferences. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">I
said I would talk about WORK, RELAX, BELIEVE. We’re still on work. But work is
the lion’s share of the writing life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Once
more, to recap:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Here
is the work of a writer:</span><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">Reading
the books that will help you write better.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">Conducting
relevant research.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">Writing
words on paper.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">Thoughtfully
revising those words.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">Learning
how to do all these things better and smarter through study, mentorship,
practice.</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">There are other things that might be worth
doing, which might fall into the category of promoting your works or your
writing business, or organizing your writer desk, or paying your
writing-related taxes, but let’s be very clear: they aren’t writing. Sometimes
they’re fun (not the taxes), but they aren’t the food your writer soul
requires. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">So my question for you is, ARE YOU
WRITING? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">If you are, good work. Keep it up. Keep on
writing. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">If you’re not, start writing. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">If you haven’t been writing, forgive
yourself. Release the guilt. Let it go. Stuff happened that made it hard, and
that’s okay; life happens. Or we got in our own way because we’re bums, kind
of, but that’s okay, too, because we forgive and embrace ourselves with peace.
Writer’s block, which I believe should more accurately be called writer’s fear
and writer’s shame, scared us off for a while. But we’re better now; we know
there’s nothing to fear because we can always write badly, anytime we don’t
feel up to writing well, and, if worse comes to worst, we can always adopt a
pen-name. So we know there’s nothing to fear. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are empowered now to write where before we
felt we weren’t so there’s no need to punish ourselves anymore. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">What if you’re not writing because you
don’t know what to write? Write something. What if you owe a publisher a book
and you’re paralyzed by how poorly, or how well, your last book did, and
whether or not your publisher hates your guts or expects the moon now? Write
something. Write a bad, blundering, meandering story. I challenge you. Try
this: Don’t sit down to write THE Book. Just write A Book. It’s so much easier.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Here’s why I challenge you to do this: as
soon as your creativity can relax from the tourniquet of anxiety squeezed
around it by guilt, inadequacy, shame, and Googling yourself – all the
time-sucking, soul-sucking work of the sticky baby Self – your creativity will
sabotage your efforts to write a bad story, and before you know it you’ll be
writing a not-so-bad story. Creativity is a rebellious imp. Tell it to do one
thing, and it does another. That’s all right. Let it out to play, and watch
what happens. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">I said I would talk about WORK, RELAX,
BELIEVE. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">By allowing yourself to work, you will
allow yourself to relax. That sounds paradoxical. But work is a great soother.
Have you ever found yourself on a stressed-out day just getting happily lost in
a monotonous task, like weeding the garden, or painting the garage, or stapling
the pages of a </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"><a href="https://gilmour.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Article9_Header.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="464" data-original-width="800" height="115" src="https://gilmour.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Article9_Header.jpg" width="200" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">thousand packets? Ever found that if you stop worrying about how
long it will take, and just get into the zone, it flies by quickly? If you
surrender to the work, it carries you on its surface, like a swimmer
backfloating in a peaceful lake. I’ve said that the work of writing is our
food. It’s also our peace. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Maybe none of us are sane, but I’ll argue
that those of us who are doing the work of writing are saner than those writers who aren’t. We’re saner because our inner and outer selves are in harmony. The
inner self wants to write, the outer self does it, and both can sleep well
tonight. We’re at least less of a fraud, because we tell the world we’re
writers, and whaddya know, we are. When days and weeks go by without writing –
trust me, I wrote the book on this one – our tension mounts. Our inner and
outer selves aren’t on speaking terms. Our Fraud-o-Meter goes through the roof.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Guilt gnaws at us. Deadlines terrify us.
The problem escalates into a total shutdown of work. Stay there too long, and
you might give up writing altogether. There are valid reasons for giving up
writing altogether – such as, maybe, birthing quintuplets, or becoming a monk –
but Facebook and procrastination aren’t among them. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Work frees you. Focusing on the work
allows you to focus on the story and its needs, and that’s so much more fun
than focusing on you and your social media popularity. Write your book like
you’re painting the fence, Daniel-san. Up, down. Up, down. It’s all in the wrist.
Wax-on, wax-off. One word after another. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Work allows you to relax. So relax. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Relax. Relax! You don’t have to write
well. So what if you’re a mediocre writer? Welcome to the club. Most days I
aspire to be a mediocre writer. The world is full of mediocre readers, eager to
see what you’ve got. Relax about who’s making how much money as an author.
Relax about who’s selling what to whom and who gets invited to whose parties.
Who cares? You get to work in your pajamas. What more could you want? Fancier
pajamas? Some poor souls have to work in skanky </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"><a href="http://blog.idonethis.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/work-in-pjs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://blog.idonethis.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/work-in-pjs.jpg" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="460" height="156" width="200" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">lingerie. Imagine if <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">you</i> had to write that way. Just please
don’t imagine if *I* had to write that way. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">I mean, look, of course you care. We all
need more moolah, and it would be really swell if this writing gig could pay us
more the way it seems to pay others more. And we all want to matter, to be
known by name, to be remembered after we die, to never go out of print, to be
invited to sit at the Cool Kids’ Table at Author Festivals and whatever. Of
course we want those things. But they have nothing to do with the work. And you
can’t make any of them happen by gritting your teeth and bearing down harder. (Birth
metaphor? Excretory? Take your pick.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">The work is the only thing you can even
remotely control.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">So relax, and do the work. Write stuff.
Read stuff. Revise stuff. Learn stuff. Write more stuff. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">And
here’s a plug: write something new. Start a piece, finish a piece, set it
aside, start a new piece. Finish the new piece. Come back to the first piece
and revise. Start a third piece. Keep revising the first. Complete a revision pass
on the first, and start revising the second. Finish a draft of the third. Set
it aside. Start a fourth. Carry on until you’re in a coffin. You learn more
from finishing things and starting new things than you’ll ever learn by
stroking and caressing the one thing you wrote once for years and years and
years. (That’s not writing.) You also learn more about what’s wrong with your
pieces by setting them aside and forgetting about them for a while. When you
return to them, you’re a fresh reader. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"> I know you might think, but, Julie, I can’t wait
that long to be published!!!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Yes, you can. And whether or not you want
to, you <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">will</i> wait that long, and even
longer, if you don’t take it slowly, and learn to be a methodical reviser. Wax
on, wax off. Breathe. Relax.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"><a href="http://www.nicksenger.com/onecatholiclife/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/KarateKid_WaxOnWaxOff-500x281.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.nicksenger.com/onecatholiclife/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/KarateKid_WaxOnWaxOff-500x281.jpg" data-original-height="281" data-original-width="500" height="179" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">If you’re doing your reading, that’s good
relaxation time. It’s hard to read a great book and still keep churning through
all your worries. A good read transports you elsewhere. That’s its job. Reading
is great for your mental health, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Let’s talk about BELIEVE.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">If I tell you to believe in yourself,
those might be the words you need to hear, or they might seem so trite as to
make you reach for your phone to text your in-laws for fun. Maybe those words
are too glib.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Try this, then: can you believe in the
power of your desire to do this successfully? Can you believe in how badly you
want it? Can you believe in the possibility of your name on a book jacket? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">When I began doing this, I didn’t believe
in myself. Writing was my Second Chance Saloon. I’d given up almost every other
dream I’d ever had by being a complete flake and a wet noodle. Quit piano. Quit
violin. Quit volleyball. Quit voice lessons. Was a lousy quilter and seamstress
and an unimpressive gardener. Graduated with an undergrad degree in a field that
sorta bored me. Held a few jobs until I became a full-time breeder. The only
thing I could really point to was good grades, a loving marriage, four cute and
crazy little boys and some mad skillz at making pie crust. That was my resume.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi35tyuHlFdKQ8BP_3Hinmh0zdZQ3h8Se03e8nGy0zgneqjBBQHQ9Tlc54bazYDLX-r193ROt2og09InOpxBpisPbz79ZtRevLZDou-yKFx7vh_2wRCq44y5a3dSCEHVLk-C7zOm7MMMloD/s1600/IMG_2641.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi35tyuHlFdKQ8BP_3Hinmh0zdZQ3h8Se03e8nGy0zgneqjBBQHQ9Tlc54bazYDLX-r193ROt2og09InOpxBpisPbz79ZtRevLZDou-yKFx7vh_2wRCq44y5a3dSCEHVLk-C7zOm7MMMloD/s200/IMG_2641.JPG" width="150" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">So, could I believe in the possibility of my
name on a book jacket? Heck, no! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Can you?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Maybe the honest answer to that question
is, “No, not really!” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">So, again, dial it back. Maybe you can’t
see your name on a jacket yet. But you know you want to. Believe in how badly
you want it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Believe that you have a unique voice. You
do; it’s a scientific fact. Just as a trained ear or sound equipment could
distinguish your voice from anyone else’s, you have a unique literary voice, in
embryo, currently gestating, but ready to become full-throated, confident,
distinct, and expressive. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">And when I say you have one unique
literary voice, what I really mean is, you’ve got one life, one brain, one bundle
of experiences and inspirations and ideas. That’s more than enough. Here is
what I tell schoolchildren: The one thing I am paid to do is listen to the
crazy ideas that pop into my head, and write them down. The difference between
me and others who want to write, but don’t, is that they usually reject or
ignore their crazy ideas. I don’t. I listen to ‘em, and write ‘em down and sell
‘em. I don’t know what’s popping into someone else’s head. Only my own. My
brain’s the only one I’ve got. The more years and books I write, the more I
have come to trust that brain and that voice. I can’t be anyone else and I
can’t write like anyone else. This is the only mind available to me. I only
have my own voice. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">I believe in it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Didn’t I just say earlier that I call my
husband and sob into the phone about what a loser I am and how nobody wants to
read my books except those seven people? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Yes. But here’s what I’ve learned. When
I’m writing, I believe. When I’m not writing, but fretting, and reading online
reviews, and waiting for my literary ship to come in, and getting sucked down
into Other Life Matters, such as kids, or moving, or money, or whatever, then
the inner and outer self lose touch, the belief is buried, the progress lags,
and I’m left with that bloaty baby Self to deal with. Life’s so much better
when I’m writing. So much so that my husband has at times said to me, “Um, have
you been writing lately? Maybe it’s time to start.” Not because he wants
advance checks to come in, but because Julie’s a happier, saner housemate when
she’s writing. Go figure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">It's easy to forget this now that writing
has been my job for more than ten years, but back when I started, writing saved
my life. I don’t mean that I was standing on the edge of a bridge staring down
into the dark water, but I was dying inside. When a little voice inside me
suggested that I start writing stories, and I did it, there was a big bang, an
explosion, a bursting forth of color and music where before everything had been
dull and gray. It was like the moment in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Wizard of Oz</i> when Dorothy opens the door to Munchkinland. Nothing would
ever be the same again. Every day that I wrote brought me so much happiness and
excitement. I would cry sometimes at how happy it made me. I couldn’t believe
that something so simple as writing was what I’d been missing. And at any point
in time, I could’ve started to write, and allowed this joy to flow in, if only
I’ve known. Also like <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Wizard of Oz</i>.
Writing was the ruby slippers that could’ve taken me home to Kansas at any
point if I’d just had the sense to click my heels together. “There’s no place
like a story. There’s no place like a story. There’s no place like home.”</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"><a href="https://www.billboard.com/files/styles/article_main_image/public/media/wizard-of-oz-ruby-slippers-2018-billboard-1548.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="421" data-original-width="636" height="211" src="https://www.billboard.com/files/styles/article_main_image/public/media/wizard-of-oz-ruby-slippers-2018-billboard-1548.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Sometimes we all need to go back to where
we were when we started, when the dream was shiny and new, and we didn’t know
better; when it was all about our love of books, and we hadn’t been beaten down
yet. But we can go back if we just do the work. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Doing the work helps you relax and it
fosters belief. It’s a cycle that feeds itself. You know it, and I know it.
We’re all just happier when we’re consistently doing the work, enjoying our
ideas, believing in their potential, and seeing ourselves make progress.
Nothing boosts belief like knowing you’re growing as an artist. Nothing helps
you relax from gnawing worries and insecurities like progress and a thicker
stack of pages. Work and progress help you relax and help you enjoy and
believe, which fuels better work and faster progress. We know this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">So
why do we neglect that cycle? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I
think there are two reasons:</span><br />
<div style="text-indent: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">1. Serious
stuff, and 2. Fear.</span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Serious stuff – crises happen. Tragedies
strike. Babies are born. Illness rears its head. Jobs are lost. Loved ones are
lost. We’re forced to move. Houses burn. Mental and physical ailments come out
of nowhere. It happens. Sometimes writing has to take a pause. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Writing is really, really important, but
it’s not as important as life, and it’s not as important as the people you love
most. So if some serious stuff has held you back, you’re not alone. These last
three years have presented the Berry Family with a Super Spectacular Parade of
Crises, punctuated by a few that were truly life-threatening and utterly
terrifying, the kinds of challenges that brought us to our knees and brought
the normal flow of life to a screeching halt. Did I write during those times?
Heck no! Certainly not during the acute phases. When things settled down into a
place where we could cope, I returned to the work. But when I couldn’t, I
didn’t. Do I punish myself for that? No! I give myself major kudos for
surviving. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Do these pauses break your momentum? Yes. Do
they make it harder to return to the work? Yes. Do they make it impossible to
relax? Yup. Do they shake your belief in yourself and set you back in your path
toward progress? They sure can. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">But this is life. We only get one life,
and if it’s going to be derailed sometimes, that’s the reality we have to work
with. All of these experiences deepen your humanity, expand your empathy, cause
you to know and to feel and to fear and to hope in profound ways that perhaps
you’ve never faced before. In time, they can be the foundation of new ideas,
new material, new insights that will enrich your work. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Now, just to be very, very clear: I’m not
saying there’s anything good about crises and tragedies. They stink. They’re a
nightmare, and if I could shield us all from them, I would. Sometimes you hear
people talking about how they seek suffering or addiction or whatever to become
a better artist. That is bonkers. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">But problems will find you. Maybe they’re
the last thing you’ll ever want to write about. That’s fine. But they will
leave their mark on you, make you wiser, make your insight more mature. A story
is one part the stuff that happens in it, and two parts the narrative
consciousness’s capacity for insight into how the stuff that happens makes a
statement about life, the universe, and everything. I’ll say that one more
time. A story is one part the stuff that happens in it, and two parts the
narrative consciousness’s capacity for insight into how the stuff that happens
makes a statement about life, the universe, and everything. At the very least. That
ratio shifts somewhat, to be sure. Let’s take <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pride and Prejudice</i>. The stuff that happens in that story is gobs
of fun. But without the brilliant, biting, lampooning-with-surgical-precision
wit of Jane Austen’s writerly voice, what I’m calling her “narrative
consciousness” or, in other words, the mind in charge of the story, it would be
nothing more than gobs of fun. The clever, sly, dramatic, hilarious, restless
insight of Jane Austen’s story-mind (“narrative consciousness”) is why the
book’s a classic. We reread it and reread it, not to find out what happens,
because we already know, but because we love spending time hanging out with
that story mind, relishing its delicious insights.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"><a href="https://thefederalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Jane_Austen_coloured_version-998x728.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="584" data-original-width="800" height="233" src="https://thefederalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Jane_Austen_coloured_version-998x728.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Writers are insightful. They’ve spent a
long time thinking about life, and why it goes the way it does, and how that
feels. Life, if you’re paying attention, will make you more insightful than you
are today. That’s not a bad thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">I said we neglect the cycle of doing the
work which helps us relax and fuels our belief because of 1. Serious stuff, and
2. Fear. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Serious stuff will happen, or not, as fate
allows. We can’t control it. But by all means, wear seatbelts and see your
dentist regularly. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">What we can control, at least up to a
point, is our response to fear. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">The antidote to fear is doing the work,
and doing it badly if you must. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Fear drives us to fold laundry instead of
write. To organize the fridge instead of write. To balance the checkbook
instead of write. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">I’m not saying you can never do those
things. But you know when laundry’s supposed to happen, and when writing is
supposed to happen. You know when Netflix bingeing is allowed, and you know
when writing is expected. Don’t kid yourself. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">You have other jobs you do, right?
Paycheck or no paycheck. When you’re supposed to show up at the office, the
store, the restaurant, the school, the hospital, etc., you show up. More or
less. Maybe there’s flexibility, but you get it done. You know what it requires
of you and you make it happen. Maybe you have the job of being a parent. Or
some other volunteer role in the community. These are flexible, too, but these
unmistakably place demands upon you, and you find ways to meet those demands.
So maybe you haven’t done everything on your parental to-do list and maybe
you’re behind in your PTA budget work. Get in line. But you know how to get
jobs done – by making a plan, and showing up for the work when it’s expected. At
least when it’s absolutely required. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">So, in your writing life, make a plan, and
show up to work when it’s expected. If you don’t absolutely require it of
yourself, it won’t happen. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">I don’t think fear will ever go away, but
work puts it in its proper place. Every day that you do the work instead of
diddling the time away, your confidence grows in your ability to face the fear
again tomorrow, face the procrastination, face your inadequacy, and put some
words down on paper anyway. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">There’s one thing I haven’t talked about
at all today, and that’s publication. That’s the goal, right? That’s the dream?
We all want to publish, to publish more, to publish better, to expand our
readership, to be known in the book world, to make a name for ourselves, to
have our books outlive us. To make enough to help put the kids through college.
I want it, and so do you. That’s all right. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .25in;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.helpforwriters.me/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/02_Book_Publishing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="289" data-original-width="800" height="115" src="https://www.helpforwriters.me/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/02_Book_Publishing.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Publication isn’t something we can
control. Not exactly. Not if you want to be traditionally published with a
trade publisher. No matter how hardworking you are, and how brilliant and
insightful and lovingly revised your manuscript is, you still need to send your
work to an editor and have them choose to publish it. Walking through that door
once doesn’t guarantee that the door will be flung open to you next time. It
might help. Even awards and past sales do not guarantee outcomes. Editors can
love you and still reject your work. It happens. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">The work is what you can control, and the
diligence with which you apply yourself to improving your craft is what you can
control. In the process of doing the work and insisting on improvement, here’s
what happens: 1. You build up a body of work. 2. You get better and better at
discovering ideas and shaping them into finished works. 3. You grow more aware
of yourself, your style, your voice, your instincts, your preferences, so, 4.
You write more confidently, growing both the size and the quality of that body
of work. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">If you do that, do you really think
there’s any danger that you won’t also figure out how to submit for publication
or look for an agent? Of course you’ll do those things. You’re not going to
invest that much time and effort just to let it all rot on your hard drive. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Will you publish? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">I can’t make promises, but if you said
your goal was to live to be 80, and you planned to eat right, exercise, take
vitamins, get your checkups, maintain loving friendships, perform community
service, and adopt a shelter dog, I’d say you were working the right kind of
plan. Maximizing your odds. And hedging your bets toward finding joy and peace
in the journey.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"><a href="http://static1.squarespace.com/static/536d890fe4b03233848b2794/536e7adce4b0888ca58edb7c/536e7bc5e4b0888ca58f16de/1399750185287/?format=1500w" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://static1.squarespace.com/static/536d890fe4b03233848b2794/536e7adce4b0888ca58edb7c/536e7bc5e4b0888ca58f16de/1399750185287/?format=1500w" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="628" height="122" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">So, likewise, if you want to be published,
and you plan to keep on writing book after book, giving it your diligent best,
all the while reading, revising, critiquing, and seeing the best teachers and
mentors you can find access to – you’re doing all the right things. Doing the
work, reading, learning, growing, and adding to your pile of pages -- if
there’s another path to publication, I don’t know what it is. This path
maximizes your odds. Hedges your bets. Puts in place an approach that fosters
more joy and more peace along the way. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Writing is our peace, our relaxation, our
outlet, our medicine, our food for our hungry writer souls.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">This weekend you will be taught so much.
Your brains will ache with all that’s been crammed in. Your revision to-do list
will be a mile long, and you’ll worry that you won’t be able to remember it all
once you get home. Your hopes will flutter with encouragement, and then they’ll
be dashed. All during the same workshop. You’ve stepped outside of your normal
lives for a little while, and now the question is, can you take the magic home
with you? Can you carry this momentum and hope and inspiration forward into
your regular writing life? Will this go the way of New Year’s Resolutions and
other forgotten goals?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Relax! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">I <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">believe</i>
you can. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Make a sober commitment to do the work.
Identify a block of your day that you will dedicate to the work. Keep that
promise to yourself. Spend that time reading, researching, writing, revising,
and learning how to do it all better. Grow your pile of pages and watch your
progress unfold. Nothing proves the naysayers wrong better than work and
progress. Too often we’re our own biggest naysayers. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Work, relax, and believe. Trust your voice
and listen to your goofy brain. Write boldly, but be willing to toss chunks in
the trash. Slash your first drafts by a third. When you know you can always
produce more words tomorrow, you never need to be wedded too tightly to
yesterday’s words. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">When you get home, there will be laundry
piles and dishes piles and mail piles and guilt trips and phone messages and
email messages and cat barf, and it will be so tempting to be engulfed by your
normal life and slide back into the groove you were in before you came here.
But you’re not the person you were Monday morning. You’ve taken a giant step
forward. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">You live once, and time is short. Writing
time is precious, so don’t waste it on anything that isn’t a writer’s work.
Lose yourself in the work. Let the needs of your story drown out the neighbors
and coworkers asking you if you’re as rich as J.K. Rowling yet. Let your wonderful
characters console </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"><a href="https://mondrian.mashable.com/uploads%252Fcard%252Fimage%252F912937%252Fff12ba93-ea11-42f0-b07a-6ed1a8e45a20.jpg%252F950x534__filters%253Aquality%252890%2529.jpg?signature=GAa0jaOtZ03fIUJcPT7ckpV1Ix8=&source=https%3A%2F%2Fblueprint-api-production.s3.amazonaws.com" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="111" src="https://mondrian.mashable.com/uploads%252Fcard%252Fimage%252F912937%252Fff12ba93-ea11-42f0-b07a-6ed1a8e45a20.jpg%252F950x534__filters%253Aquality%252890%2529.jpg?signature=GAa0jaOtZ03fIUJcPT7ckpV1Ix8=&source=https%3A%2F%2Fblueprint-api-production.s3.amazonaws.com" width="200" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">you when your relatives make you cuckoo. Let the
problem-solving of your thorny plot get your mind off of current events. At the
end of the journey, you won’t believe what your commitment to work has
produced. And neither will the editors and agents you’ll meet this weekend. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Your conference faculty believe in you. The
people who know what this job really entails believe in you. Go home and prove
them right. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Thank you. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02988568411272528022noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4574386226748614156.post-53309266523051788602019-03-06T19:55:00.000-08:002019-03-07T04:55:21.279-08:00Gods, Mortals, and Immortal Passion: Presenting "Lovely War"<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilzyRaDZzskDQuECVcqPYE67dM4MtNmcyuYyzbCe4hgFspjuNFt_ypQAStXbsf_DDRqwsvkAHVn9jVAropQLVtHqiKQWi-LxYtKaLaJs1NpY2KqKLevORmB-36BDqot1GKtxUtQNfQ-PkR/s1600/9780451469939_LovelyWar_CV.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="925" data-original-width="613" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilzyRaDZzskDQuECVcqPYE67dM4MtNmcyuYyzbCe4hgFspjuNFt_ypQAStXbsf_DDRqwsvkAHVn9jVAropQLVtHqiKQWi-LxYtKaLaJs1NpY2KqKLevORmB-36BDqot1GKtxUtQNfQ-PkR/s200/9780451469939_LovelyWar_CV.jpg" width="132" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My newest novel, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Lovely
War</i>, is finally here. I’m so excited to share it with the world. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOtpbVM5aDvYsnUbMOZR0PwVrecaVYCaLd9xv6CdO8D642KgEDs2JiU430ZuZmWQlz-qtd0hwLLctcE2szHAnA8QQYcp7aAU1sk5kj5vWRkDgv9Bfxs0sICCdxvorb1NVGIRYAFgiYK4wl/s1600/LW_Characters_Gods_FINAL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="851" data-original-width="1600" height="169" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOtpbVM5aDvYsnUbMOZR0PwVrecaVYCaLd9xv6CdO8D642KgEDs2JiU430ZuZmWQlz-qtd0hwLLctcE2szHAnA8QQYcp7aAU1sk5kj5vWRkDgv9Bfxs0sICCdxvorb1NVGIRYAFgiYK4wl/s320/LW_Characters_Gods_FINAL.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Hades, Ares, Aphrodite, Hephaestus, & Apollo. <br />All illustrations by <a href="https://www.behance.net/lrmolnar" target="_blank">Laura Molnar</a>.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Lovely War</i> tells
the story of two pairs of young lovers who fall in love during the final year
of World War I. In an unusual twist, their stories are told by Greek gods.
Hephaestus, god of forges and fire, catches his wife, Aphrodite, goddess of
love, in the arms of her lover (and Hephaestus’s brother), Ares, god of war, in
a swanky Manhattan hotel in 1942. He ensnares the pair in a special net he’s
forged, and threatens to humiliate them in court on Mount Olympus. Aphrodite bargains
for a private trial and pleads her cause in the mock court case that ensues,
explaining to Hephaestus and Ares what real love is, and why her work is
so important, especially in times of war. To do so, she tells the love stories
of Hazel and James, and Aubrey and Colette, summoning other gods as witnesses
to supply their accounts. Ares brings us into the trenches, while Apollo, god of music, adds ragtime to the story, and Hades, lord of the Underworld, walks us through death's valley. A Greek chorus of
Greek gods accompany this journey back to 1917 at every stop. <o:p></o:p></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWbYyrdNhUqEPO3IQEO5BfniLTwJw2K2oTh_PkqhqvDlAyUWkcKsvJSYPsOW5-Rn3GNGblXBLBIyHv0395Q6wvdnu6eSGEliji1ISyGX91kv40LkJz75kx6WQYep2Ec0G1HZ2pbBgenigP/s1600/LW_Characters_James_FINAL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1133" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWbYyrdNhUqEPO3IQEO5BfniLTwJw2K2oTh_PkqhqvDlAyUWkcKsvJSYPsOW5-Rn3GNGblXBLBIyHv0395Q6wvdnu6eSGEliji1ISyGX91kv40LkJz75kx6WQYep2Ec0G1HZ2pbBgenigP/s200/LW_Characters_James_FINAL.jpg" width="141" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>James</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg05cTV4er0OQKdCzoMlIG0AQ0GW4xFDUcqsYyfYjVryBXo4DAZqBHBTWS_49sSA0Ee6ZoAajWAf-OmLmUcBi1nTzCI_t17l_2Arm6v3BgRemcsLIeRrVfCckDVWuxYd0qlRS9CP_Ck2GCK/s1600/LW_Characters_Hazel_FINAL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1133" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg05cTV4er0OQKdCzoMlIG0AQ0GW4xFDUcqsYyfYjVryBXo4DAZqBHBTWS_49sSA0Ee6ZoAajWAf-OmLmUcBi1nTzCI_t17l_2Arm6v3BgRemcsLIeRrVfCckDVWuxYd0qlRS9CP_Ck2GCK/s200/LW_Characters_Hazel_FINAL.jpg" width="141" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Hazel</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
At a London parish dance, Hazel Windicott, an aspiring pianist,
meets James Alderidge, who hopes to be an architect, if he survives the war. After
a whirlwind few days together, he departs for France. Their romance continues
through letters until Hazel makes the bold decision to leave her respectable
life and her piano lessons behind, and volunteers as an entertainment secretary
with the YMCA in France. She’s stationed at an American Army base, where she
befriends a Belgian refugee, Colette Fournier, a singer who lost her entire
family in the massacre at Dinant, Belgium, in the early weeks of the war. Hazel
also meets Aubrey Edwards, an American soldier and ragtime pianist from the
fabled Harlem Hellfighters regiment in the segregated army. Music brings these
three together, and soon sparks fly between Colette and Aubrey, despite US Army
rules prohibiting any contact between black servicemen and white women, and the
animosity of white supremacist doughboys willing to lynch black soldiers to
keep them in their place. </div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjep-TiwTBo_AreMcb6-pojS02bHd9FJPY8iic5ZbIQ7_O67xQHTp1F7-U_7G19ys-SF5lxmXbBvVZonBPD9ABYMq9zwS_w9f6O0E6iQ-KLtXLxthbnWw90cBHLchqLJoDQhLLIVwruhfkm/s1600/LW_Characters_Aubrey_FINAL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1133" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjep-TiwTBo_AreMcb6-pojS02bHd9FJPY8iic5ZbIQ7_O67xQHTp1F7-U_7G19ys-SF5lxmXbBvVZonBPD9ABYMq9zwS_w9f6O0E6iQ-KLtXLxthbnWw90cBHLchqLJoDQhLLIVwruhfkm/s200/LW_Characters_Aubrey_FINAL.jpg" width="141" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Aubrey</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoikHkZmwCMNWuCsjmKtknadKO6wrkHKBP4Jozj_PEs-3k85mjDz6-D7vYPw5TteFF7FUxo2pMMmtgobusWbYEfyeNLNKZgmsdH8EhKfv7pEGWNacpS0c1Qto4QOtW2Yqs2t0mJHmifGtG/s1600/LW_Characters_Colette_FINAL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1133" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoikHkZmwCMNWuCsjmKtknadKO6wrkHKBP4Jozj_PEs-3k85mjDz6-D7vYPw5TteFF7FUxo2pMMmtgobusWbYEfyeNLNKZgmsdH8EhKfv7pEGWNacpS0c1Qto4QOtW2Yqs2t0mJHmifGtG/s200/LW_Characters_Colette_FINAL.jpg" width="141" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Colette</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The war that brought these four together also tears
them apart, as carnage, trauma, and hatred rage around James in the British trenches
and Aubrey with the US Army, and as Hazel and Colette endure privations, hard
labor, sexism, and the agony of waiting for news of their beloveds, long past hope
and reason.</div>
<br />
Attempting to understand the geopolitical and social
currents that shaped World War I has been a privilege and a joy, if also a hard
slog through mountains of information, much of it harrowing to the soul. I love
these characters, just as I’ve come to love and honor, as best I can, the
actual people who lived and died and endured the Great War, both in its
gruesome battlefields and on its grim and, at times, violent “Home Fronts.”<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Now <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Lovely War</i> is
out, and reviewers have been extraordinarily kind. The book has earned five
starred journal reviews from <i><a href="https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/julie-berry/lovely-war/" target="_blank">Kirkus</a></i>, <i>The Horn Book</i>, <i><a href="https://www.booklistonline.com/Lovely-War-Berry-Julie/pid=9712460?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1" target="_blank">Booklist</a></i>, <i><a href="https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-451-46993-9" target="_blank">Publisher’sWeekly</a></i>, and <i>School Library Journal</i>, as well as stars from other industry
publications including <i>BookPage</i> and <i>Shelf Awareness</i>. Amazon editors have named it a <a href="https://www.amazon.com/b/ref=s9_acss_bw_cg_KCedit_10b1_w?node=17276810011&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-2&pf_rd_r=9WYHRFPSZPSW8YHRP8ZQ&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=48d39465-701b-485d-8cbb-beaf6307f5e9&pf_rd_i=17143709011" target="_blank">Best Book of the Month for March</a>. The <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">New York Times</i> called it a “virtuoso” work; the <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/childrens-books-love-and-warand-the-meddling-gods-11551450277" target="_blank"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Wall Street Journal</i> </a>called it “phenomenal;”
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/the-novel-youll-want-to-steal-from-your-teens-nightstand/2019/03/05/45773f76-3f68-11e9-922c-64d6b7840b82_story.html" target="_blank">The Washington Post</a></i> calls it “sweeping,
epic, brilliant,” <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Cosmopolitan</i> called
it one of the “11 best books you’ll be obsessed with in 2019.” <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://ew.com/book-reviews/2019/03/05/lovely-war-review-julie-berry/" target="_blank">Entertainment Weekly</a></i> writes, “Whatever
muse is singing in Berry to produce her lyrical writing, we’d like to lobby for
their services.” You can find interviews with me at <a href="https://www.kirkusreviews.com/features/mighty-aphrodite/">Kirkus Reviews</a>
and <a href="https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-authors/article/79370-q-a-with-julie-berry.html">Publishers’
Weekly</a>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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I’ve got a busy travel schedule this spring, promoting <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Lovely War</i> all around the country.
Chances are good that I’ll be making my way to a bookstore or festival near you!
For a full roster of readings and signings, visit <a href="http://www.julieberrybooks.com/events">www.julieberrybooks.com/events</a>.
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Audiobook lovers: the <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouseaudio.com/book/316312/lovely-war/" target="_blank">audio performance of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Lovely War</i></a> is delicious, featuring a
star-studded cast of performers including the inimitable Jayne Entwistle, Allan Corduner, Nathaniel Parker, Dion Graham, Fiona Hardingham, Steve West, and John Lee, as well as lots of original ragtime musical
compositions and arrangements, written and performed by my friend Benjamin
Salisbury. Don’t miss this one! <o:p></o:p></div>
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I hope you have as much fun reading <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Lovely War</i> as I had writing it. It’s a bit of a door-stopper, but
you’ll read in in a day or two or six, which always feels a bit unfair to me,
after the year-plus toil it took to write it. But such is the fate of a writer.
Chime in and let me know what you think. (Unless you hate it, in which case,
you can let me know by certified mail.) <span style="font-family: "wingdings"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span>
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<br />Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02988568411272528022noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4574386226748614156.post-36331178152044576242019-01-25T12:39:00.002-08:002019-01-25T12:42:47.006-08:00Holiday Gift-Booking Redux<div class="MsoNormal">
I went a little hog-wild with book shopping this Christmas season, but supporting indie bookstores, authors, and literacy feels like a triple win to me. Here are the books I bought this year. I hope you look them up and buy a bunch of them, if only because retrieving all these hyperlinks took about a month. You're welcome. ;) </div>
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For the teens on my list:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<ul><a href="https://images.booksense.com/images/733/478/9780451478733.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="265" height="200" src="https://images.booksense.com/images/733/478/9780451478733.jpg" width="132" /></a>
<li><i><a href="https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781595148049" target="_blank">An Ember in the Ashes</a></i> by <a href="https://www.sabaatahir.com/" target="_blank">Sabaa Tahir</a>. Snagged this at <a href="https://www.vromansbookstore.com/category/event-categories/hastings-ranch" target="_blank">Vroman’s Hastings Ranch</a>.</li>
<li><i><a href="https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781984830159" target="_blank">Bridge of Clay</a></i> by Markus Zusak. Signed edition, no less, from <a href="https://www.shoponceuponatime.com/" target="_blank">Once Upon a Time </a>books in Montrose, CA. Don’t know much about it, but I love <i>The Book Thief</i> desperately, so it was a must-buy.</li>
<li><i><a href="https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780451478733" target="_blank">Orphan Monster Spy</a></i> by Matt Killeen. Edited by my Viking editor, <a href="http://kendracoaching.com/" target="_blank">Kendra Levin</a>, and I know she has impeccable taste. ;)</li>
<li><i><a href="https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780451478580" target="_blank">Monstrous Devices</a></i> by <a href="https://damienlove.com/" target="_blank">Damien Love</a>. I confess it; it was a cover love buy. I found it face-out at Once Upon a Time and couldn’t resist. “Beware of things that go <i>click</i> in the night” was a tagline that worked for me.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://images.booksense.com/images/580/478/9780451478580.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="265" height="200" src="https://images.booksense.com/images/580/478/9780451478580.jpg" width="132" /></a></div>
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<li><i><a href="https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780763645762" target="_blank">The Knife of Never Letting Go</a> </i>by <a href="https://patrickness.com/" target="_blank">Patrick Ness</a>. I just love Patrick Ness, so that’s all there is to it. </li>
</ul>
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For a teen who has recently suffered a loss in the family, I bought <i><a href="https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780763660659" target="_blank">A Monster Calls</a></i> by Patrick Ness, inspired by an idea from Siobhan Dowd. Of course, one doesn’t need a specific reason to love this book.<o:p></o:p></div>
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For a 10-ish girl who wanted fantasy, but “not too complicated,” one who had read <i>A Wrinkle and Time </i>and liked it but found it perhaps a bit complicated, I bought:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<ul><a href="https://images.booksense.com/images/237/196/9781681196237.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="265" height="200" src="https://images.booksense.com/images/237/196/9781681196237.jpg" width="132" /></a>
<li><i><a href="https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781681196237" target="_blank">The Splintered Light</a></i> by <a href="https://www.gingerjohnsonbooks.com/" target="_blank">Ginger Johnson</a>. A vivid book by a radiant debut author and--lucky me--dear friend.<span id="goog_19188253"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a><span id="goog_19188254"></span></li>
<li><i><a href="https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781599903583" target="_blank">The Magic Half</a></i> by <a href="http://anniebarrows.com/" target="_blank">Annie Barrows</a></li>
<li><i><a href="https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780553512885" target="_blank">A Most Magical Girl</a></i> by <a href="https://karenfoxlee.com/" target="_blank">Karen Foxlee</a></li>
<li><i><a href="https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780064407052" target="_blank">Ella Enchanted</a></i> by <a href="https://www.gailcarsonlevine.com/" target="_blank">Gail Carson Levine</a>. </li>
<li><i><a href="https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780553538182" target="_blank">Snow & Rose</a></i> by <a href="https://www.emilywinfieldmartin.com/" target="_blank">Emily Winfield Martin</a></li>
</ul>
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These last four were recommended to me by bookseller Jessica Palacios at Once Upon a Time. <i>Ella Enchanted </i>is required reading. The rest, I haven't yet read. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<ul><a href="https://images.booksense.com/images/195/685/9780763685195.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="297" height="200" src="https://images.booksense.com/images/195/685/9780763685195.jpg" width="148" /></a>
<li>For two eight-ish boys, I bought <i><a href="https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780316381994" target="_blank">The Wild Robot</a></i> and <i><a href="https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780316382045" target="_blank">The WildRobot Escapes</a></i> by <a href="http://www.peterbrownstudio.com/" target="_blank">Peter Brown</a>. I sat next to him on a panel at <a href="http://booksofwonder.com/" target="_blank">Books of Wonder</a> earlier this year. He was super chill, very humble, and totally likable. The room was packed with young boys and their patient parents who’d been dragged along because meeting Peter Brown HAD TO happen. Their reverent passion for <i>The Wild Robot</i> was a sight to warm the heart. God bless everyone who can write books that make kids love reading that much.</li>
<li>I also bought <i><a href="https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780763685195" target="_blank">The Nutcracker Mice</a></i> by <a href="http://www.kristinkladstrup.com/" target="_blank">Kristin Kladstrup</a>, and illustrated by <a href="https://www.bretthelquist.com/" target="_blank">Brett Helquist</a>, for a boy who especially loves stories about animals, and books with pictures. Bought at <a href="http://www.belmontbooks.com/" target="_blank">Belmont Books</a>. </li>
<li>For a five year old boy who is just learning to read and ready for read-alouds with some heft, I bought the Paddington boxed set, and <i><a href="https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780062570703" target="_blank">Saving Winslow</a></i> by <a href="https://www.sharoncreech.com/" target="_blank">Sharon Creech</a>. It looks utterly adorable. Wish I'd had time to sneak a read before wrapping it. </li>
</ul>
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For the picture book crew on my list, I bought:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<li><i><a href="https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780763677541" target="_blank">The Wolf, The Duck,& the Mouse</a></i> by <a href="https://www.macbarnett.com/" target="_blank">Mac Barnett</a> and illustrated by Jon Klassen.</li>
<li><i><a href="https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781454904366" target="_blank">Puddle Pug</a></i> by <a href="https://www.kimnormanbooks.com/" target="_blank">Kim Norman</a> and illustrated by <a href="http://www.keikashouse.com/" target="_blank">Keika Yamaguchi</a>.<br />Charming and fun.</li>
<li><i><a href="https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780525555452" target="_blank">The Wall in the Middle of the Book</a></i> by <a href="http://www.jonagee.com/" target="_blank">Jon Agee</a>. Such a hoot.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780763695040" target="_blank"><i>Curiosity: The Story of a Mars Rover</i> </a>by <a href="http://markusillustration.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Markus Motum</a></li>
<li><i><a href="https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780689858192" target="_blank">A is for Abigail: An Almanac of Amazing American Women</a></i> by Lynne Cheney, illustrated by <a href="http://robinpreissglasser.com/" target="_blank">RobinPreiss Glasser</a> (of <i>Fancy Nancy</i> fame).</li>
<li><a href="https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781589251472" target="_blank"><i>Abigail</i> </a>by <a href="http://www.catherinerayner.co.uk/" target="_blank">Catherine Rayner</a>. You can probably guess it: there’s a very sweet little Abigail on my Christmas list.</li>
</ul>
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The whole family gets involved in reading the picture books and gift-wrapping everything for our favorite little people. May we always have young ones to buy books for! What I love best about this list is that it’s chock-full of discoveries I could never have made if I hadn’t shopped at an indie bookstore, with a curated selection to show me things I could never have found through online bookstores, and with the guidance of booksellers who know their stock and know how to match readers with their next favorite book. Where would we be without them? <o:p></o:p></div>
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Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02988568411272528022noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4574386226748614156.post-34422236570371040202019-01-03T00:44:00.000-08:002019-01-03T00:44:30.005-08:00Of Seurat, Salads, and Segmented Worms: Let's Talk Fretting & Plotting<br />
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Today’s post comes from an email I received from a writer friend.
I'm sharing with her permission.<o:p></o:p></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="margin-left: .5in;">
I've been working on a new novel,
and I find that I'm continually battling: 1) the fear of plot-- it's not good
enough, it's boring, it's going nowhere, etc. 2) the destructive force of too
many ideas crashing down and getting mixed in my head. I often feel as though
I'm in the middle of a Seurat painting and I'm so worried and distracted by the
dots that I can't find the big picture. I try to write a synopsis and get
stuck, I try to just plow forward and often get stuck. All the while, my inner
editor is screaming at me.<br /> I'd love your insight re: plotting.
Do you plot out twists and turns up front, or do they sometimes surprise you?
Which process works for you?</blockquote>
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Sound familiar, writers? <o:p></o:p></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i0.wp.com/www.guggenheim.org/wp-content/uploads/1882/01/41.713_ph_web-1.jpg?w=870" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="658" data-original-width="800" height="328" src="https://i0.wp.com/www.guggenheim.org/wp-content/uploads/1882/01/41.713_ph_web-1.jpg?w=870" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Farm Women at Work" by Georges Seurat, 1882-83</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<u>Plowing</u> one’s way through the first draft of a novel can
be emotionally <u>harrowing</u>. (Can I inject any more agricultural metaphors
here?) Plaguing self-doubt will ride along in the cabin of your ol’ John Deere.
I’m not sure the tractor can start without it. It’s so unfair. Why must we
work alongside despair? Why do we constantly scrutinize our nascent work and
find it lacking? Why can’t we just write the next darn paragraph, without
having to grapple with questions of our story’s worthiness to exist, our
worthiness to write, or both? <o:p></o:p></div>
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I’m not sure there’s another way. Up to a point, experience
boosts one’s confidence, teaches the wizened older writer to trust the process,
ignore the harpies in her head, and get on with things.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Or maybe not.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL2k9AnE4_VxHF8uLrIe_e4GqroMTuji__ck5jCJeNxvkW6XaOarC97XJN5elGUqtF6tu8yK5tqv3c4Dz8zRxSvEoBZQz0bvEDFMfK5iw_YatA4TypAjPc809D9B8MdKIFmmW0JQts3ztg/s1600/9780451469939_LovelyWar_CV.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="925" data-original-width="613" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL2k9AnE4_VxHF8uLrIe_e4GqroMTuji__ck5jCJeNxvkW6XaOarC97XJN5elGUqtF6tu8yK5tqv3c4Dz8zRxSvEoBZQz0bvEDFMfK5iw_YatA4TypAjPc809D9B8MdKIFmmW0JQts3ztg/s200/9780451469939_LovelyWar_CV.jpg" width="132" /></a></div>
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My next novel to come out, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Lovely War</i>, a WWI drama and romance, may just be some of my very
best work. (We shall see.) As I wrote it, I kept a journal of the process. Not
a notebook for plotting ideas and character notes and whatnot, but a true
journal of my emotional health throughout. Each day’s entry began with the page
count, what was happening, and when the manuscript was due. (It was long past
due.) From there, I wrote how I was feeling about the project, and about my
ability to write it. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Each day’s journal entry was riddled with anxiety: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">This story is boring. The plot is
non-existent. Nothing’s happening. Everyone’s going to hate it. I can’t do it.</i>
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(Just for the record, it’s approximately my twentieth book.)
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Now that it’s done, I can say with confidence that the plot
exists and that the book isn’t boring. So what was going on? Was I basking in the
pleasures of pretend-self-loathing? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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I don’t think so. My worries were acute and genuine. Something
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<b>The Pep Talk</b></div>
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When writers ask me questions like those I began with, I
want to pour out reassurance. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Don’t
listen to your doubts. Just keep writing. Ignore those voices. Believe in your
story. Trust the process.</i> <o:p></o:p></div>
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This is good counsel, for there is, quite frankly, no other
way to produce anything in this world but to keep plodding onward despite the
utter impossibility of the task and your complete ineligibility to complete it.
This is true of writing books and sculpting marble and reshaping society and
raising children. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://static.greatbigcanvas.com/images/square/bridgeman-art-library/black-cow-in-a-meadow-1881,2198994.jpg?max=540?max=220" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="641" data-original-width="641" height="320" src="https://static.greatbigcanvas.com/images/square/bridgeman-art-library/black-cow-in-a-meadow-1881,2198994.jpg?max=540?max=220" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Black Cow in a Meadow" by Georges Seurat, 1881</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<b>To Plot, or to Pants:</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But these aphorisms may not help much when you’re deep in the
weeds of a plot you don’t know how to fix. To outline, or not to outline?
Darned if I know. Writers on panels debate this until the cows come home.
(Farms again!) As for me, I don’t outline when drafting. I wing it. I do use a
notebook where I write some thoughts about what’s coming next, and where things
might be going, but mostly, I just write. I let wild inspiration have the first
crack at the story. Then, after I have a first draft, I outline <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">that</i>, and study it much more critically.
What does each chapter or scene accomplish? Do I need them all? Where do things
lose energy? Get confusing? For me, outlining a story in advance produces all
the warm fuzzy feelings of outlining a high school essay and stressing over Roman
numerals. Outlining something that already exists via spreadsheet engages my
analytical brain, after the madwoman artist has had her turn. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Thanks, Julie,” I hear you saying through gritted teeth. “I’m
trying to get to the point where something exists. And you’re no help.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I know. I’m sorry. Only you can do this part. But take
heart: no one says you have to do it well. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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As if we weren't slightly bonkers already, then there’s this:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>The Un-Pep Talk</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What if the voices of doubt and criticism are <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">right</i>? What if the unease you feel comes
from a deeper truth – that the story you’re writing <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">isn’t</i> the right one? That the turns you took, some hundred miles ago,
sent you off in the wrong direction? Or that this isn’t really your story to
tell, or the story you’re best suited to tell? <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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This can also be true at times. Sometimes the pep talk isn’t
the answer. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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The question is, how can you discern between the feelings of
self-doubt that should be ignored, and those that are trying to rescue you? <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’m not sure. I know of no solid litmus test. But here are some
questions I ask myself:<o:p></o:p></div>
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</div>
<ul>
<li>Despite the problems, and even the loathing, do
I love it anyway? Is there, at its core, something that fills me with delight?
Or am I just clinging to this thing because I don’t know what else to write,
and/or I’m afraid I’ll never have other ideas, and/or because I feel absurdly
obligated to finish a thing once I’ve started it? I have to love it if I’m
going to see it through, even if right now I’d like to throttle it. (See kids,
above.)</li>
<li>Does the story live? Does it have its own life
force, its own capacity to grow? Like the roots of a plant that keep thrusting
outward, is there something about this story that moves itself forward, that
tells you what should come next, if only occasionally, or does progress come at
a cost of brute force, most of the time?</li>
<li>Or, was there a time when I loved it and it had
life, but I’ve lost that lovin’ feeling? If so, where did the story and I break
up?</li>
</ul>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/images/2009/07/090707111705_1_900x600.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="353" data-original-width="800" height="141" src="https://www.sciencedaily.com/images/2009/07/090707111705_1_900x600.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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If I get satisfactory answers to the first two questions, I
know I need to write the story, no matter what. Does this banish self-doubt? Hardly.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Get Out of the Way</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Here’s something that can help: <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Get yourself out of the way. This isn’t about you. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Accept the fact the story is daunting and you’re not equal
to the task. It’s fine to be inadequate. Join the big friendly club. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Become a servant of the work, of the story. Every day, ask
yourself, “What does this story need today? What’s the next thing?” And do
that. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This story isn’t about your human worth or how you’re just
as good as your pretty older sister or how Bozo who dumped you got it all wrong.
A successful outcome of this story won’t make God, your mother, or your best
friend love you any more or any less. It proves nothing about whether or not
you can see your goals through to the finish line, drop ten pounds, or pay your
bills. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’ll say it again: this story has nothing to do with you. I
don’t care if it’s your memoir and you’re writing it at the prescription of
your therapist. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It’s a story. Your job is to make it a good story. You are
its employee. Be its humble servant. Nudge it along, dust it off, offer it
helpful suggestions. Give it a first draft. It will be bad. Coax that thing
into a second draft. It will be bad. Take a bold leap into the third draft. It will
be bad. That’s fine. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Don’t compare your work-in-progress manuscripts with polished,
edited novels. No writer does this job on their own. We’re each beholden to
many other smart brains who helped stir the soup, and who fished out the bones
and bay leaves. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>The Big Picture</b></div>
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I loved this line in my writer friend’s question: “I often
feel as though I'm in the middle of a Seurat painting and I'm so worried and
distracted by the dots that I can't find the big picture.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://cdn.taschen.com/custom/taschen/includes/phpThumb/phpThumb.php/q=90;f=jpg;1640;/media/images/1640/ba_seurat_opener_43109_1703171437_id_1118641.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="268" data-original-width="800" height="132" src="https://cdn.taschen.com/custom/taschen/includes/phpThumb/phpThumb.php/q=90;f=jpg;1640;/media/images/1640/ba_seurat_opener_43109_1703171437_id_1118641.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A "big picture" (yuk) by Seurat, for which, I'm embarrassed to say, I can't find the name. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/76/Georges_Seurat_1888.jpg/220px-Georges_Seurat_1888.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="341" data-original-width="220" height="320" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/76/Georges_Seurat_1888.jpg/220px-Georges_Seurat_1888.jpg" width="204" /></a></div>
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Ah, yes. This is one of the hardest parts about writing a
book. Even Seurat, when he wanted to, could stand back and take in the look of
his canvas as a whole. He could get a sense of its overall composition.
Novelists see only one laptop’s screen of their story at a time. A novel is a
really long thing. It’s a roll of toilet paper. Better yet, a tapeworm. We only
get to see one piece of TP at a time, one tapeworm segment. How can we know if
we’re constructing something that will be a coherent whole? <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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(Such as … a tapeworm? Ew. Never mind.) <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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For one thing, we have to take it on faith, and press
forward. But also, we have to remember that revision is the process where we
staple that tapeworm to the wall and step back to get a better look. Then we
can snip out the superfluous sections, and … Well, all metaphors fall apart ultimately.
But you get the idea. Trust the mercy of revision to fix what’s wrong. All you
have to do right now is give revision something to work with.<o:p></o:p></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRnVT319t1yQp-1ef9tGKVCGnnqrbG3Xx5jZDKtFqnUE6iAStttJQ" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="164" data-original-width="163" src="https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRnVT319t1yQp-1ef9tGKVCGnnqrbG3Xx5jZDKtFqnUE6iAStttJQ" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Couldn't stomach an actual photo.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br /></div>
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I think it’s freeing to think of writing more like cooking.
There’s no precise right way to make a salad or a casserole. Toss some things
together, and eat. Toss them this way or that way; it’s all the same. It’ll be
delicious. To add pepitas, or feta, or balsamic, or not, doesn’t really matter.
The fate of the world doesn’t hang in the balance. It’s just a salad. It’s just
a story. Not a rocket launch sequence. Experiment with a pinch of this or that.
Writing is more forgiving than food. You can’t easily revise the olives out of taco casserole. (How I wish you could. Yick.) <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
By this, I don’t mean that I don’t care or that I don’t fuss
or sweat the small stuff. But at the end of the day, we’re engaged in creative
play. Stories could go millions of possible ways. Those that get finished will
end up going one specific way, leaving behind other viable options. Just like each
night’s dinner. It’s fine. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>A Pinch of Plot Advice</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Here’s what I do tell aspiring writers about plot: ratchet
things up. Go from bad to worse. From embarrassing to humiliating. From scary
to terrifying. From sexy to sizzling. From tender to gooey. Whatever kind of
story you’re trying to write, make it more so, more itself, before it’s done. Escalate.
Intensify. Reconcile yourself to the fact that you must make your characters
hurt, and you must cause them to lose precious things, before the end. It’s all
right. You can make it up to them later if you must. If you’re stuck in the
middle and your plot’s run dry, ask yourself, where can I make things worse, or
more intense, for my character? Look back on what you’ve done so far and ask
yourself, where have I been protecting them? Have I created a soft world that
shelters them? Problems engage reader interest. Suffering engages reader
sympathy. Take those away, and the story’s boring. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c5/Edvard_Munch%2C_1893%2C_The_Scream%2C_oil%2C_tempera_and_pastel_on_cardboard%2C_91_x_73_cm%2C_National_Gallery_of_Norway.jpg/330px-Edvard_Munch%2C_1893%2C_The_Scream%2C_oil%2C_tempera_and_pastel_on_cardboard%2C_91_x_73_cm%2C_National_Gallery_of_Norway.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="410" data-original-width="330" height="200" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c5/Edvard_Munch%2C_1893%2C_The_Scream%2C_oil%2C_tempera_and_pastel_on_cardboard%2C_91_x_73_cm%2C_National_Gallery_of_Norway.jpg/330px-Edvard_Munch%2C_1893%2C_The_Scream%2C_oil%2C_tempera_and_pastel_on_cardboard%2C_91_x_73_cm%2C_National_Gallery_of_Norway.jpg" width="160" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"The Scream" by Edvard Munch, 1893.<br />Oops. Wrong artist. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As for that internal editor, screaming at you, lock her
in a soundproof room. No editor should scream. They should encourage, and ask
useful questions, but they only get to do so after there’s a draft. Not before.
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Stuck writer, you’ve got this. (Writing ability. Not an
intestinal parasite.) Thanks for asking. Time for me now to go follow my own
advice. Or maybe, go fix myself a salad. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<br />Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02988568411272528022noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4574386226748614156.post-78893053629781244142018-11-11T18:51:00.001-08:002018-11-12T04:51:22.953-08:00The Human Cost of the Great War<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJoZexmDa7h3vLzDnppuoCPdTRfpLsEaCPlMhWoq_-RIiguK9JYNwkT_kvbPV_h3752wmd-4lgtw7eoTBUSIoTDBAwr0-0eWLk8nDRVYI5JDxejgFWqaGAOTBbZBDSfUFfm93Zyyh9MCNl/s1600/IMG_3902.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJoZexmDa7h3vLzDnppuoCPdTRfpLsEaCPlMhWoq_-RIiguK9JYNwkT_kvbPV_h3752wmd-4lgtw7eoTBUSIoTDBAwr0-0eWLk8nDRVYI5JDxejgFWqaGAOTBbZBDSfUFfm93Zyyh9MCNl/s320/IMG_3902.JPG" width="320" /></span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; line-height: 107%;">One hundred years ago today, the guns fell silent,
after four and a half years of brutal, mechanized, devastating combat. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; line-height: 107%;">Historians will disagree somewhat on the numbers, but the Great War caused close to 40 million casualties, of which not quite half were deaths. Of the deaths, approximately 40% were civilian casualties. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It's hard to wrap your head around the concept of seventeen million people killed in a war. Think of the staggering loss we feel at a tragedy like a mass shooting event, where ten, twenty, thirty lives are snatched away cruelly, robbed in their prime and leaving families reeling. Now try to fathom <i>seventeen million.</i> The world had never witnessed carnage on such a scale. Towns and villages lost all of their young men to the war. Entire generations, swept away. Classes erased from school yearbooks. Families lost all their sons when a naval ship went down. Entire towns along the Western Front were wiped off the map. Sons and fathers, husbands and lovers, daughters and wives and volunteers. Children. Elderly. No one was safe in this war from modern artillery guns that could aim with deadly precision from miles away, or from hidden submarines prowling the seas. Every one of those tally marks had a face. Most were young, shiny, and optimistic, with no idea of what lay ahead when they marched off to battle. </span></div>
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<a href="https://thechive.files.wordpress.com/2014/05/world-war-1-photography-2.jpg?quality=85&strip=info&w=641&zoom=2" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="440" data-original-width="550" height="256" src="https://thechive.files.wordpress.com/2014/05/world-war-1-photography-2.jpg?quality=85&strip=info&w=641&zoom=2" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">World War I's not fun to think about, so we don't. Especially in America. The world's a depressing enough place, and we have more recent sorrows to mourn. World War II is an easier narrative to digest than the war that came before it. Causally and morally, #2 seems more straightforward. (Or perhaps we err by oversimplification.) The villains seem obvious; the evil on chilling display in the Third Reich's Final Solution to Germany's problems with Jews and other undesirables, as they saw the world. Ideal for those who liked their populist nationalism served up hot with a sizzling side of xenophobic bigotry. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">(My theory is that one reason we don't care as much about WW1 is that the photos and films are black & white, so they people don't seem real. But they aren't all black & white. Observe how color changes everything.) </span></div>
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<a href="http://rack.2.mshcdn.com/media/ZgkyMDE1LzEyLzE4L2ZiL3d3aWNvbG9ydGh1LjNkNTViLmpwZwpwCXRodW1iCTEyMDB4NjI3IwplCWpwZw/d62ce24a/6aa/wwicolorthumb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="418" data-original-width="800" height="167" src="https://rack.2.mshcdn.com/media/ZgkyMDE1LzEyLzE4L2ZiL3d3aWNvbG9ydGh1LjNkNTViLmpwZwpwCXRodW1iCTEyMDB4NjI3IwplCWpwZw/d62ce24a/6aa/wwicolorthumb.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://cdn.images.dailystar.co.uk/dynamic/122/photos/407000/900x738/1159407.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="656" data-original-width="800" height="262" src="https://cdn.images.dailystar.co.uk/dynamic/122/photos/407000/900x738/1159407.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">If you had asked me, prior to my embarking upon the research needed to write my next novel, <i><a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/316312/lovely-war-by-julie-berry/9780451469939/" target="_blank">Lovely War</a></i>, what was the cause of World War I, my pat answer, fished out of high school history class memory, would've been, "the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria Hungry in Sarajevo." Press me further on why he was murdered, or how one terrorist act could suck all of colonial Europe, and hence the globe, down the dark tunnel of unstoppable war, and I wouldn't have known what to tell you. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Ask me what caused World War II, and I could've said things like the rise of nationalism, populism, fascism, and xenophobia in postwar Europe. I would also have mentioned the punitive peace terms imposed on Germany by the Treaty of Versailles. These answers might've gotten me some credit in a high school history exam, but they, too, would've been a gross oversimplification. Make no mistake, though -- World War II is a direct consequence of World War I, as was the entirety of the violent, frightening, blood-soaked, militarized, Cold-War nuked-out Twentieth Century. </span></div>
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<a href="https://www.fudzilla.com/media/k2/items/cache/e49a5f74cef769c021bef84c210e693a_XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="522" data-original-width="750" height="222" src="https://www.fudzilla.com/media/k2/items/cache/e49a5f74cef769c021bef84c210e693a_XL.jpg" width="320" /></span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The egotism, stupidity, and incompetence of certain world leaders, and the breakdown of international diplomacy, along with the pride, greed, pettiness, viciousness, colonialism, racism, white supremacy, and nationalism of the nations and heads of state who thrust the world into World War I and thus II are subjects beyond the scope of this post. The key personalities involved are brilliantly sketched in riveting reads like <i><a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/180851/the-guns-of-august-by-barbara-w-tuchman/9780345476098/" target="_blank">The Guns of August</a> </i>by Barbara Tuchman and <i><a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/105817/the-war-that-ended-peace-by-margaret-macmillan/9780812980660/" target="_blank">The War that Ended Peace</a></i> by Margaret MacMillan. But for each moment we devote to the study of those spectacularly whiskered and mutton-chopped heads, remember: <i>seventeen million killed. </i>Seventeen million lives extinguished. Farmers, fishers, shopkeepers, clerks, factory workers, doctors, nurses, officers, cooks, stevedores, soldiers, volunteers, fathers, uncles, nephews, sons, and daughters. An even greater number which would come home wounded, some gruesomely disfigured. All maimed, inwardly if not also outwardly. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">How much gratitude we owe to those who stood against the dark flood of Kaiser Wilhelm's armies and kept the Central Powers's aggression at bay. How much gratitude we owe to their sons and daughters, who would do it again a generation later, halting the Nazis and the Axis Powers. How much of a debt we owe today to all those who stand in harm's way, whatever the war and whatever its justification or lack thereof. Soldiers don't get to choose. They serve regardless. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This spring, I stood with my husband and a thousand
others under the <a href="https://www.cwgc.org/find/find-cemeteries-and-memorials/91800/ypres-memorial" target="_blank">Menin Gate</a> in Ypres, Belgium that memorializes the 55,000
British and Commonwealth Great War soldiers who died defending the town, and whose
remains were never found. The crowd stood in respectful silence as a bugler
played “The Last Post.” (Much like "Taps" in the US.) Uniformed veterans placed a wreath, and an
international choir of teens from Russia and Scotland joined in singing “May
the Road Rise to Meet You” and “Only Remember What We Have Done,” with the
gate’s high arch amplifying their exquisite voices. Then the crowd, young and
old, joined in singing the E.U.’s anthem. The atmosphere was reverent, somber,
and resolute; they would never forget. </span><br />
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</v:shape><![endif]--><!--[if !vml]--><span style="height: 362px; margin-left: -68px; margin-top: 220px; mso-ignore: vglayout; position: absolute; width: 528px; z-index: -1895821312;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Thi</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">It was one of the most
sacred experiences of my life. That same reverence for honoring the memory of
the fallen permeated each Great War monument, cemetery, and museum I visited in
France and Belgium. Immaculate cemeteries and well-visited shrines bore testament to the gratitude and respect still paid in Europe, even by the young, even though it was great-grandpa, perhaps, or great-uncle who was lost, and they wouldn't even have known him.</span>"The Last Post" has played every night at the Menin Gate since the monument was first erected soon after the war (except for a few years during World War II). </span><br />
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My research made me love those Great War soldiers. Learning about their lives gave them faces in living color. For many of us, they are names in our family tree that perhaps we're unaware of. (Genealogy websites like <a href="http://ancestry.com/">Ancestry.com</a> and <a href="http://familysearch.org/">FamilySearch.org</a> would be glad to help you locate them.) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This Armistice Day, let's do something to <i>help</i> a living veteran, <i>thank</i> a living veteran, and <i>remember</i> a veteran who died, and why. Remembering the human faces and names of the fallen, and remembering their sacrifices with solemnity, may be the best insurance we have against sliding recklessly back into the national sins that started the last century's wars. Will the teens who sang "Only Remember What We Have Done" under the marble arch of the Menin Gate look the other way while society devolves into the inequalities and bigotries of the prior century? I pray not. </span><br />
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Paying respects isn't just for the fallen. It's for us. A little somber gravity won't hurt us. Gratitude is good for the soul. Remembering why is good for the body politic, and for peace for our children and grandchildren to come. </span>Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02988568411272528022noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4574386226748614156.post-91580465158061130892018-09-25T12:20:00.002-07:002018-09-25T12:20:48.407-07:00Wishes & Wellingtons: a new middle grade fantasy adventure, out today!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3bUzduFexAts2QAaekjaqTZx6a0FsTITtb-vDWFZ0J6NJxKaw95-b6C0Te0VCQJjI38yTR3K3QVdZBeQPiWum5y5rFJhIVX85FgCf8mdS6Hz_XFUbPHDrDORrYZDFUvTBHB1bj-ymGSGE/s1600/Wishes_Wellingtons_FINAL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3bUzduFexAts2QAaekjaqTZx6a0FsTITtb-vDWFZ0J6NJxKaw95-b6C0Te0VCQJjI38yTR3K3QVdZBeQPiWum5y5rFJhIVX85FgCf8mdS6Hz_XFUbPHDrDORrYZDFUvTBHB1bj-ymGSGE/s320/Wishes_Wellingtons_FINAL.jpg" width="320" /></a>I've been sitting on this exciting news for too long: I have a new book baby today! Only this time, it's not a physical book. It's an Audible Exclusive audiobook. <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/Wishes-and-Wellingtons-Audiobook/B07FK3M9QZ" target="_blank"><i>Wishes & Wellingtons</i></a>, read by the one, the only, the inimitable <a href="http://thejayneshow.net/" target="_blank">Jayne Entwistle</a>. Jacket art by <a href="https://www.alyssapetersenart.com/" target="_blank">Alyssa Petersen</a>. I'm so excited.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://fm.cnbc.com/applications/cnbc.com/resources/img/editorial/2016/10/11/104010603-makeit_craig_cooper_sardines_3_mezz.940x528.jpg?v=1476214249" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="449" data-original-width="800" height="111" src="https://fm.cnbc.com/applications/cnbc.com/resources/img/editorial/2016/10/11/104010603-makeit_craig_cooper_sardines_3_mezz.940x528.jpg?v=1476214249" width="200" /></a>The idea first begin on a red-eye flight. I'm not sure why, but sitting there, doodling in my idea journal, I thought of the phrase, "Sardiney Genie." I like genies. Who doesn't? I like sardines. Who doesn't? (Most don't, I find.) (Weird fact -- when my father-in-law-to-be learned that the girl his son was marrying liked sardines, he gave me a tower of 30-some tins of them as a bridal shower gift. Romantic!) <span id="goog_415301293"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a><span id="goog_415301294"></span><br />
<br />
<a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71XoZgkN52L._SX679_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="398" data-original-width="679" height="116" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71XoZgkN52L._SX679_.jpg" width="200" /></a>"A genie in a sardine can," I thought, there on that plane, under the glow of a light my neighbors probably wished I would turn off. "Why not?" This tyranny of lamps is so yesterday.<br />
<br />
The next question was, what kind of character would find a genie in a sardine can? Immediately a feisty spitfire of a girl in a London boarding school popped into my head. (I like to imagine I was such a girl, in a former life.) She introduced herself to my writing journal with a wallop:<br />
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<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><i>I’ve always been too prone to solve
problems with my fists. It’s the reason Mum and Dad sent me to Salamanca School
for Upright Young Ladies, and the reason Miss Bickle, the needlework
instructor, sent me this morning to Miss Salamanca’s private office. Apparently,
I needed reminders of how upright a young lady ought to be, and those
reminders, ten to one, were about to be striped across my lower back. </i></span></blockquote>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
<a href="https://www.ateliers-marinette.fr/5237-large_default/sardine-tin-aux-citrons-1950.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="525" data-original-width="525" height="200" src="https://www.ateliers-marinette.fr/5237-large_default/sardine-tin-aux-citrons-1950.jpg" width="200" /></a>And so the adventure began.<br />
<br />
I knew if I was going to write a genie story, I needed to make sure to differentiate it from Disney's Aladdin. That didn't seem hard to do. This genie, Mermeros, is a fishy sort, in more ways than one, and anything but benevolent. Maeve Merritt, the heroine, is gutsy and brash and daring. Tantalized by the untold wealth a genie can offer her, and hunted on every side by nefarious types determined to wrest her treasure away from her, she faces dangers and dilemmas that will test her mettle and her loyalties. She'll take wild rides, racing across the pre-dawn horizon, seeing the world race under her feet, and she'll tango face-to-face with diabolical villians both mortal and supernatural. She's my kind of girl.<br />
<br />
I always write books that I would like to read, but perhaps with <i>Wishes & Wellingtons</i>, more than any other, I set out to write the kind of book I would've loved to read as a kid. I'm a small audience, to be sure. When I was young, I craved books where girls <i>did things</i> -- daring, dangerous, heroic, ridiculous, bungling, creative, clever, fix-it-in-the-end things. <i>Wishes & Wellingtons</i> is, at least, such a story. If a genie could grant me a wish -- okay, three -- I'd cash in the first two on world peace and an end to hunger and poverty -- I'd love to travel back to the family farm and give this book to scrawny little knock-kneed Julie, and see if I succeeded. I hope I have.<br />
<br />
And I hope you'll love it. You can't go wrong with any book narrated by Jayne Entwistle, that's for sure. I'm so lucky that she said yes.<br />
<br />
<b>Where to find it: </b>For Audible subscribers, <i><a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/Wishes-and-Wellingtons-Audiobook/B07FK3M9QZ" target="_blank">Wishes & Wellingtons</a></i> is <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/Wishes-and-Wellingtons-Audiobook/B07FK3M9QZ" target="_blank">available</a> for one credit. All others can purchase it for download via <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Wishes-and-Wellingtons/dp/B07FK424BG/" target="_blank">Amazon</a>.Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02988568411272528022noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4574386226748614156.post-13013070786939249022018-08-03T14:51:00.002-07:002018-08-03T14:53:30.873-07:00How to Ask an Author a Question: Q&A's and Panels<br />
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You’re at an author event or a conference panel, listening
to an author speak. They’re funny, smart, compassionate, interesting. You feel
a connection. You’ve read their book, or you plan to. The panel opens up for
audience questions. You’d like to ask one, because there’s so much you’d like
to know, and more, because you’d like to have a human interaction with this
person with whom you’ve had, or will have, a literary interaction.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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What should you ask them? <o:p></o:p></div>
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The mind goes blank. <o:p></o:p></div>
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It does for me, and I’m an author, for Pete’s sake. In that
moment, I want to give the author the small gift of my genuine interest in what
they think, and I hope they’ll return to me the gift of a genuine answer. But
what to ask?<o:p></o:p></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://orleanshub.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/110217_Jberry4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="449" data-original-width="650" height="221" src="https://orleanshub.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/110217_Jberry4.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">photo by Tom Rivers, OrleansHub.com</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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It’s a little bit of a love thing. And Love, as we know, is
not always close companion to Brain. Not when it’s put on the spot, and others
are watching. <o:p></o:p></div>
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What <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">should</i> you ask
an author? What kinds of questions do authors <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">want</i> to be asked? <o:p></o:p></div>
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I can only speak for myself, of course, but that won’t stop
me from sharing my firehose of opinions on the subject. But along the way, let’s
also look at major league author questioning: moderating panels. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Moderating an Author Panel: What
Authors Wish All Moderators Knew<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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Panel moderators, those intrepid souls, MUST ask authors
questions. Several in succession, before a public audience, in real time,
without embarrassing themselves. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Dear moderators—We love you. Truly. Panel authors are
grateful for the opportunity to present their books to new audiences. We’re indebted to moderators for giving us that chance. Always. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Why Panels, Anyway?</b>
Authors accept invitations to speak, often <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">gratis</i>,
leave their kids, hire sitters and dogwalkers, travel—often at their own
expense, chew through precious vacation time, and do otherwise difficult things
to present their latest book to new readers. The publicity behind the
conference, and the speaking opportunities, are what accomplish that objective.
Thus an ideal panel gives authors the <u>best chance to present their new books
to new readers in an interesting, engaging way</u>. Anything else that comes of
it (meeting new people, having fun conversations, yummy food, scenery) is
welcome but secondary. Without the promotional bang for the buck, most of us
would rather stay home and work on our books. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p>
</o:p></div>
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The general public comes to panels because they like books,
they like reading, they want to learn about new books, and they think that
authors are interesting people. They’re curious and hope to get inside the mind
of an author to understand how and why they write. They’re fans of one of the
authors on the panel. There’s a bit of a mystique, maybe, surrounding the
author’s work, and some audience members hope to learn how to become authors
themselves. So, a panel will be successful for its audience if it gives them
the chance to <u>learn interesting things about new books and about the people
who create them</u>. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Too often, panels fall short on both counts.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://cache.boston.com/resize/bonzai-fba/Globe_Photo/2009/02/28/1235871889_7313/539w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="353" data-original-width="539" height="209" src="https://cache.boston.com/resize/bonzai-fba/Globe_Photo/2009/02/28/1235871889_7313/539w.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">photo by Bill Greene, Boston Globe</td></tr>
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<b>Moderators reading books</b>: It may be a lot to ask of a
moderator, to read all the books the panel will discuss, though they usually
are fairly bookish types – teachers, librarians, writers, booksellers. Let’s
consider this, then, a plea. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Please read our
books</i>. At least read a few chapters. We’re taking days out of our lives to
be there. We’re missing the winter concert or Junior’s eighth grade graduation.
(True story.) We hope it will be worth it. Moderators who’ve read the books will organically ask interesting
questions that lead to better discussion. When moderators don’t know our books,
questions can only be generic. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Sometimes moderators step in at the eleventh hour because
someone cancelled or dropped a ball. In that case, reading three or four books
just isn’t possible. But reading even a portion of them, even a first chapter, or
a first few pages, still helps convey a feel for character, setting, situation,
and tone. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Then what? </b>The
moderator has read the book. (Or hasn’t.) What should they ask? <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Generic Questions</b>: The questions we hear most often
go something like this:<br />
<ol>
<li>Where do you get your ideas?</li>
<li>Tell us your writing
schedule. <span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span></li>
<li>Do you write on a computer or
by hand?</li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Do you have quirky writing
habits? Routines?</span></li>
<li>What time of day do you
write?</li>
<li>How do you balance writing
with family/work/etc?</li>
<li>Who designs the cover; do you
get to choose?</li>
<li>How did you find your agent /
sell your book / find a publisher?</li>
<li>Do you use outlines? Or do
you plan your stories in advance, or see what comes to you?</li>
</ol>
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These questions turn the discussion into either a
How-to-Publish conversation, or a When-to-Write session, or some sort of
therapy session about work/life balance. That’s definitely not what we came to
talk about (and not what we paid a sitter for). As for the quirks, we’re not exhibits in a zoo
with fascinating daily feeding/sleeping/mating schedules; we’re people who make
books, so <u>let’s talk about the books</u>. We only get 45 minutes; let’s
devote every one of them to books. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Same Panel As
Every Other Panel</b>: Generic questions turn Any Author into Every Author, and
every panel into The Same Panel As Every Other Panel. What a missed opportunity!
Authors, in theory, think interesting creative thoughts, or do interesting
research, and then write books about it. That’s the glittering gem each author
brought with them: <u>all that they – and only they – learned or discovered</u>
in the process of making this <u>one specific book</u>. It stinks to leave a
panel or signing not having had a chance to share it. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>The Perils of Process</b>: Panels quickly devolve into the
Same Panel as Every Other Panel because these are chiefly <u>process</u> questions
(when do you write, what do you write on, how long do you write each day, etc),
they elicit a sort of unintended (or superabundant!) narcissism. <i>Why, yes, <u>I
am</u> a fascinating subject! Let me tell you how often I sharpen my pencils,
because naturally, you’re dying to know!</i> And there goes the hour, and all
the audience has gotten is self-importance from the panelists. If the questions
are unflinchingly about the books, everyone will be better fed. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">My Dream Question
Wishlist</b>: Here are the kinds of questions I wish people would ask me, aside
from the kinds of questions that arise naturally from a reading of the book:<br />
<ol>
<li>Tell us about the journey
that led to you writing this book. </li>
<li>Tell us about one of the
people at the center of this book, and what makes them interesting. </li>
<li>Why does this book (or this
subject) matter to you? Why was it worth spending a year (or five, etc.) of
your life on it? </li>
<li>What do you <u style="text-indent: -0.25in;">love</u><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> about
this book? What makes this book special to you? Is there a part that makes you
cry? Makes you laugh? Is there a part you’re secretly most proud of? What is
it? </span></li>
<li>Tell us about any literary
influences that went into this work, OR, tell us what other books this book
joins in conversation. </li>
<li>Who else should love this
book? Describe the reader who ought to know about this title. </li>
<li>What do you hope this book
can impart to its readers? <span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span></li>
<li>How did your work on this
book change you?</li>
</ol>
</div>
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<a href="http://www.womenofmystery.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Moderating-An-Author-Panel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="800" height="213" src="https://www.womenofmystery.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Moderating-An-Author-Panel.jpg" width="320" /></a>Paradoxically, these questions about my books will help you
get to know <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">me</i> better, too. We learn
more about people when they talk about work they love than when they talk about
themselves. (Snoozer!) Besides, when we talk about ourselves we’re
untrustworthy witnesses, but when we talk about our expertise, something of value
comes through. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Developing questions that elicit the most interesting, meaty
discussions is by no means an obvious or intuitive process. It takes skill and agility
for a moderator to keep turning the conversation back to the books. Even
authors can need redirection in that way. But that’s what does the most for
everyone involved. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Now, again, just to be clear, I’m <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">always</i> glad to be on any panel, anywhere (well, preferably if
there’s an audience), and I don’t fault anyone for asking any question. A
sincere question is always welcome. Audience members don’t know how many times
I’ve already been asked about jacket art. Each time is the first time for them.
Any question asked by a young audience member becomes Priority A1, and I’ll
answer with my utmost seriousness and respect. I hope I give all questions that
same courtesy. <o:p></o:p></div>
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With practice, moderators and book lovers can learn to ask
questions that elicit an author’s meaningful expertise and heartfelt opinions. This
is the Brain + Heart input that you’ll remember long after the panel ends. We’ll
remember it, too, along with the warmth of your kindness when you greet us in the
signing line. Knock on wood, we’ll also remember a happy bookseller loving what
the panel did for today’s, and tomorrow’s, sales. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Appendix: Other Pleas for Panel
Moderators</span></b> <o:p></o:p></div>
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I couldn’t help listing a few other items in my Dream Moderator
How-To Guide.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Introducing the author</b>: When searching for bio
details, please don’t just go with Wikipedia. I see that all the time. Don’t
just google a bio and go with the one you find online from a conference from
four years ago. A stale bio omits the most important information about recent
titles and recent accolades. Ask the author in advance to provide their most
current bio, and start with that. In a perfect world, bolster that with how <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">you</i> feel about the author’s work. (If it’s
positive! <span style="font-family: "wingdings"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span>) <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Accolades</b>: The author can’t toot their own horn and
list their own achievements. It’s nauseating and unbecoming. But we do still
need those details shared. So please, do make sure to mention awards and
accolades in the introduction. For better and for worse, people sit up and pay
attention when they hear “bestseller” or “award-winning” or “debut” or “shortlisted
for…” So in order to make the audience more interested in hearing what we have
to say, we need the moderator to toot our horns for us. I often see panels
where the introductions are omitted altogether, or done in a cursory way (“John
Doe is the author of <i>Cool Title</i>, Jane Smith is the author of <i>Another
Cool Title</i>”), or done carelessly, as though it’s just an embarrassing obligation
that the moderator is anxious to put behind them. We need those introducing us
to prime the pump and let the audience know, <i>Here is someone worth hearing</i>.
It makes us look good and it makes you look good (look at the luminaries you
managed to attract!).<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Balance</b>: Oftentimes one author on a panel is much
better known than the others. Be careful not to lob most of the questions at
that person. Audience questions, when one author is a big name, are likely to
go solely to the big name. A moderator ought to run interference to prevent lopsidedness.
Otherwise it’s a Q&A with Bigshot, as though he/she were doing a lone
signing, with three embarrassed sidekicks wishing they could slink away and
disappear. Or feeling the need to barge in so as to be heard. Having the
audience submit questions in writing, for the moderator to select, rather than
passing around the microphone, may help, though admittedly that can be
logistically complicated. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Join the Conversation<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Authors</b>: What
would you add to the Dream Question Wishlist? What other Panel Pitfalls do you
wish could be avoided? <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Moderators</b>: What
questions do you find most effective? What’s the hardest part about steering a
panel conversation? How could authors make the job easier for you? <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br />Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02988568411272528022noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4574386226748614156.post-47139445918076311492018-07-29T23:02:00.001-07:002018-07-29T23:02:41.627-07:00I've finished a novel. What do I do next to get an agent? -- Questions from the Inbox. Aspiring writers often email me seeking advice on their journey to publication. I decided I ought to share the advice I give on my blog so that others might see it as well.<br />
<br />
Today's question goes something like this:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I've just finished my novel. What should I do before submitting it to an agent? Should I hire a professional proofreader to edit it? Also, do you have advice for me on how to find an agent? Any tips on writing a good query letter?</blockquote>
<br />
Disclaimer: I only submitted to one agent, and she offered me representation. We're still together, and very happily so, at least from my perspective. (I can only speak for myself.) We're still crazy after all these years. :) So my advice on finding an agent comes more from years in this industry than from personal experience. It also comes from from countless conversations with other writers, and with many agents I'm fortunate to call friends. Each might have their own unique twist on these questions, so I make no claim of providing the last, definitive word on the subject. My advice, such as it is, is below, and I think it's pretty sound. It's free, at any rate. Here's my letter in response to those questions.<br />
<br />
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Dear Aspiring Writer, </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Thanks
for reaching out to me. Congratulations on finishing your novel! <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
To your
first question about hiring a proofreader, I guess it depends on how cleanly you write, but really, I don’t
think proofreading is what’s needed next. Proofreading suggests to my mind a cleanup
of spelling, commas, accidental word choices, and the occasional run-on. That’s
not what should come next, and it’s not even what an agent will really care
about. Agents are entirely looking for original voices, strong characters, and
compelling storytelling. If that’s not there, perfect spelling and grammar won’t
help you; if voice/character/story are strong, bad spelling and grammar won’t
be a serious issue. (All the same, it’s good to write cleanly if you can, as it
looks somewhat sophomoric to have a manuscript that’s studded with errors.) <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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The kind
of feedback you need next is smart editorial feedback. If you don't have a professional editor at a national trade publisher in your back pocket,
the next best thing is to get a critique from a skilled, experienced
reader/writer/critiquer. Feedback from a strong critical reader who reads a great deal and
can articulate for you what’s working and not working in your draft is an
essential next step in the process of moving toward publication. I’m pretty
sure that no one’s first novel, in its virgin state, is ready to be shopped
around. Librarians, teachers, and serious, committed aspiring writers are all
good sources of critique. Someone with a creative writing MFA will be experienced
in the process of giving expert critiques. I strongly urge you to take this step
next. Perhaps you can trade critiques, and offer them constructive feedback on their work in progress. That process will teach you more than you might imagine about how to spot the weaknesses in a working manuscript.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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To your
other questions, how do you find an agent? And do I have insights on query letters? <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Query
letters: I’m mystified by how these are treated as some sort of holy grail. Keep
it incredibly short, sweet, and to the point. “Dear Agent, I’m writing to see
if you would be interested in reading my _<i>genre</i>_ novel/picture book/etc
for _<i>age group</i>_ readers. Combining the humor of _<i>funny book</i>_ with the
twists and turns of _<i>exciting book</i>_ [make your own best comparisons], the
book tells the story of _<i>character</i>_, an _<i>age</i>_ year old boy/girl
with _<i>quirky/special trait/power</i>_ who lives in a _<i>setting</i>_ and faces
_<i>problem</i>_ in her pursuit of _<i>goal.</i>_ I’ve enclosed the first two
chapters, coming in at _<i>page count</i>_ pages. The finished novel is _<i>words
long.</i>_ [New paragraph.] I work in _<i>my career and/or industry</i>_ and I hold
a degree in _<i>relevant major field</i>_ from _<i>school</i>_. My interest in
_<i>subject matter</i>_ stems from my _<i>personal experience with subject
matter</i>_ [I breed llamas or whatever]. I can be reached at _<i>my contact info</i>_. Warmly, My Name.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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If, in
the process of writing the query letter, you think of clever ways to inject humor and
personality into the writing of the letter, great, but err on the side of
keeping it light and straightforward. Just the facts, ma’am. Short, sweet, and to the point. If your
pitch is remotely interesting, the agent will start reading the first page or
two. They’ll know in a hurry of they want to go on. If they sense strong voice,
character, and/or story, they’ll continue, and if they like what they see, they’ll
ask for more. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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As for
what agents to query, research agents at literary agencies specializing in the
kind of stuff you write. Your best option is to pick your dozen favorite books
published in recent years and check the acknowledgements section to figure out
who represented those books. That’s likely to be your best starting point as a submission
list. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<br />
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I hope
this helps! Best of luck to you. Definitely find a good critical reader, or
two, or seven. This process takes time. I imagine you’re probably eager to
submit sooner rather than later. We all are. But do take the time to obtain and
consider smart feedback on overall story and structure elements. You’ll be glad
you did. <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
Cheers, Julie BerryJuliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02988568411272528022noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4574386226748614156.post-8901599025633997222018-07-20T11:36:00.003-07:002018-07-24T12:10:02.817-07:00A Phone Call, Bathrooms, A Celebration, and Lies: The Passion of Dolssa and its ALA Printz Honor<br />
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Well. This is embarrassing. This is a blog post I wanted to
write a year ago, about the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/316311/the-passion-of-dolssa-by-julie-berry/9780147512963/" target="_blank">The Passion of Dolssa</a></i> receiving an <a href="http://www.ala.org/yalsa/printz-award-2017" target="_blank">ALA Printz Honor</a>, a year and change ago. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif1uOOG6JLval3k6kUsxTKSK3V16mT7rm8hjkZjDRFoPo25_QA2SsSlkeCxtHc97jqWsgeOEOKjUfT87a8i1OoH1O91XVIIj40rA-_rI4iPRGyE4FA2l8r5M3dr150-JkuZ3GuQBnxdSX4/s1600/PassionofDolssa_PrintzHonor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif1uOOG6JLval3k6kUsxTKSK3V16mT7rm8hjkZjDRFoPo25_QA2SsSlkeCxtHc97jqWsgeOEOKjUfT87a8i1OoH1O91XVIIj40rA-_rI4iPRGyE4FA2l8r5M3dr150-JkuZ3GuQBnxdSX4/s200/PassionofDolssa_PrintzHonor.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>
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In my defense, the reason it’s taken me this long to write
it is that in the middle of the ALA summer conference, I moved. MOVED. As in, I
put the last box in the shipping container in Boston, swept and locked my empty
house for the last time, zipped my suitcase, went to the airport, flew to
Chicago, put a nice dress on for the Printz ceremony, and another dress for the
dinner, and then flew from there to LA to see my new home for the first time.
After racing around setting up the new house, I embarked on an epic summer and
fall of Very Much Travel, lecturing and speaking all over the place, which was
super fun but fairly hectic. In airports and on airplanes, and in any spaces I could
find in between, I feverishly read and researched my next YA novel, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/316312/lovely-war-by-julie-berry/" target="_blank">Lovely War</a></i> (more on that very soon). The
crazy wound down by Thanksgiving. From Black Friday onward until, oh, two weeks
ago, I pretty much locked myself in my office and wrote like a madwoman. I wrote
a couple of other books, too, in between there, and I’ll talk more about those
down the road. But, It Has Been A Year, and then some.<o:p></o:p></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkA5ll9vFeD_3szd6l_Zg952l9_gxGBKZnNjSbaiQo6S-p9o1ARLoOuFYaT_o6LTvvxjkHzDR3FLllTcaqmCNUfM4yQDMzr86q9NPDPnpqOjAtDGNcfb8kbWsnkTgaYXARA0mJP02RBYyu/s1600/IMG_3137.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkA5ll9vFeD_3szd6l_Zg952l9_gxGBKZnNjSbaiQo6S-p9o1ARLoOuFYaT_o6LTvvxjkHzDR3FLllTcaqmCNUfM4yQDMzr86q9NPDPnpqOjAtDGNcfb8kbWsnkTgaYXARA0mJP02RBYyu/s400/IMG_3137.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Printz winners & honorees pose with committee members.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br />
Now it’s July, and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Lovely
Wa</i>r has gone into copyediting, which means that, for the most part, it’s
done. So NOW I can revisit summer 2017’s ALA conference in Chicago, and the
whirlwind six months between getting The Phone Call and walking up onto that
stage and praying for all I’m worth that I wouldn’t trip. (Because fancy heels
are essential for rare moments like these, even if they did leave me with a
Dolssa Blister afterwards. Not kidding.) <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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The Phone Call was pretty awesome. This moment may never
strike again in my life, so it’s worth reliving in some detail. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Enough people had said they thought Dolssa could be a Printz
contender that I couldn’t pretend not to hope that maybe, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">maybe</i> I might get a call. I try not to hope where awards are
concerned, because that way madness lies, and there’s just no telling what book
will ever win anything, but I’m nowhere near Zen enough not to have wiggled and
worried and wondered. <o:p></o:p></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR6yaVar41nGO-RRSowTSwbkChSYvw3iJONMibX-eN6Uwrn-fept4YQnx_OzIK2_4ft6VcgL5_YtMA5pFenFRatfGvIeKvg7QFoa68kTXYTyFWVwBNGOGIGL73W_vtSY87jHBxJnbJ3h1V/s1600/IMG_3129.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR6yaVar41nGO-RRSowTSwbkChSYvw3iJONMibX-eN6Uwrn-fept4YQnx_OzIK2_4ft6VcgL5_YtMA5pFenFRatfGvIeKvg7QFoa68kTXYTyFWVwBNGOGIGL73W_vtSY87jHBxJnbJ3h1V/s320/IMG_3129.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">With teacher/blogger Karyn Silverman @ Penguin booth</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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I was sure, though, that if a call were coming, it would come
in the evening. I spent that Sunday afternoon at church, teaching my hilarious
Sunday School class of 10-yo whip-smarties, with the ringer of my phone turned
off. Class ended, and I escorted the kids to the larger room for singing time. At
this moment, I surreptitiously sneaked a peek at my phone, to see if my
husband, then living in LA, had sent me his usual Sunday “good morning” text.
(Time zone difference.) <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
There was no message from Phil yet, but there was a text
message from a writer friend, whom I’ll call “Writer Friend.” It read, “Did you
get a call yet?” <o:p></o:p></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Oh, Writer Friend,</i>
I thought, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">don’t say that! It’s hard
enough to stay sane as it is!</i> <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Only then did I see that underneath her text was a notice of
two missed phone calls from Chicago. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I blinked. I gulped. My eyes popped. My stomach flopped. We
just don’t have the right clichés for a moment like this. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I am not proud of what I did next. I was in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">church</i>, for heaven’s sake, with the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sunday School children</i>. I told them, “I need
to go to the bathroom.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Maybe it wasn’t quite a lie. I probably could’ve gone to the
bathroom. I probably should’ve gone to the bathroom. What I did instead was slip
out the door, go outside to the parking lot, dial the missed number, and then
say, to the answering Hello-er, “This is Julie Berry. I just missed a call from
this number,” in what I hoped was a relaxed, professional voice, as if I wasn’t
bursting right out of my own skin like a baked potato. <o:p></o:p></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRCJ7Ntq5ps1crUgufvcTnQpPW6uCHRrt0xAshZ8j08LdhP2xh7dT71IaKZwmvIJ5tBtLvCLCkcQZocz81T32OzRE1Mc7D5d7BP6H_7OtM11KzxRmN6hXZNzQtj-sspFw3vQ0SCXb84cHZ/s1600/34926727134_401e2bf842_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRCJ7Ntq5ps1crUgufvcTnQpPW6uCHRrt0xAshZ8j08LdhP2xh7dT71IaKZwmvIJ5tBtLvCLCkcQZocz81T32OzRE1Mc7D5d7BP6H_7OtM11KzxRmN6hXZNzQtj-sspFw3vQ0SCXb84cHZ/s640/34926727134_401e2bf842_o.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Being, um, Neal's Angels? I take no responsibility for this. L to R: me, Louise O'Neill, Nicola Yoon. Recumbent: Neal Shusterman. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Hello-er put me on speaker, and told me that she was from
the ALA Printz committee, and they were all present and delighted to let me
know that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Passion of Dolssa</i> had
won a Printz Honor. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
I’m not sure what I managed to say next. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The rest of the call was brief. On speaker phone, they
cheered and applauded. They were eager, they said, to meet me at the summer
conference. Congratulations, they said. Thank you thank you I can’t believe it
oh my goodness thank you, I said. <o:p></o:p></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaDIa5n33jx29yzS9kODzalSVdyaTStz6P6y5MFumPDTeibOlV2sQH0-T-GlQaUep5Ni1GPx-P-wkPH23mu4J8TVDmX9sDSkkXbacBmW53Ao5REuhOUBOV9ky0tl8AwCREZYvalKtB4GP5/s1600/IMG_3140.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaDIa5n33jx29yzS9kODzalSVdyaTStz6P6y5MFumPDTeibOlV2sQH0-T-GlQaUep5Ni1GPx-P-wkPH23mu4J8TVDmX9sDSkkXbacBmW53Ao5REuhOUBOV9ky0tl8AwCREZYvalKtB4GP5/s400/IMG_3140.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">With Kendra Levin, my editor at Viking.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And then I called Phil. That was, I think, the very best
part of all. He was as joyful as if the award were his; more so, I believe. His
delight in the Printz Honor meant more to me than my own. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Next, I texted my editor and my agent, something I would NEVER
do on a weekend, and asked if, you know, they could maybe spare me a few
minutes for a quick conversation. Those were fun calls, too. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha3O5oogSja0pGsffyIlTW6O0NEj_Kbrgk95QnyipZX2WqqsJ5FRWJUN-uTHf7r3Tk1DmuEtoQ7tsi4RXWEs82K9-pHe1AGCKyNBpkeVMDb6w6uaE3infO3-tW94aZSo6S9Cdof2A6siiv/s1600/Printz+Winners.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="391" data-original-width="436" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha3O5oogSja0pGsffyIlTW6O0NEj_Kbrgk95QnyipZX2WqqsJ5FRWJUN-uTHf7r3Tk1DmuEtoQ7tsi4RXWEs82K9-pHe1AGCKyNBpkeVMDb6w6uaE3infO3-tW94aZSo6S9Cdof2A6siiv/s320/Printz+Winners.png" width="320" /></a>Let us pray, for the sake of my immortal soul, that after
that I <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">did</i> visit the ladies’ room. I
really can’t remember.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I had to keep the secret from the kids for the rest of the
day. If they noticed Mom being extra bouncy and cheerful, they never mentioned
it. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The announcement was made the following morning, and the
resulting flood of congratulations was a Facebook birthday times a million. In
the following days, cards, flowers, and treats showed up at my door. The
kindness of the kidlit community and of my dear friends is pretty spectacular.
I really didn’t know what to do with it all. My cheeks hurt from smiling. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBkq-xX7Yw2txJlWgRjJ9VUbdgXpxr9nhT3hx_ZJGSLmM7_vyfWSuFQ015IWPnr6acZ5tvZmn5Lb-Nj6P3WDTuBLIN0egEPbGst-IApsrdQPmIT7nQpFZsUR0aVN3Ge5pMwN2oDfdxchzO/s1600/IMG_3110.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBkq-xX7Yw2txJlWgRjJ9VUbdgXpxr9nhT3hx_ZJGSLmM7_vyfWSuFQ015IWPnr6acZ5tvZmn5Lb-Nj6P3WDTuBLIN0egEPbGst-IApsrdQPmIT7nQpFZsUR0aVN3Ge5pMwN2oDfdxchzO/s200/IMG_3110.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My bathroom renovation project.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The next six months were a blur of normal life, mom stuff,
writing, listing my home for sale (sniff!), renovating its bathroom (glurg),
selling it (whew), packing (gaaaah), and moving (ugh). But then I went straight
to Chicago, which became, for me, a temporary fairyland. I met authors I’ve
admired for ages. Rode in an elevator with Sarah Jessica Parker, and I was so chill, I said <i>nothing</i>. Ate fabulous Russian food and deep-dish pizza and posed for
selfies with Phil beside The Bean (the Cloud Gate sculpture). And when the time
was right, I put on those dresses and heels, smiled a lot, and gave lots of
hugs, hoping I wasn’t sweating as much as I feared I was. <br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha6H8z2YxPCXLcJIASoQFYXeGf2IsOroxLFKu2twSF8QtsdW-HeFmbEoiJDEhwdwoOLSwozuPFfGt-8R2VPSXoh5sWb0dMWvKbrZnNYdIBF7_r5N63-0IiMBCPMcCYoaC533uUR7Khuptx/s1600/IMG_3139.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha6H8z2YxPCXLcJIASoQFYXeGf2IsOroxLFKu2twSF8QtsdW-HeFmbEoiJDEhwdwoOLSwozuPFfGt-8R2VPSXoh5sWb0dMWvKbrZnNYdIBF7_r5N63-0IiMBCPMcCYoaC533uUR7Khuptx/s320/IMG_3139.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://thephilberry.com/" target="_blank">Phil </a>and me at The Bean (Cloud Gate sculpture)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It was an honor and a thrill to be on the same panel as
<a href="https://johnlewis.house.gov/" target="_blank">Representative John Lewis</a>. We’d met earlier that year at the Los Angeles Times
Book Festival party and ceremony, so now we’re practically BFFs. He’s as humble
and genuine as anyone you could ever hope to meet. In the wacky world we inhabit,
I’m grateful for heroes and leaders like him. It was wonderful to meet the other honorees: <a href="http://www.nicolayoon.com/" target="_blank">Nicola Yoon</a>, <a href="http://www.storyman.com/" target="_blank">Neal Shusterman</a>, and <a href="https://www.quercusbooks.co.uk/Quercus/Authors/Louise+ONeill.page" target="_blank">Louise O'Neill</a>. Any jitters I'd felt vanished once we started chatting on the panel. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip7McmnP0b_5P1AAcYewnLOp4tJaRtzxoBLCdporRhou3vHbW4MbORRNt-2pPt5XaTgA5_WWC3C4nLjT3eJNKYa6Hcm3k_3Ai5X4ExgfhfbqwYozYXQQWK-LffyycOBOLFn2EWdZ_SJLua/s1600/35635912431_24966cb50e_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip7McmnP0b_5P1AAcYewnLOp4tJaRtzxoBLCdporRhou3vHbW4MbORRNt-2pPt5XaTgA5_WWC3C4nLjT3eJNKYa6Hcm3k_3Ai5X4ExgfhfbqwYozYXQQWK-LffyycOBOLFn2EWdZ_SJLua/s320/35635912431_24966cb50e_o.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nicola Yoon, me, John Lewis, Felicia Frazier & Nate Powell</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One thing I don’t think I fully anticipated in Chicago was
the enthusiastic welcome from the Printz Award committee. This was no cool,
detached panel of people who made a decision and then gone home to floss their
teeth. These were librarians who cared so desperately about young adult
literature that they were willing to devote a year of their lives to reading and
discussing hundreds of books. By the time they’d made their selections, I think
they thought of the selected books, and by extension, their authors, as dear
friends. I loved meeting them. One conversation, in particular, I’ll remember always,
with a librarian telling me, in earnest, heartfelt tones, how much she loved <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dolssa</i>, and thanking me (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">thanking</i> me?) for writing it. I never
quite know what to say when I’m thanked for doing what I desperately wanted to
do anyway. But I know how it feels when your heart sings with love for a
particular and precious book. It’s humbling and almost perplexing to feel that
a book I’m written might offer the same gift to another reader.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
(Incidentally, I’m sure that the committee members DO floss
their teeth. But they love books first. It’s the order that matters.) <o:p></o:p></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMUgde_YaQc5g-tLeYgOmgqI3uqGaUMNFdd_F7bGUa5kH5ooJLmY_ze09Z6oiYcnovPRHVqdNY19iVC63TSSses3nwd1Zcn1zcgcmGD6Zf6LwWxPqYO6ZN0RyvvQTuqrqff2_0P7Md_C9i/s1600/Congrats+Dolssa+Printz+Poster.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMUgde_YaQc5g-tLeYgOmgqI3uqGaUMNFdd_F7bGUa5kH5ooJLmY_ze09Z6oiYcnovPRHVqdNY19iVC63TSSses3nwd1Zcn1zcgcmGD6Zf6LwWxPqYO6ZN0RyvvQTuqrqff2_0P7Md_C9i/s320/Congrats+Dolssa+Printz+Poster.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This was waiting for me at my new home in LA. Good kids! </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It was a heady time. A thrilling year. An honor beyond
comprehension. I’m grateful to have had this moment. There’s always an
abundance of worthy contenders, and there’s almost no way to predict what way
things will go. Another committee might easily have made other selections. But
I knew I had worked harder on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Passion
of Dolssa</i> than on any other book to date, with my editor’s tenacious help,
and to have that effort acknowledged felt pretty swell. Another year and another
book may be just as effortful and worthy, and yet I won’t win, and so it goes.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I was once the nerdy, slightly snobbish kid in school who
made sure to read all the books with shiny ALA stickers on them. A sticker of
my own is pretty great, and well worth a blister. Not going to lie about that, even
if I might occasionally lie about the bathroom. <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02988568411272528022noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4574386226748614156.post-35639233849891554522018-07-17T07:57:00.000-07:002018-07-17T07:57:54.007-07:00The Emperor's Ostrich, now in paperback! <span id="docs-internal-guid-385d9cf9-a403-dfb1-f6e4-666d58d26285"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span id="docs-internal-guid-385d9cf9-a403-dfb1-f6e4-666d58d26285"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd2v1ZHw9sOBnKyavv1__lyWHFZlSmQSn4eSmo2WaiAzYsGKleprZ9Zq9p_0Kmw0bZp9-MLrrJUuFCUKdlepBx47poNy_uq-adIo-GqF5NfKfNyiCP9t1CAvscGiWnR0KZr9ydB32VqRIz/s1600/The+Emperors+Ostrich+Hi+Rez+cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1057" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd2v1ZHw9sOBnKyavv1__lyWHFZlSmQSn4eSmo2WaiAzYsGKleprZ9Zq9p_0Kmw0bZp9-MLrrJUuFCUKdlepBx47poNy_uq-adIo-GqF5NfKfNyiCP9t1CAvscGiWnR0KZr9ydB32VqRIz/s320/The+Emperors+Ostrich+Hi+Rez+cover.jpg" width="211" /></a></span></div>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-385d9cf9-a403-dfb1-f6e4-666d58d26285">
</span>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span id="docs-internal-guid-385d9cf9-a403-dfb1-f6e4-666d58d26285"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’m thrilled to announce that </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Emperor’s Ostrich</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> comes out in paperback today. This novel has been so much fun to share with readers and students. The ridiculously goofy characters always make me smile, and the cow-ostrich romance never gets old for me. How could it? </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The course of Moo Love never did run smooth.</span></span></div>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-385d9cf9-a403-dfb1-f6e4-666d58d26285">
</span><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span id="docs-internal-guid-385d9cf9-a403-dfb1-f6e4-666d58d26285"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It’s been a blast sharing </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ostrich </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">in school visits, because it actually originated from a workshop I conducted with Mindess Elementary School in Ashland, Massachusetts, where a brainstorming exercise led to randomly chosen words, which we combined to create story ideas. As I’ve repeated that workshop around the country, sharing </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ostrich </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">with students, i</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">t’s been fun to prove that brainstorming and play aren’t ‘pretend writing.’ They’re the real deal. That’s where ideas come from. </span></span></div>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-385d9cf9-a403-dfb1-f6e4-666d58d26285">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWag0luI6IRweLZ3V8CtEAO4VWnVdDPszxJoDKjBhN-dopm9KU1OxLfEagDdPm5hd688n_wepeTL0IGxWPuhsexGIK-BHQV__jQgUsWI9twvq5dKWW-J8IXxYSYsNrV_oCC4w4JDXlXMzp/s1600/Scandalous_Paperback.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="340" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWag0luI6IRweLZ3V8CtEAO4VWnVdDPszxJoDKjBhN-dopm9KU1OxLfEagDdPm5hd688n_wepeTL0IGxWPuhsexGIK-BHQV__jQgUsWI9twvq5dKWW-J8IXxYSYsNrV_oCC4w4JDXlXMzp/s200/Scandalous_Paperback.jpg" width="136" /></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The paperback edition, published by <a href="https://us.macmillan.com/publishers/square-fish-books/" target="_blank">Square Fish</a>, an imprint of Macmillan, features bonus content including an author Q&A, and the first chapter of </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250073396" target="_blank">The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place</a></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. More Julie Berry goofiness. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My two favorite reviews for this book call it “silly and elegant at the same time,” and “a Five Snort read.” I’m so proud. I hope you snort your way through it too. Here's a review from book vlogger <a href="http://matthewsciarappa.com/" target="_blank">Matthew Sciarappa</a> that cracked me up: </span><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/yHE3l_64KXM/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/yHE3l_64KXM?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And here, of course, is the trailer, featuring art by the brilliant <a href="http://cargocollective.com/lizstarin" target="_blank">Liz Starin</a>: </span><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/tgBrsg4Xsms/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/tgBrsg4Xsms?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Don’t bury your head in the sand! Order </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Emperor’s Ostrich </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">at your <a href="https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781250158888" target="_blank">local Indie bookstore</a></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></div>
</span>Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02988568411272528022noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4574386226748614156.post-49637967874683182222017-07-25T14:13:00.001-07:002017-07-25T17:54:50.405-07:00Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers, by Deborah Heiligman<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51xGXKpgJfL._SX331_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="333" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51xGXKpgJfL._SX331_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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I’ve just – only just—finished reading <i><a href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780805093391" target="_blank">Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers</a></i> by <a href="http://deborahheiligman.com/" target="_blank">Deborah Heiligman</a>. This
was urged upon me by <a href="http://www.anitasilvey.com/" target="_blank">Anita Silvey</a>, whose recommendations one should never
overlook, speaking on the power of children’s and teen nonfiction to an
audience at <a href="http://vcfa.edu/wcya" target="_blank">Vermont College of the Fine Arts</a>. I had just recently met Deborah
Heiligman, briefly, at the <a href="https://2017.alaannual.org/" target="_blank">American Library Association Annual Conference</a> in
Chicago, and her warmth and sincerity leaped across the room. Her masterful
work, a lovingly constructed narrative pieced together from the copious correspondence the Van Goghs share, does the same. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I’ve always loved <a href="http://www.vangoghgallery.com/" target="_blank">Vincent Van Gogh</a> (but who doesn’t?), but I
knew only the most superficial things about him. Dutch, painted in southern
France (a favorite place of mine), mentally ill, cut off his ear, committed
suicide. Somewhere I’d picked up the notion that he was a bit of a randy,
carousing fellow, but I’m not sure where – it may have been an episode of Dr.
Who. (See the starry Tardis, below.) <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://wallup.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/27/50157-Doctor_Who-TARDIS-painting-Vincent_van_Gogh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="510" data-original-width="800" height="127" src="https://wallup.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/27/50157-Doctor_Who-TARDIS-painting-Vincent_van_Gogh.jpg" width="200" /></a>Heiligman writes, in her author’s note, that when she first
learned about Theo, on a visit to the <a href="https://vangoghmuseum.nl/en" target="_blank">Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam</a>, she wrote
the following in her notebook: “What does everyone remember about him? The ear,
killing himself. And some paintings, of course. But what about his religion and
his decision to become a painter so he could leave the world a souvenir?” She
goes on to say, “And then I wrote: ‘Story of brothers. (And sister-in-law.)’” (page
425).<o:p></o:p></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/91/Vincent_van_Gogh%2C_Portrait_of_Theo_van_Gogh_(1887).jpg/170px-Vincent_van_Gogh%2C_Portrait_of_Theo_van_Gogh_(1887).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="228" data-original-width="170" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/91/Vincent_van_Gogh%2C_Portrait_of_Theo_van_Gogh_(1887).jpg/170px-Vincent_van_Gogh%2C_Portrait_of_Theo_van_Gogh_(1887).jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Theo Van Gogh</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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What do we always try to tell young people in our books?
That to know a person, to really observe a life, is to peel away stereotypes,
prejudices, gossip and slander, and get to the heart of earnest desires,
foolish errors, hopes and sorrows. We preach that we cannot judge another
until we really understand them. The secret, of course, is that whom we
understand, we hesitate to judge; whom we understand, we love; whom we love, we
ache and yearn for. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I’ve spent the last few days riveted by Vincent and Theo,
weeping at the sorrows they bore together, but weeping more at the beauty of
their bond. Theirs is a complex affection, sometimes turbulent, but always
loyal, and boundless in mutual compassion. Theo’s devotion to Vincent, his
support (financial and emotional), his unwavering belief in his brother’s
potential are an indictment in my own soul of the sister I am not, the wife I
am not, the mother I am not. (But this is not about me, so I’ll set my penchant
for confession aside.) I never knew about Theo at all, and because I didn’t, I
didn’t know about Vincent at all. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c5/Vincent_van_Gogh_(1853-1890)_-_The_Olive_Trees_(1889).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="652" data-original-width="800" height="260" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c5/Vincent_van_Gogh_(1853-1890)_-_The_Olive_Trees_(1889).jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Those superficial labels I had acquired somewhere along the way
(messed-up, suicidal, rowdy) gave me no information about the fervor with which
Vincent approached art and life, and the agonies and ecstasies with which he
experienced both. If life is a radio signal, the receiver that was Vincent multiplied
wave amplitudes. Both joy and sorrow seem almost to have been too much for him.
He poured it onto canvas after canvas, and we are the beneficiaries. Canvas
after canvas, paint tube after paint tube, meal and rent and doctor’s bill,
were gifts to him (and therefore, the lucky world), given by Theo. <o:p></o:p></div>
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There’s so much more I’d like to say, about how Heiligman’s
work has revealed the warmth and generosity of Vincent’s heart, his eagerness
for connection, and his sweetness toward his friends and family (even when they hardly knew
what to do with him). I’m moved and rebuked by the purity of Theo’s affection,
by how quick he was to forgive and set offenses aside for the sake of intimate childhood
and brotherly love, how patient he was with trials Vincent could not control. Not resentfully, not dutifully, but wholeheartedly. Engrossed
as I was in the Van Goghs’ story, I couldn’t help connecting thread after
thread of it to my own life – to my experiences with siblings and as a mother
to four brothers; to my experiences observing acute mental illness in all its
terrifying force, and chronic mental illness in its eroding relentlessness. I’m
grateful to live in an age where there’s so much more we can do to help
sufferers, though there’s far more to be done. I can’t help comparing the
urgency and passion of Vincent’s approach to his art to my own relationship with my writing. I doubt Vincent ever got bored with his WIP, griped about his deadline, loitered around on CNN for a while, then paid a thirteenth visit to His
Friend the Fridge.</div>
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<a href="http://authorsunlimited.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/deborahheiligman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="720" height="200" src="https://authorsunlimited.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/deborahheiligman.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
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<i>Vincent and Theo</i>
will scoop up awards, and it should. The book itself is a thing of beauty,
organized like an art gallery, decorated throughout with Vincent’s art,
featuring color plates and a trove of back-matter scrupulously annotating
sources and providing further context. I’m
urging it upon my own sisters (artists themselves) and on anyone who will
listen. This is compelling, moving,
heart-expanding read. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<i>Vincent and Theo </i>by Deborah Heiligman was published April 18, 2017 by Godwin Books, an imprint of <a href="https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780805093391" target="_blank">Henry Holt and Sons</a>. Also available as an <a href="https://www.dreamscapeab.com/audiobook/4300708/detail" target="_blank">audiobook from Dreamscape Media</a>. </div>
Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02988568411272528022noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4574386226748614156.post-88849073260071373132017-05-25T10:19:00.000-07:002017-05-25T18:17:17.394-07:00Presenting THE EMPEROR'S OSTRICH (and a groovy trailer!)<h4>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh88alcz8oJtF5syegRWYvuviUJntL6pNjMx38F84UjQlOXmHw2x2-iU5e4Pq3l0h1ptDeotecw5PtmRepYkvr2XubjLJcrG1WM0J1QeTv04royMedqROXNZ5uZQCbKXrZ3q94e2yL36lA/s1600/Julie+Berry+Brainstorming+Graphic.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="697" data-original-width="1361" height="162" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh88alcz8oJtF5syegRWYvuviUJntL6pNjMx38F84UjQlOXmHw2x2-iU5e4Pq3l0h1ptDeotecw5PtmRepYkvr2XubjLJcrG1WM0J1QeTv04royMedqROXNZ5uZQCbKXrZ3q94e2yL36lA/s320/Julie+Berry+Brainstorming+Graphic.png" width="320" /></a><span style="font-weight: normal;">The first creative writing workshops I ever conducted took
place at Mindess Elementary School in Ashland, Massachusetts. The students were
my guinea pigs. The workshop, now called “Let’s Make a Story,” begins with a
brainstorming exercise where we fill a large bubble with oodles of words. Next, we each pick three at random and combine them into a situation. From that situation we
choose a main character, secondaries, a setting, an antagonist, and so on,
until a pretty detailed story plan is complete and ready to be written. </span></h4>
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I’ve done this presentation hundreds of times since. Each
time, the recipe is the same, and each time, the magic is new and the idea
fresh. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnuq0mIyHymiFNOfCGVbIWfFm3CVfcMSYnGZ3NFrnUdmiGqSAAC7QTFirVM_RNsaif_L_D2XsC8vOkjZZap3hpdINAsZFKCFXppHPWyLmiRvMUqGY7y8_736hQ-d4MmGa2LNqByBzGrBqH/s1600/ostrich-closeup-mouth-closed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="988" data-original-width="500" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnuq0mIyHymiFNOfCGVbIWfFm3CVfcMSYnGZ3NFrnUdmiGqSAAC7QTFirVM_RNsaif_L_D2XsC8vOkjZZap3hpdINAsZFKCFXppHPWyLmiRvMUqGY7y8_736hQ-d4MmGa2LNqByBzGrBqH/s200/ostrich-closeup-mouth-closed.jpg" width="100" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">art by Liz Starin</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix8RRutSaoDzF3HWqoBtIQ8Zbm2V1I01eT9AlimG_eLMeDYtIYRDV8bhVfmTNrn2GBDhq8YuX3tqUBpp5KgYDKhALNpsHq3akAMLEZws181QkamSkXHn_WxlWWs-8BVaTZXcjHab1rRkkU/s1600/The+Emperors+Ostrich+Hi+Rez+cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1057" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix8RRutSaoDzF3HWqoBtIQ8Zbm2V1I01eT9AlimG_eLMeDYtIYRDV8bhVfmTNrn2GBDhq8YuX3tqUBpp5KgYDKhALNpsHq3akAMLEZws181QkamSkXHn_WxlWWs-8BVaTZXcjHab1rRkkU/s200/The+Emperors+Ostrich+Hi+Rez+cover.jpg" width="131" /></a>On a subsequent workshop visit to Mindess on March 15, 2012, the three words I
selected from the board were “<b>emperor</b>,” “<b>ostrich</b>,” and “<b>ghoul</b>.” To prove to the kids about silly they had permission to be, I decided the main
character of this concoction would be a dairy maid named Begonia, who was
searching for her lost cow. Why not? I was so tickled by the idea that I came
home and wrote a story beginning. Other deadlines, however, claimed priority,
and so the idea floated in my Dropbox cloud for years. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Until now. On June 13, 2017, <a href="https://us.macmillan.com/mackids/" target="_blank">Roaring Brook Press/Macmillan Children's Books</a> will
release <i>The Emperor’s Ostrich</i>, my
next middle grade title novel. To celebrate, I’ve produced a book trailer. Children's illustrator <a href="http://cargocollective.com/lizstarin" target="_blank">Liz Starin </a>provided the artwork, which I love. Making
these trailers is just too much fun, and I will devote a subsequent post to talking
about the process of making it, and the amazing talents that made it shine, but
for now, voilà: <o:p></o:p><br />
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<div style="height: 0; padding-bottom: 56.25%; position: relative;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/tgBrsg4Xsms?ecver=2" style="height: 100%; left: 0; position: absolute; width: 100%;" width="640"></iframe></div>
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I’m excited to waddle this little ostrich adventure story
out to schoolkids, because it gives me an opportunity to say, “See? This
workshop stuff we’re doing isn’t just pretend writing. It’s the real deal. This
is where ideas come from. It worked for me. Why not you?”</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.booksontape.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/DSCN0728.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="150" src="https://www.booksontape.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/DSCN0728.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jayne Entwistle at work</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
There’s also to be an <a href="http://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/240271/the-emperors-ostrich-by-julie-berry/" target="_blank">audiobook</a><span id="goog_1994394407"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a><span id="goog_1994394408"></span>, published by Penguin Random House Audio, voiced by the brilliant,
the mellifluous, the one-and-only <a href="http://www.audiofilemagazine.com/narrators/jayne-entwistle/" target="_blank">Jayne Entwistle</a>. I love her. Listen to an excerpt here!<br />
<br />
<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/318587273&color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false" width="50%"></iframe>
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Check the <a href="http://www.julieberrybooks.com/events" target="_blank">events page </a>on my website for a list of launch
events as they unfold. Some of these will be in the early fall, to coincide
with back-to-school. </div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmVnRrWH11zg2gCaYl_6pK9_Yet2Lrs7th80O5vlxlZbtlTwT2t17SfCL886v4-tDnEMLw0rPormcD4HIkmY0Ek7R_bnx2jA-ax7JIq0nW0K6obq5C4k5-IMeEP4qCgdv7YXk7MBR2YXxa/s1600/self-portrait.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmVnRrWH11zg2gCaYl_6pK9_Yet2Lrs7th80O5vlxlZbtlTwT2t17SfCL886v4-tDnEMLw0rPormcD4HIkmY0Ek7R_bnx2jA-ax7JIq0nW0K6obq5C4k5-IMeEP4qCgdv7YXk7MBR2YXxa/s200/self-portrait.jpg" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Liz Starin's self-portrait</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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I’ve had so much fun chasing Begonia, her cow, the emperor,
his ostrich, and the rest of this motley crew around the countryside of the empire of Camellion, and so glad that that workshop on the Ides of March, 2012, led to such fertile territory. If you’d like me to <a href="http://www.julieberrybooks.com/author-visits" target="_blank">lead this workshop for yourschool, library, or book club</a>, just give a squawk! It might just point me toward
my next big idea.<br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>The Emperor's Ostrich</i> releases June 13, 2017. Find a copy at your local <a href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9781596439580" target="_blank">Indie Bookstore</a> | <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-emperors-ostrich-julie-berry/1124116018?ean=9781596439580" target="_blank">Barnes & Noble</a> | <a href="http://www.booksamillion.com/p/Emperors-Ostrich/Julie-Berry/9781596439580?id=6913410276830" target="_blank">Books-a-Million</a> | <a href="http://www.powells.com/book/the-emperors-ostrich-9781596439580/62-0" target="_blank">Powell's</a> | <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Emperors-Ostrich-Julie-Berry/dp/1596439580/" target="_blank">Amazon</a>.</div>
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Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02988568411272528022noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4574386226748614156.post-51447493965034839482017-04-13T08:42:00.004-07:002017-04-13T08:42:37.712-07:00Grown-Ups, Nonsense, and Imagination: The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/fe/52/e3/fe52e347aadd93e5dc4ccdb8e825670d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/fe/52/e3/fe52e347aadd93e5dc4ccdb8e825670d.jpg" width="135" /></a></div>
(A post for fifth graders, and for fifth graders at heart, with writing prompts. First posted to a school blog.)<br />
<br />
Greetings, Fowler Fifth Graders – can I call you FFG for
short? – and welcome to our book blog, where we’ll be discussing the titles
you’re reading in school. I’m excited to dive in. Let’s look at <i>The Little Prince</i>. <o:p></o:p>
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Who was your favorite character in the story? I fell
completely in love with … <i>drumroll please</i>
… its narrator. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Did you think I was going to say the little prince himself?
Oh, I like him just fine. But I adore the narrator. Note that I didn’t say
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry himself. I said the narrator – the nameless fictional
character who crashed his plane in the desert and met the little prince. Is he
Antoine himself? Nope. This isn’t an autobiography. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I love the narrator because he’s sly and witty, always
poking fun without being mean, and he takes quirky things seriously, or
pretends to. (I’m thinking of the danger posed to planets by baobabs.
Hysterical!) He’s an adult who refuses to be a “grown-up,” who has never left
behind the warmth, trust, openness, and imagination of childhood. Or at any
rate, that’s how he sees children, and he sees “grown-ups” as the complete
opposite.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/1e/80/2f/1e802fbc7fea0195eab2c717746e9127.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/1e/80/2f/1e802fbc7fea0195eab2c717746e9127.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<i>The Little Prince</i>
– the book, I mean – is a scathing argument against the nonsense believed by
“sophisticated” grown-ups in modern society. I think the narrator would say, if
asked, that society itself is nonsense. (By the way, “scathing” means boiling
hot, so hot it’ll burn you. But it’s a juicier word than “boiling” or
“burning.” “Sophisticated” is a fancy way of saying, well, “fancy,” or perhaps,
“cultured, refined, elegant, smart, educated.” It goes hand-in-hand with
“society.”) <o:p></o:p></div>
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I believe the narrator hands us the theme and main idea of
his tale on a silver platter on pages 2 and 3. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<i><br /></i></div>
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<i>Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves, and it is exhausting
for children to have to provide explanations over and over again. <o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i>I have spent lots of time with grown-ups. I have seen them at close
range … which hasn’t much improved my opinion of them. <o:p></o:p></i></div>
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Through the little prince’s travels, we learn many things about
grown-ups. According to the narrator:<br />
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</div>
<ul>
<li>They have no imagination. (Boa constrictor drawings.) <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/literally-psyched/files/2012/03/ElephantInSnake.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="132" src="https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/literally-psyched/files/2012/03/ElephantInSnake.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div>
</li>
<li>They won’t believe someone’s discoveries if they’re not
wearing the right type of clothes. (The Turkish astronomer.) This is also a way
of saying that grown-ups distrust people from different cultures.</li>
<li>They won’t believe information that doesn’t include numbers.
(Asteroid B-612.)</li>
<li>They are obsessed with what’s “serious.” (The narrator’s
jammed bolt and hammer.)</li>
<li>They care about rank –who’s in charge and who’s not. (The
king and his “subject.”)</li>
<li>They are petty and self-centered, and want to be flattered.
(The vain man and his “admirer.”)</li>
<li>They are gloomy, sad, and self-destructive. (The drunkard.)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/ab/c9/16/abc91619a78e0b9cf7ec1a272391f43a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/ab/c9/16/abc91619a78e0b9cf7ec1a272391f43a.jpg" width="156" /></a></div>
</li>
<li>They are so busy, and so obsessed with business
(“busy-ness”) that they overlook beauty and truth. They care more about <u>what</u>
they own than what makes it special. (The businessman.)</li>
<li>They mindlessly follow orders, even senseless ones, wasting their
lives away. (The lamplighter.)</li>
<li>They only believe what’s written down, and prefer learning
from books to going out and seeing what’s actually there. (The geographer.)</li>
<li>They’re always in a hurry, without ever knowing what they’re
looking for. (The railway switchman.)</li>
<li>They’d rather buy something to save time than take their
time enjoying an experience. (The salesclerk.) </li>
</ul>
<o:p></o:p><br />
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
My goodness! Is there any hope for grown-ups, then, if even
part of what the narrator believes is true? I just had a terrible thought. Am <b><i><u>I</u></i></b>
a grown-up? I get older each year, it’s true, but I don’t want to be anything
like these grown-ups.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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</div>
<a href="http://www.greatthoughtstreasury.com/sites/default/files/Antoine_de_Saint_Exupery_by_KrueltyKlown%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.greatthoughtstreasury.com/sites/default/files/Antoine_de_Saint_Exupery_by_KrueltyKlown%5B1%5D.jpg" height="200" width="161" /></a><i><br /></i>
<i>The Little Prince</i>
was published in 1943, so probably written in, say, 1941 or 1942. You probably
know what was going on then: World War Two. Though the war included significant
fighting in the Pacific, World War Two devastated Europe. Antoine de
Saint-Exupéry was a French pilot who flew military missions for France during
the war. Hitler’s Germany occupied France – meaning France was under the
control of Germany, and German soldiers were stationed throughout the country –
from 1940 to 1944. 600,000 French people
– soldiers and civilians – died from combat, bombings, and other war crimes.
Worldwide, the numbers vary (uh-oh! Am I a grown-up obsessed with numbers?) but
anywhere from 50,000,000 to 80,000,000 people died from war causes. <i>Fifty to eighty million.</i> <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/images/hitler1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/images/hitler1.jpg" height="143" width="200" /></a></div>
The causes of the war could fill thousands of pages, but I’m
pretty sure Saint-Exupéry’s narrator saw it rather simply, like this: Vain,
petty, selfish men, obsessed with power and rank and money, wanted to rule over
everything. Like the story’s king, they persuaded people to obey them and
become subjects, partly by making them hate and fear cultures that weren’t
their own. Like the lamplighter, people mindlessly obeyed orders, even
self-destructive ones. Many were so busy and tired from making a living, and in
such a hurry doing it, that they lost sight of what’s beautiful and true in the
world, so they failed to stop what was happening. Under these conditions,
dictators rose, nations invaded nations, the world was sucked into a vicious war,
and millions of people died. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br />
Not just died in the long-ago past, but were dying, right in
Saint-Exupéry’s beloved France, as he wrote this story.<br />
<br />
<o:p></o:p></div>
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This, I believe, is how the narrator saw things. Is it any wonder he had lost his faith in
grown-ups? <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br />
<a href="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/02/21/article-2282108-182A068E000005DC-971_964x707.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/02/21/article-2282108-182A068E000005DC-971_964x707.jpg" height="146" width="200" /></a>Can we blame him for thinking that if the men in charge were
less concerned with power, rank, money, and admiration, and that if others
hadn’t mindlessly obeyed their evil plans, the world might not be at war? Can
we blame him for believing that if grown-ups were more open to imagination, and
to smelling the perfume of a flower that’s right in front of them, and to
trusting the essential things that are invisible to the eyes but seen by the
heart (oh, how I love that fox!), that maybe his world could have been at
peace? <o:p></o:p></div>
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</div>
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<a href="http://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1392675213i/8592936.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1392675213i/8592936.jpg" height="118" width="200" /></a></div>
There may come times in your life, as there have in mine,
where the busy-ness of work, and the pressure to make money – we must eat,
after all – and the desire to fit in and be admired so that we can succeed,
crowd out the quiet, invisible things that matter most, like hope and belief in
what’s good and simple, kind and true. Like the grown-ups in the story, we can
forget who we once were, and what our imaginations taught us when we were
young. Thank goodness for children’s stories, which keep hope and imagination
alive forever. Perhaps that’s their most sacred job. It’s why I have never
stopped reading them, and why I have devoted my life to writing them. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/fb/80/7d/fb807d5721ed3e8e075ab466dbbfe2fb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/fb/80/7d/fb807d5721ed3e8e075ab466dbbfe2fb.jpg" width="155" /></a><i><br /></i>
<i>The Little Prince</i>
– the book – breaks my heart, in the best way. Perhaps the saddest line in the
entire story is at the very beginning of chapter two, on page three. “So I
lived all alone, without anyone I could really talk to, until I had to make a
crash landing in the Sahara Desert …” In that wide world of grown-ups, our nameless
narrator had never found a friend. But the little prince, who loved a flower
and tamed a fox and searched the cosmos for friendship, became his true friend.
Then, saddest of all, he was gone, but not gone forever, because the stars are
always there, like bells ringing. And even though the narrator can’t see his
friend, he loves him, which is the essential thing, invisible to the eyes but
seen by the heart, and—who knows?—perhaps felt, millions of miles away, by a
boy watering a flower, and protecting it from a sheep, among the stars.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Writing Prompts</b></div>
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</div>
<ol>
<li>Imagine you are Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, but living today,
instead of in the 1940’s. Send the little prince on a voyage to asteroids where
he would meet grown-ups who represent problems we see in the world today. What
would their bad habits look like now? I’ll bet cell phones, Facebook, selfies,
and TV shows would have something to do with the nonsense. Can you write the
short scenes where your little prince meets these modern rascals?</li>
<li>What’s an essential thing in your life that’s deeply true,
but invisible to the eyes? Maybe it’s the love you feel for someone in your
family, or the closeness you share with a friend. Maybe it’s a memory, or the
way something beautiful, like art or music, makes you feel. Can you write a short
scene from a moment in your life that shows the reality and truth of your
precious, invisible thing? (It’s okay if you need tissues!)</li>
<li>Remember that Antoine de Saint-Exupéry wrote this during a
horrific war. I’ll bet it was comforting to him. Using our imaginations is
often a comforting way to escape harsh realities in our present world. When I
need comfort, I often reach for the Narnia books by C.S. Lewis, or the Lord of
the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien. Is there any place you like to escape to for
comfort, in stories or in your imagination? Can you write the beginning of a
story set in that world? </li>
</ol>
This post originally appeared on the Fowler Middle School book blog. <o:p></o:p><br />
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© 2017 Julie Berry <a href="http://www.julieberrybooks.com/">www.julieberrybooks.com</a>
<o:p></o:p></div>
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Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02988568411272528022noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4574386226748614156.post-33754907512003952742017-04-04T16:03:00.000-07:002017-04-04T16:10:06.459-07:00The Faces of The Passion of Dolssa (Paperback Release Day!) <div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPMq9R2poW7dHiB7zWZKDHwVx2RdXUwTwJyFh5NkKq3kdmZtU64Xh8i_MlJrztI8hEqpMtg1Elg8vGJ_zLfP6d7QSICWoHJh2w2x5cPqfnLVLuWNvh_y0pOMVp8DPKiGshvQnVWAY7Nt7y/s1600/PassionofDolssa_PrintzHonor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPMq9R2poW7dHiB7zWZKDHwVx2RdXUwTwJyFh5NkKq3kdmZtU64Xh8i_MlJrztI8hEqpMtg1Elg8vGJ_zLfP6d7QSICWoHJh2w2x5cPqfnLVLuWNvh_y0pOMVp8DPKiGshvQnVWAY7Nt7y/s200/PassionofDolssa_PrintzHonor.jpg" width="133" /></a>Today <i>The Passion of
Dolssa</i> releases in paperback from Penguin.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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I love paperbacks. They’re cozy and bendable. They squunch
into your purse or backpack. Pricewise, they put books in the reach of more
readers. Always a plus. So it’s great to see this second birth. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The cover is essentially the same as the hardback, now with
a <a href="http://www.ala.org/yalsa/printz-award" target="_blank">big silver thingy</a>, but who’s noticing? (Ahem.) Below is a video providing some
historical context. The paperback edition features a great list of
discussion questions, perfect for book clubs and classrooms. And for
anyone who closes the book shaking their fists at me, <a href="http://www.julieberrybooks.com/about-the-ending-unraveling-the-passion-of-dolssa" target="_blank">here is a page on my website</a>
that discusses the ending. Before you click on it you must sign a blood oath*
swearing to have read it in full, because I dislike spoilers. *Seriously. **Not
really, but still. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/bioCnJvFvHE/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bioCnJvFvHE?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
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<a href="http://www.allthatsepic.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Steven-Spielberg-George-Lucas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="145" src="https://www.allthatsepic.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Steven-Spielberg-George-Lucas.jpg" width="200" /></a>It’s interesting to me that, when talking of movies, the directors’
names are widely celebrated, nearly as much as the big stars', and in some cases
more. Producers’ names even make the cut, and makeup artists, costume
designers, and set designers are starting to have decent brand-name currency
among moviegoers. The writers, with very few exceptions, remain fairly obscure.
TV tips the scale a bit; TV writers have a bit more clout and power, but still
they remain mostly behind the scenes.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/4c/5c/36/4c5c3660ca1c4b7eea57a7174b3aa8bd.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/4c/5c/36/4c5c3660ca1c4b7eea57a7174b3aa8bd.png" width="143" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Labor pains. Poor guy.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
In the book world, however, the author is held up as the
lone creative genius (or not-so-genius) who birthed their works in violent
explosions of divine creation, much like, I imagine, Athena bursting from the
head of Zeus. Editors must be the closest analog literature has to directors
and producers, yet they receive no mention unless the writer names them in the
acknowledgements. The publisher puts its stamp on the spine, but the army of
talent that contributes editorial feedback, book design, production assistance,
marketing insight, and management oversight remains faceless, except to industry
insiders. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://pixel.nymag.com/imgs/daily/vulture/2017/02/27/27-moonlight-confusion.w710.h473.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://pixel.nymag.com/imgs/daily/vulture/2017/02/27/27-moonlight-confusion.w710.h473.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Uh-oh.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
We need an Oscars for the book world. And SAG Awards. We
have many book award-granting organizations (bless them!), but in every case,
the author is the face accepting the accolades. After watching this year’s
Oscars, I thought that the entire publishing family should be ushered onstage
when a Newbery, Caldecott, or Printz medal is awarded. Preferably, they wouldn’t
need to scurry offstage awkwardly when a wrong title is announced.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/444509932755230720/tEdJqKSW.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/444509932755230720/tEdJqKSW.jpeg" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kendra Levin</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I am grateful for the many accolades and honors <i>The Passion of Dolssa</i> has received. Beyond
grateful. At times, a bit overcome. But it feels wrong to accept such kindness
without acknowledging the immense presence of my editor, Kendra Levin, on every
page of this book. Her commitment to helping me create the kind of book I
aspired to write is the reason why <i>The
Passion of Dolssa</i> is what it is today. It was a long, arduous, sometimes
torturous process, birthing this story from the swirling mess inside my head. (Kendra
might admit it took forceps.) It was also the most stimulating, rewarding
intellectual work of my life. Thus far. I wouldn’t change a thing. But I would
have nothing if Kendra hadn’t been willing to trudge those miles with me, draft
after draft after draft. We had other helpful road companions, too, in the
persons of my dear critique group readers, and above all, my highly
satisfactory husband, Phil. It takes a hamlet to write a medieval story. <br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://history.artsci.wustl.edu/files/history/styles/person_node/public/people/images/mark_pegg.jpg?itok=PAMs4oLt" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://history.artsci.wustl.edu/files/history/styles/person_node/public/people/images/mark_pegg.jpg?itok=PAMs4oLt" width="118" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mark Pegg</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.brooklynbookfestival.org/Ken%20Wright.jpg?Action=thumbnail&Width=400&Height=800&algorithm=fit_proportional" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="132" src="https://www.brooklynbookfestival.org/Ken%20Wright.jpg?Action=thumbnail&Width=400&Height=800&algorithm=fit_proportional" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ken Wright</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br />
Speaking of which, the historical credibility of this book
would be nonexistent without the generous help of Professor Mark Pegg, <o:p></o:p>medievalist and historian on the faculty of Washington University of Saint Lewis. His scholarly research was crucial, and his thoughtful input on the manuscript provided keen insights and spared many errors.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihByrWAdIcezLOgPmhqyP_LKuqd4TQruCw0UuZRVcaPCxShovyV3dyij8rv2wsdm9rLh8TkRf8GjrOGLyCa9jpyHuSeoVHw5Uo5K-PdAFspmh5jMoRjheOPeVnt8VcFcVciFvvSXwdkHmo/s1600/AlyssaHenkin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihByrWAdIcezLOgPmhqyP_LKuqd4TQruCw0UuZRVcaPCxShovyV3dyij8rv2wsdm9rLh8TkRf8GjrOGLyCa9jpyHuSeoVHw5Uo5K-PdAFspmh5jMoRjheOPeVnt8VcFcVciFvvSXwdkHmo/s1600/AlyssaHenkin.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Alyssa Henkin</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
My agent, Alyssa Henkin of Trident Media Group, and my publisher, Ken Wright, gave
this idea two enthusiastic thumbs-up. Dana Leydig and Eileen Kreit have brought
forth the beautiful paperback edition, with all its bonus features.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/3221516735/680bcc9aaadc5798f2ac48284123788e_400x400.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/3221516735/680bcc9aaadc5798f2ac48284123788e_400x400.jpeg" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dana Leydig</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Is it goofy to thank the characters? Or at least,
acknowledge them? I love them. They are real to me. And I learned so much from
them, from every person in this large ensemble cast. Dolssa de Stigata, teenage
noblewoman and mystic, and Botille Flasucra, matchmaker, bar wench, and
all-around hustler, are the two stars of this story. The friendship they form
under extreme circumstances is one of the dearest parts of this story to me. In
some ways, the setup is an expanded retelling of the parable of
the Good Samaritan, though I did not realize it at the time. The novel asks,
just how far might caring for the wounded go – all the way to sacrificial love?
Or if caring proves dangerous, when should it stop? Loving and trusting another
human being may be the most perilous thing we ever do. And the most necessary
for our deepest happiness. Just ask Symo.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij96iPerKuA9IFGUjthOjN_pg1kcoJop7kiu9qtfRIkwPE_aWn3jE5_0_ktlI0-CyN6oY_CsGzwNuAjuhYli46W1lrNE-Q3tAWS704YO9i-1g4ze2WkZE8yHudI5mgoIfjATU-73DmTsdv/s1600/EileenKreit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij96iPerKuA9IFGUjthOjN_pg1kcoJop7kiu9qtfRIkwPE_aWn3jE5_0_ktlI0-CyN6oY_CsGzwNuAjuhYli46W1lrNE-Q3tAWS704YO9i-1g4ze2WkZE8yHudI5mgoIfjATU-73DmTsdv/s1600/EileenKreit.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eileen Kreit</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
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Where to find <i>The</i> <i>Passion
of Dolssa</i> in paperback: <a href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780147512963" target="_blank">Your local Indie store</a> | <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-passion-of-dolssa-julie-gardner-berry/1122341052?ean=9780147512963" target="_blank">Barnes & Noble</a> |
<a href="http://www.booksamillion.com/p/Passion-Dolssa/Julie-Berry/9780147512963?id=6913410276830" target="_blank">Books-a-Million</a> | <a href="http://www.powells.com/book/the-passion-of-dolssa-9780147512963/62-0" target="_blank">Powell’s</a> | <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Passion-Dolssa-Julie-Berry/dp/0147512964/" target="_blank">Amazon</a>. </div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02988568411272528022noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4574386226748614156.post-29850134127648590102017-03-03T08:21:00.000-08:002017-03-03T09:23:29.487-08:00The Triumph of Technique in "When You Reach Me" by Rebecca Stead<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p>S</o:p>ometimes you read a book and your soul splits in two. Half
is overcome with rapture at its beauty and perfection. The other half beats its
chest and tugs its hair, knowing that you will never produce something this
exquisite, this perfectly constructed, nor this wise, and this book has just
exposed you for the fraud you are.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
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Reading is a risky business. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/510Bi8e5ihL._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/510Bi8e5ihL._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg" width="134" /></a></div>
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One book that shreds me like soggy paper is Rebecca Stead’s <i>When You Reach Me. </i>This 2010 Newbery
Medal winner doesn’t need my gushing. If you’re reading this post, you’ve probably
read the book. In hopes of learning something, I’ll try to push past
reverential awe and describe what’s working. Maybe my hair-tugging half can get
over herself and inch her work closer to what her counterpart so admires. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Of the novel’s dozens of literary virtues, I’m emphasizing
three: 1. The sequence of revelations and twists, 2. Manipulation of timelines
and narrator awareness, and 3. A reusable economy of characters, moments, and
objects. And a bonus fourth, TBA. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<u><br /></u></div>
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<u>Virtue Number One: An intricately constructed
sequence of revelations and twists</u>. Certainly <i>Reach Me</i> is tightly plotted, but I’m talking about more than plot.
It’s not simply that intriguing events, causally connected, are strung together
as close beads. (In fact, some causalities are bewildering until the puzzle
becomes clearer toward the very end, and this is one of its strengths.) It’s
not that details and characters which seem insignificant turn out,
surprisingly, to be crucial (more on that below). Rather, it’s that the
unspooling thread of the story doesn’t simply alternate between resolving past
mysteries and introducing new ones; every new revelation is simultaneously an
answer and a new question, twisting and complicating the puzzle ever more
minutely, and ratcheting the tension of reader curiosity ever higher. The best
mystery novels traverse this path well, playing cat-and-mouse with readers who
love this game-like or puzzle-like quality which forms the intellectual half of
the reader’s engagement. (In <i>Reach Me</i>,
the emotional half saves most of its wallop for the end, after the puzzle begins
to fall into place.) <o:p></o:p></div>
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<u><br /></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://nerdist.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Back-to-the-Future-Honest-Trailer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="111" src="https://nerdist.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Back-to-the-Future-Honest-Trailer.jpg" width="200" /></a><u>Virtue Number Two: A Deft and Complex Manipulation of
Timelines and Narrator Awareness</u> (or, who can know what, when). It’s unavoidable
for a time-travel novel to have a complicated, looping, and abstract sequence
of events (and sequence of presenting them). But <i>Reach Me</i> not only gets every single timing note right (IMHO, and so
few time travel novels do, IMHO), but it employs those timelines, time-loops,
and knowledge gaps to excellent dramatic effect, choosing the novel’s beginning
at precisely the right time: Miranda knows much; she has experienced most of
the story’s key events, and can look back on them retrospectively, consciously
piecing together their significance, and yet, <i>and yet</i>, the final puzzle piece has not yet snapped into place. She
does not yet know all. The big reveal, organically and deservedly, is yet to
come. Readers may scarcely notice when the actual story starts (and how it
differs from when the narrative she relates starts). <o:p></o:p></div>
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We have many timelines to keep track of in any story, with
extra layers and twists in this one. For example, we must parse out each of the
following in <i>Reach Me</i>:<o:p></o:p></div>
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</div>
<ul>
<li>The linear order in which events happened.</li>
<li>The order in which they are presented to the reader.</li>
<li>[Courtesy of time travel element]: The order in which past
or future events converged with the story’s main timeline, such as, when
visitors left or visited the story’s timeline and interfered with it, and when
and how that interference is presented as a deviation. (If we can stretch our
brains to accommodate this idea, and depending on whether there are infinite
time-loops and multiverses or not, which will vary according to the
quasi-physics of each story. Thankfully not, in this case.)</li>
<li>The moment in which the narrative consciousness telling the
events begins their telling (where & when are they then? Young/old/alive/dead/after-the-fact/living-the-story/somewhere-in-the-middle/post-denouement/pre-denouement?)</li>
</ul>
<o:p></o:p><br />
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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I don’t want to be too spoilery here, but consider the
significance of where <i>Reach Me</i>
begins: April 5 or 6, it seems: 21 or 22 days (if we allow Mom a day to steal a
calendar from her work supply closet) prior to Miranda’s mom appearing on <i>The</i> <i>$20,000
Pyramid</i> game show on April 27, 1979. The events of the story as Miranda
describes it began the prior autumn, beginning with her friend Sal getting
punched, and culminating in some pretty huge events in January. But the story
isn’t really and truly over until April 27, 1979, with some mop-up in the days
that followed. Or, perhaps, some 50-odd years later. Or, if Julia’s diamond
ring theory is correct, it’s never ended. It’s still happening now, and always
will be. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
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<a href="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ojnPArQtHDU/maxresdefault.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="111" src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ojnPArQtHDU/maxresdefault.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
So when we read, we must keep a thumbnail placed in April,
1979, the <i>now</i> of the narrative
consciousness, and of Miranda, who is both moving forward, quizzing her mom for the game show, and
looking backward; we must keep our other thumbnail in the sequence of past
events Miranda told us about which began last fall. Not only does this leaping
keep interest high, and deductive smoke puffing out of our ears, but it creates
many opportunities for sleight of hand, whilst Stead (or, I should say, the
narrative consciousness, see below) plants clue after clue, which we miss
because we’re stuck calculating the when of any given scene. Well played. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://truby.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Truby-book-jacket.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://truby.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Truby-book-jacket.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>
In <i>The</i> <i>Anatomy of Story</i>, John Truby writes, “Withholding,
or hiding, information is crucial to the storyteller’s make-believe. It forces the
audience to figure out who the character is and what he is doing and so draws
the audience into the story. When the audience no longer has to figure out the
story, it ceases being an audience, and the story stops.” (page 7)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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And again, on page 273, “A word of caution is warranted here.
Don’t overwrite exposition at the start of your story … The mass of information
actually pushes your audience away from your story. Instead, try withholding a
lot of information about your hero… The audience will guess that you are hiding
something and will literally come <i>toward</i>
your story. They think, ‘There’s something going on here, and I’m going to
figure out what it is.’” (emphasis added)<o:p></o:p></div>
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I’ll add an amen, but then my own caution: Withholding is
vital, but it demands a darn good reason for its secrecy. Readers expect to
unravel some knots, but they don’t like being manipulated. They expect fair
play. When details are withheld because the author is being coy or capricious,
for no good reason, or for stupid reasons (convenient amnesia that clears up
just in time, or a narrator just being a jerk), the reader feels betrayed. All
this is to say, Rebecca Stead’s manipulation of timelines, and of what could be
known when, creates a bulletproof justification for all of Miranda’s
withholdings. Even looking back on events as she was, there was so much she
didn’t understand. And the unusual story she had to tell, to a character who
would, in the future, fulfill events that were now already past, obligated her
to construct the narrative piece by piece, not alienating her special reader
(him) by revealing what she <i>did</i>
already know before the proper moment, when conclusions couldn’t be ignored or
rejected because they seem unfathomable and unbelievable.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/52bdf76de4b0d60918f1e592/t/564a6761e4b06dbb87c74426/1447716739227/" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="145" src="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/52bdf76de4b0d60918f1e592/t/564a6761e4b06dbb87c74426/1447716739227/" width="200" /></a><u>Virtue Number Three: A Reusable Economy of Characters,
Moments, and Things.</u> It’s very satisfying to readers when details, events,
things, and characters that would seem to be throwaway turn out to matter
later. (Up to a point.) It also creates a conveniently economical system for
the writer, who can thus keep the headcount, prop-count, and scene-count at
manageable levels. But it is a contrivance, and convenience can be carried too
far until believability suffers. The tidiness of fiction sometimes strays too
far from the randomness of reality. Here, however, the construct of the <i>Reach Me</i>, as a letter, or rather, a
journal-like musing aimed toward a mysterious someone that feels letter-like,
written to a highly mysterious character, creates not just a reason but an <i>obligation</i> for the narrator to be
selective in her presenting of details. She is entirely justified in revealing
only characters, details, and moments that will matter again later. To do
otherwise would be superfluous. From the outset, Miranda proposes to tell a
specific story, selecting only those events and people that are vital to it,
because she has a narrowly specific purpose in the telling, and has, in fact,
been given a mandate for the telling by the tell-ee (how bizarre! an intriguing
mystery in its own right), even though she constantly protests that mandate and
considers ignoring it (a choice that readers realize is perilous, whichever way
she chooses, even though there’s much that, as yet, we don’t understand). It’s
a virtuoso performance of manipulating the limitations of the narrative
consciousness of the novel to sophisticated heights. (The narrative
consciousness, or the mind behind the narration of any story, which is neither
its author, nor its protagonist/narrator, is something I’ve been jawing about
lately to anyone I can entrap into listening to me.) This unique setup of
telling a specific story to an unknown person, under protest, combined with the
time travel plot (not fully unzipped until the end) in which every detail she
relates is made to matter by the future person who will read the to-be-written
letter and treat it as instructions to be carried out, makes the revealed
significance and causal connectedness of each seemingly minor detail, thing,
person, and moment a triumph, rather than an eye-roll.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/0b/WrinkleInTimePBA1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/0b/WrinkleInTimePBA1.jpg" width="139" /></a></div>
<u>Bonus Virtue Number Four</u>, which I could write 1000
words about, but I won’t: The many levels upon which this referential novel
explores <i>A Wrinkle in Time</i> by Madeleine
L’Engle: as a beloved touchstone title; as a vehicle for book discussion and
debate, bringing people together; as a conduit for explorations that might change
the science of the future; as a catalyst for thematic discoveries relevant to
the story’s spiritual center. Lovely, lovely, worthy of this loveliest of
classics. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It’s the heart of a novel, and not its intellectual
sophistication, that moves readers to rapture and tears. Yet the masterfully
employed virtues of technique in <i>When You
Reach Me</i> build a rugged scaffolding for the real story, which is
beautifully simple, needing no tesseract, and played out on several plot lines
and pairings: People who have long cared about each other – or who learn to care about
each other -- can hurt each other
deeply; suffer sorrow, regret, and shame; and try, in bumbling but beautiful
ways, even after long interruptions, to make it right. Where there was love, there can be redemption,
and love can be found in the unlikeliest places.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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I’m so glad this book
exists in the world. <o:p></o:p></div>
Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02988568411272528022noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4574386226748614156.post-49619723762708307372017-02-21T14:51:00.000-08:002017-02-21T14:59:14.924-08:00Food Fights, Sea Monsters, and Dodgeball: Let’s Talk About Point of View<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
This post is for some good friends of mine – fifth graders
at the schools I visit. Non-fifth graders – you may read it, too, if you like. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
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It’s time we talked about Point of View, or, as we call it
in the book world, POV. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Imagine there’s a food fight going on in the school
cafeteria. What would you see? When you told your family about it, what would
you say? <o:p></o:p></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE-1QnZVTf-cgZyKDsEhPlF-Pm0CYjrOW2pXVTdw7dRzPurpcPk37JPx28-5080iHEnsLRWzK34mjkt-ObxW5TqhmujQKqIeOLXn2yOjz0Z28mE3GgETtfh2rJzy0hlOC1HuVYU_Y9Mgi-/s1600/foodfight2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="257" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE-1QnZVTf-cgZyKDsEhPlF-Pm0CYjrOW2pXVTdw7dRzPurpcPk37JPx28-5080iHEnsLRWzK34mjkt-ObxW5TqhmujQKqIeOLXn2yOjz0Z28mE3GgETtfh2rJzy0hlOC1HuVYU_Y9Mgi-/s400/foodfight2.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Food Fight scene from "The Rat Brain Fiasco" by moi & Sally Gardner.<br />
Splurch Academy book 1. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
First of all, where were you when the fight broke out? And,
what role did you play in the fight? Were you:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
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</div>
<ol>
<li>The kid who lobbed the first catapult of mashed potatoes
with your spoon?</li>
<li>The kid who fought back with a glop of slimy spaghetti?</li>
<li>The kid who got the spaghetti in her face because kid #2 was
such a bad shot?</li>
<li>A kid at the next table over, yelling, “Food fight! Food
fight!”</li>
<li>A cafeteria monitor who hears the ruckus, sees flying sloppy
joes and French fries, and thinks, “<i>Not
again</i>!”?</li>
<li>The assistant principal, in his office, who hears his
crinkly walkie-talkie say, “Um, Mr. Martinez, we’ve got a situation in the caf?”</li>
</ol>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/food_fight.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="224" src="https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/food_fight.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<o:p></o:p><br />
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What you <u>saw</u>, what you <u>did</u>, and how you <u>felt</u>
about it would really depend on where you were when the fight broke out. Each
of the six people we listed above might go home and tell their families about
the fight in very different ways, even though they’re all talking about the
same fight. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When discussing stories, we often talk about a character’s <i><u>point of view</u>. </i>What is it,
exactly? <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Let’s look at those words closely. <i>Point of view</i>. The <u>point</u> from which you <u>view</u>
something. It’s the place (point) you’re standing while you watch (view)
something happen. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgps5HoXzfIT2bhr7J6nXdjRvUVu3-EuGa37bgAKy7pX60vwgZPTL4DFkDdlzU6EdPsBXDwsgX_VOQyknmBDeI4aCcx6fZBcw0qz0_ML4yMaIYtMLdipai3YQ9rUlXbGvuC247DMBWI1jHu/s1600/BilgewaterEelpotBattle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="337" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgps5HoXzfIT2bhr7J6nXdjRvUVu3-EuGa37bgAKy7pX60vwgZPTL4DFkDdlzU6EdPsBXDwsgX_VOQyknmBDeI4aCcx6fZBcw0qz0_ML4yMaIYtMLdipai3YQ9rUlXbGvuC247DMBWI1jHu/s400/BilgewaterEelpotBattle.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nurse Bilgewater and Professor Eelpot battle it out in "The Trouble With Squids."<br />
Splurch Academy book 4.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Imagine this: Two sea monsters – a giant squid and a prehistoric-type
sea serpent – are battling it out to the death in an ocean lagoon. Awesome,
right? If you’re watching it, what do you see?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/bc/f3/22/bcf322fa5c794117ee214fdcda32c575.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="198" src="https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/bc/f3/22/bcf322fa5c794117ee214fdcda32c575.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Well, that depends. Are you:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<ol>
<li>Sitting on a cliff a hundred yards from the lagoon,
watching something splash in the water?</li>
<li>Standing on the beach, watching tentacles and a scaly tail
heave up from the waves and crash down again with a terrific wet slap?</li>
<li>Hovering over the lagoon in a helicopter, filming the whole
thing with a news camera with a high-powered close-up lens?</li>
<li>Trying to stay afloat in a little rowboat just a dozen or so
yards away from this titanic battle, and nearly getting sucked into the
undertow?</li>
<li>The person who was swimming in the lagoon, when the sea
serpent grabbed you, and opened his snapping jaws wide, when the squid appeared
and snagged you with a tentacled arm to make you his own snack? Yikes!</li>
</ol>
<o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The <u>place</u> where you were standing (or sitting, or flying,
or rowing, or swimming) would determine not only what you saw (<u>viewed</u>),
but also what you did, and what you felt. The guy on the cliff might wonder, “What’s
making that big splash?” But the swimmer in the water, about to become a
monster’s lunch, would be frantic to get away, and terrified every instant.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://welcometosandyland.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/sea-monster.jpg?w=590" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://welcometosandyland.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/sea-monster.jpg?w=590" width="320" /></a>The term “point of view” uses sight (view) and position (point)
as metaphors for something that’s actually bigger than just what your eyes can
see, and from what distance. For one thing, you don’t just <i>see</i> a food fight or an ocean battle. You <i>hear</i> it – the squelching sounds and screaming school kids and
monster roars. You <i>smell </i>it – the scent of steamy ketchup, or the odor of a
gigantic fish. If your mouth was open, and a spoonful of chocolate pudding
landed IN your mouth, you’d <i>taste</i> the
food fight, too. (Gross. Someone else’s pudding!) You <i>feel</i> it – the plop of sloppy joe in your face, dripping down your favorite
shirt, or the splash of ocean spray in your face if you’re in the boat. Or
worse – the scrape and slime of cold tentacles and claws on your swimsuit-clad
body. Disgusting! <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So “view” here stands for (or is a metaphor for) all of the
senses: seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching. But it goes farther than just
senses alone. POV/point of view takes into account <u>who you are</u> and <u>what
your past experiences have been</u>. Because, as we’ll see, who we are and what
we’ve gone through shape how we see things. For example: <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<ol>
<li>What if you’re the guy in the boat, and the girl in the
clutches of the two sea monsters is your twin sister? How do you feel? Suddenly
you’re not just trying to row your boat away. You’re trying rescue someone you
love. <i>Relationships</i> affect POV.</li>
<li>What if you’re the person in the helicopter with the video
camera, and you’re a scientist, and you’ve spent your life saying there are still
huge sea serpents in the ocean, and nobody has ever believed you? What if all
your scientific colleagues have laughed in your face at marine biology
conferences? And suddenly, there it is in the water – the monster! – proof that
you’ve been right all along. What do you do? Do you capture that monster fight
on video to prove other scientists wrong, and publish the discovery that will make
you famous? Or drop down a rope ladder and try to rescue the girl in the water?
<i>Desires</i> affect POV – in this case,
the desire to succeed in one’s career vs. the desire to help others in danger.</li>
<li>What if you’re the kid in the food fight who had the mashed
potatoes thrown in your face, and you just moved to the U.S. from another
country, and you don’t speak English, so kids have been picking on you a lot,
and you’re super homesick and sad? Do you fight back because you have HAD
ENOUGH, or do you slip away and lock yourself in a bathroom stall for a private
cry? <i>Past experiences</i>, and especially
<i>past emotions</i>, affect POV.</li>
<li>What if you’re the cafeteria monitor, and it’s your job to
maintain order at lunchtime, but there have been a couple of incidents lately,
and you’ve been warned that if you don’t stop fights from breaking out, you could
lose your job? <i>Fears</i> affect POV –
this case, fear of losing one’s job.</li>
</ol>
<o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<u>Who we are</u> shapes what we see. Our <u>past
experiences</u> color what we see. And not just see: hear, smell, taste, and touch.
And what emotions bubble to the surface. And how we explain it to ourselves and
others. And what we choose to do about it. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Everyone has their own unique point of view, their own POV.
Twenty-five kids in gym class playing dodgeball will all experience the game
differently. The competitive types will go for the kill every time. Others will
dread the humiliation of being smacked with a ball. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I think we just discovered another thing that affects POV. <i>Personality</i>. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Is there anything that doesn’t affect POV? I wonder. The <i>weather</i> affects how we see the world. A
gloomy day can bring anyone down, and make them pessimistic. Sometimes our <i>health</i> does – for me, things always look
a lot worse when I have a stomach bug! Yuck. Sometimes <i>money</i> affects our POV. If I said to you, “What are you going to do
this Saturday?” you might have some ideas. But if I said, “On Friday you’re
going to win the biggest jackpot in lottery history. What will you do Saturday?”
I suspect that your Saturday plans would change in a massive way. Even your <i>species</i>
affects your point of view. If somebody spilled gravy all over the kitchen
floor, most humans would be annoyed, but most dogs would be overjoyed! Gravy
gravy yum yum. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><u><br /></u></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><u>Point of view</u></i>
really means <i><u>how each person experiences
the world and the things, people, and events in it.</u></i> Clearly, it needed
a shorter name. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2sC_lfar4tpoPVu8iFxjQ-f97VEnkBheVYkpfjRBjspSJmP11lGop62g7A1ghkeNE6tCk9vqYzxJ2-0Ko9cxWi0G-nWQcZNxWGQ1oF8qAJib5wHJB67cu7zX0Bzp9vABaeEdLs17folAd/s1600/FrankenSquid.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2sC_lfar4tpoPVu8iFxjQ-f97VEnkBheVYkpfjRBjspSJmP11lGop62g7A1ghkeNE6tCk9vqYzxJ2-0Ko9cxWi0G-nWQcZNxWGQ1oF8qAJib5wHJB67cu7zX0Bzp9vABaeEdLs17folAd/s320/FrankenSquid.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The FrankenSquid from "The Trouble With Squids."<br />
Splurch Academy book 4. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Here’s what’s important about point of view: every person
has one, and it’s as real and as true to them as yours is to you, and mine is
to me. Every life is unique, and every point of view is valid.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’m not saying there’s no right or wrong. Facts may be correct
or incorrect. Explanations may be wise or foolish. Some choices can be good or
bad, kind or cruel. But understanding point of view helps us see that people
are complicated, that events are complicated, and that before we criticize or
judge another person, we should remember that they see the world differently
than we do. Our way of seeing isn’t the only way. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The best stories are the ones where POV feels very real and
convincing because the author has created a believable life, history, and mind.
As we watch the story unfold, we can say, “I myself would never rob the Crown
Jewels from the Tower of London, but I can see how, for a person like them, in their
situation, it had to be done!” (To save them from being stolen by space pirates.
Obviously.) <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Stories are based on the idea that spending time inside
another person’s point of view is fascinating. Getting to know a character is fun.
The better we understand someone’s POV, the more we care about what happens to
them. Understanding POV won’t just make you a better reader or writer. It can
make you a kinder friend and a more understanding human being. That’s the kind
of people our little planet needs. Maybe you’ll think twice before hurling
mashed potatoes. Maybe, instead of filming the sea monster, you’ll drop the
rescue ladder. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://socalcitykids.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/GLNSs_Jej4OfTmV9EIdqbQSeNbRpJCOZhqufeV0w2D8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="96" src="https://socalcitykids.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/GLNSs_Jej4OfTmV9EIdqbQSeNbRpJCOZhqufeV0w2D8.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Writing Prompts:</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<ul>
<li>Think of a situation in your life – at school, at home, in
the community – where you and another person have a very different point of
view about what happened. Write a paragraph describing your point of view. Then
write a paragraph from the point of view of the other person, the one who
disagrees with you.</li>
<li>Think of the food fight. Imagine the first person who threw
the food, and the person who first had food thrown at them. Who are they? Why
did the first one throw the food? How did the second person feel to have food
thrown at them? What did they do about it? Write a paragraph from the first kid’s
point of view (using the “I” first-person voice, as though you are that kid) to
help us understand why they started the food fight. Next write a paragraph from
the second kid’s point of view (again using the “I” first-person voice, as
though you are the second kid) and tell us about the food fight from their
perspective.</li>
<li> Think of the sea
serpent battle. The girl has been rescued; she didn’t die. Phew! Now, pretend
you’re a news reporter. Interview each of the people involved: girl in the
water, her twin brother in the boat, the scientist in the helicopter, and the
guy watching it from a clifftop some distance away. Write the questions you
would ask them, and write their answers, showing how they each had a different
point of view about the same event. Try to show how things like distance,
desires, fears, and relationships affected what they saw and how they felt
about it. </li>
</ul>
<o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02988568411272528022noreply@blogger.com177tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4574386226748614156.post-43889496388568280142017-01-29T09:16:00.002-08:002017-01-29T09:17:47.739-08:00Top Craft Book Picks from Writers, Illustrators, and Editors at Kindling Words East, January 2017<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.autostraddle.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/bird-by-bird.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://www.autostraddle.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/bird-by-bird.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>
I had the fun opportunity to lecture this weekend at <a href="http://kindlingwords.org/east/" target="_blank">Kindling Words East</a> in Essex, Vermont, to an audience of writers, illustrators, and editors. No pressure! My topic was on voice, and specifically, the voice of the narrator of a novel, whether that narrator is a character within a story, a non-character whose storytelling voice is perceptible as a narrator, or even a hidden behind-the-scenes presence orchestrating and interpreting events more stealthily. I drew heavily from <i><a href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9781400033188" target="_blank">13 Ways of Viewing the Novel</a></i> by <a href="http://www.therealjanesmiley.com/" target="_blank">Jane Smiley</a> as my source (a book I <a href="http://bookgargoyle.blogspot.com/2017/01/the-many-pleasures-of-novel.html" target="_blank">blogged about</a> earlier). I found it densely packed with probing insights into the form and origins of the novel, and in particular, thought-provoking discussions of the innovations that gave us point of view (and the politics of point of view), and of the narrative consciousness that permeates a work. So it was perfectly suited to the lecture I wanted to give.<br />
<br />
I gave away a copy of <i>13 Ways </i>as a door prize, and wondered what was the best gimmick to employ in obtaining drawing entries and soliciting a winner. Middle grade author <a href="http://erindionne.com/" target="_blank">Erin Dionne</a> suggested a great strategy: have the attendees who want to enter the drawing write the name of their favorite craft book on a slip of paper. Draw a winner from among the slips, and compile the data into a list of recommendations. I'm delighted to do so.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41cqe00ZzsL._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41cqe00ZzsL._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg" width="130" /></a></div>
<br />
Approximately two-thirds of the attendees put a suggestion in the hat. I'll list the offerings below with the number of votes I obtained. I was pleased to see that I'd read a decent handful of these titles, but I have many more on this list to read. Knowing now that they were each some writer or illustrator's favorite pick is all the endorsement I need to give them a chance.<br />
<br />
Leading the pack was <a href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780385480017" target="_blank"><i>Bird by Bird</i></a> by <a href="https://www.facebook.com/AnneLamott/" target="_blank">Anne Lamot</a>t with 7 votes, followed closely by <a href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9781439156810" target="_blank"><i>On Writing</i></a> by <a href="http://stephenking.com/" target="_blank">Stephen King</a>. Editor <a href="http://www.cherylklein.com/" target="_blank">Cheryl Klein</a>, who joined us this year, had three votes for <i><a href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780393292244" target="_blank">The Magic Words</a></i> and two votes for <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Second-Sight-Revising-Publishing-Children/dp/0615420826/" target="_blank"><i>Second Sight</i></a>. Other two-vote books included <i><a href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9781582975566" target="_blank">Writing Picture Books</a></i> by <a href="http://annwhitfordpaul.net/home-page2" target="_blank">Ann Whitford Paul</a>, <i><a href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9781932907001" target="_blank">Save the Cat</a></i> by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blake_Snyder" target="_blank">Blake Snyder</a>, <a href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9781607748892" target="_blank"><i>Story Genius</i></a> by <a href="http://wiredforstory.com/" target="_blank">Lisa Cron</a>, <i><a href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780802142573" target="_blank">From Where You Dream</a></i> by <a href="http://www.robertolenbutler.com/" target="_blank">Robert Olen Butler</a>, and <a href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780823059355" target="_blank">Writing with Pictures</a> by <a href="http://us.macmillan.com/author/urishulevitz/" target="_blank">Uri Shulevitz</a>. <a href="http://janeyolen.com/" target="_blank">Jane Yolen</a> and <a href="http://www.anglia.ac.uk/arts-law-and-social-sciences/cambridge-school-of-art/our-staff/martin-salisbury" target="_blank">Martin Salisbury</a> both had two votes, but for different titles.<br />
<br />
Here's the full list. I've put asterisks by those that I've read and loved, which is more of an embarrassing confession than a boast. Clearly, I have work to do!<br />
<br />
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 513px;">
<colgroup><col style="mso-width-alt: 11240; mso-width-source: userset; width: 242pt;" width="322"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 5445; mso-width-source: userset; width: 117pt;" width="156"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 1233; mso-width-source: userset; width: 27pt;" width="35"></col>
</colgroup><tbody>
<tr height="19" style="height: 14.5pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="19" style="height: 14.5pt; width: 242pt;" width="322">TITLE</td>
<td class="xl65" style="border-left: none; width: 117pt;" width="156">AUTHOR</td>
<td class="xl65" style="border-left: none; width: 27pt;" width="35">VOTES</td>
</tr>
<tr height="19" style="height: 14.5pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="19" style="border-top: none; height: 14.5pt;">Bird by Bird *</td>
<td class="xl65" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Anne Lamott</td>
<td align="right" class="xl65" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">7</td>
</tr>
<tr height="19" style="height: 14.5pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="19" style="border-top: none; height: 14.5pt;">On
Writing *</td>
<td class="xl65" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Stephen King</td>
<td align="right" class="xl65" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">6</td>
</tr>
<tr height="19" style="height: 14.5pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="19" style="border-top: none; height: 14.5pt;">The Magic
Words</td>
<td class="xl65" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Cheryl Klein</td>
<td align="right" class="xl65" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">3</td>
</tr>
<tr height="19" style="height: 14.5pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="19" style="border-top: none; height: 14.5pt;">Writing
Picture Books</td>
<td class="xl65" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Ann Whitford Paul</td>
<td align="right" class="xl65" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">2</td>
</tr>
<tr height="19" style="height: 14.5pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="19" style="border-top: none; height: 14.5pt;">Save the Cat</td>
<td class="xl65" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Blake Snyder</td>
<td align="right" class="xl65" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">2</td>
</tr>
<tr height="19" style="height: 14.5pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="19" style="border-top: none; height: 14.5pt;">Second Sight</td>
<td class="xl65" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Cheryl Klein</td>
<td align="right" class="xl65" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">2</td>
</tr>
<tr height="19" style="height: 14.5pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="19" style="border-top: none; height: 14.5pt;">Story Genius</td>
<td class="xl65" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Lisa Cron</td>
<td align="right" class="xl65" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">2</td>
</tr>
<tr height="19" style="height: 14.5pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="19" style="border-top: none; height: 14.5pt;">From Where You
Dream</td>
<td class="xl65" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Robert Olen Butler</td>
<td align="right" class="xl65" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">2</td>
</tr>
<tr height="19" style="height: 14.5pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="19" style="border-top: none; height: 14.5pt;">Writing with
Pictures</td>
<td class="xl65" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Uri Shulevitz</td>
<td align="right" class="xl65" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">2</td>
</tr>
<tr height="19" style="height: 14.5pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="19" style="border-top: none; height: 14.5pt;">The Shape of
Content</td>
<td class="xl65" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Ben Shahn</td>
<td align="right" class="xl65" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">1</td>
</tr>
<tr height="19" style="height: 14.5pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="19" style="border-top: none; height: 14.5pt;">If You Want to
Write</td>
<td class="xl65" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Brenda Ueland</td>
<td align="right" class="xl65" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">1</td>
</tr>
<tr height="19" style="height: 14.5pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="19" style="border-top: none; height: 14.5pt;">The Writer's
Journey</td>
<td class="xl65" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Christopher Vogler</td>
<td align="right" class="xl65" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">1</td>
</tr>
<tr height="19" style="height: 14.5pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="19" style="border-top: none; height: 14.5pt;">Dear Genius:
The Letters of Ursula Nordstrom</td>
<td class="xl65" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">ed. Leonard Marcus</td>
<td align="right" class="xl65" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">1</td>
</tr>
<tr height="19" style="height: 14.5pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="19" style="border-top: none; height: 14.5pt;">Creating Short
Fiction</td>
<td class="xl65" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Damon Knight</td>
<td align="right" class="xl65" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">1</td>
</tr>
<tr height="19" style="height: 14.5pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="19" style="border-top: none; height: 14.5pt;">Art & Fear</td>
<td class="xl65" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">David Bayles &
Ted Orland</td>
<td align="right" class="xl65" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">1</td>
</tr>
<tr height="19" style="height: 14.5pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="19" style="border-top: none; height: 14.5pt;">Catching the
Big Fish</td>
<td class="xl65" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">David Lynch</td>
<td align="right" class="xl65" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">1</td>
</tr>
<tr height="19" style="height: 14.5pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="19" style="border-top: none; height: 14.5pt;">Reflections on
the Magic of Writing</td>
<td class="xl65" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Diana Wynne Jones</td>
<td align="right" class="xl65" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">1</td>
</tr>
<tr height="19" style="height: 14.5pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="19" style="border-top: none; height: 14.5pt;">Elements of
Style</td>
<td class="xl65" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">E.B. White</td>
<td align="right" class="xl65" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">1</td>
</tr>
<tr height="19" style="height: 14.5pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="19" style="border-top: none; height: 14.5pt;">On
Writing </td>
<td class="xl65" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Eurdora Welty</td>
<td align="right" class="xl65" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">1</td>
</tr>
<tr height="19" style="height: 14.5pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="19" style="border-top: none; height: 14.5pt;">Take Joy *</td>
<td class="xl65" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Jane Yolen</td>
<td align="right" class="xl65" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">1</td>
</tr>
<tr height="19" style="height: 14.5pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="19" style="border-top: none; height: 14.5pt;">Touch Magic</td>
<td class="xl65" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Jane Yolen</td>
<td align="right" class="xl65" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">1</td>
</tr>
<tr height="19" style="height: 14.5pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="19" style="border-top: none; height: 14.5pt;">The Art of
Fiction: Notes on Craft for Young Writers *</td>
<td class="xl65" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">John Gardner</td>
<td align="right" class="xl65" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">1</td>
</tr>
<tr height="19" style="height: 14.5pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="19" style="border-top: none; height: 14.5pt;">The Anatomy of
Story *</td>
<td class="xl65" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">John Truby</td>
<td align="right" class="xl65" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">1</td>
</tr>
<tr height="19" style="height: 14.5pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="19" style="border-top: none; height: 14.5pt;">Syllabus</td>
<td class="xl65" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Linda Barry</td>
<td align="right" class="xl65" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">1</td>
</tr>
<tr height="19" style="height: 14.5pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="19" style="border-top: none; height: 14.5pt;">Brain Science</td>
<td class="xl65" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Lisa Cron</td>
<td align="right" class="xl65" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">1</td>
</tr>
<tr height="19" style="height: 14.5pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="19" style="border-top: none; height: 14.5pt;">Walking on
Water *</td>
<td class="xl65" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Madeline L'Engle</td>
<td align="right" class="xl65" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">1</td>
</tr>
<tr height="19" style="height: 14.5pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="19" style="border-top: none; height: 14.5pt;">Children's
Picture Books</td>
<td class="xl65" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Martin Salisbury</td>
<td align="right" class="xl65" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">1</td>
</tr>
<tr height="19" style="height: 14.5pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="19" style="border-top: none; height: 14.5pt;">100 Great
Children's Picture Books</td>
<td class="xl65" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Martin Salisbury</td>
<td align="right" class="xl65" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">1</td>
</tr>
<tr height="19" style="height: 14.5pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="19" style="border-top: none; height: 14.5pt;">The First Five Pages</td>
<td class="xl65" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Noah Lukeman</td>
<td align="right" class="xl65" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">1</td>
</tr>
<tr height="19" style="height: 14.5pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="19" style="border-top: none; height: 14.5pt;">Characters
& Viewpoint</td>
<td class="xl65" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Orson Scott Card</td>
<td align="right" class="xl65" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">1</td>
</tr>
<tr height="19" style="height: 14.5pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="19" style="border-top: none; height: 14.5pt;">Self Editing
in Fiction</td>
<td class="xl65" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Renni Brown &
Dave King</td>
<td align="right" class="xl65" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">1</td>
</tr>
<tr height="19" style="height: 14.5pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="19" style="border-top: none; height: 14.5pt;">About Writing</td>
<td class="xl65" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Samuel Delaney</td>
<td align="right" class="xl65" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">1</td>
</tr>
<tr height="19" style="height: 14.5pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="19" style="border-top: none; height: 14.5pt;">Freeplay</td>
<td class="xl65" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Stephen Nachmanovitch</td>
<td align="right" class="xl65" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">1</td>
</tr>
<tr height="19" style="height: 14.5pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="19" style="border-top: none; height: 14.5pt;">The Creative
Habit</td>
<td class="xl65" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Twyla Tharp</td>
<td align="right" class="xl65" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">1</td>
</tr>
<tr height="19" style="height: 14.5pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="19" style="border-top: none; height: 14.5pt;">Steering the
Craft *</td>
<td class="xl65" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">Ursula LeGuin</td>
<td align="right" class="xl65" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">1</td>
</tr>
<tr height="19" style="height: 14.5pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="19" style="border-top: none; height: 14.5pt;">Writing the
Australian Crawl</td>
<td class="xl65" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">William Stafford</td>
<td align="right" class="xl65" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;">1</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02988568411272528022noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4574386226748614156.post-71871423977591937212017-01-12T11:03:00.000-08:002017-01-14T10:28:43.061-08:00The Many Pleasures of the Novel<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://images.booksense.com/images/188/033/9781400033188.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://images.booksense.com/images/188/033/9781400033188.jpg" width="207" /></a></div>
I've been devouring <i><a href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9781400033188" target="_blank">13 Ways of Looking at the Novel</a></i> by <a href="https://www.facebook.com/janesmileyauthor/" target="_blank">Jane Smiley</a>, and marking it up like a Bible for its densely packed gems of clear critical insights and unapologetic opinions. The book is the fruit of a process Smiley underwent of reading 100 novels, ranging across centuries, cultures, and styles. She's got me salivating. I want to do the same thing -- make a very deliberate selection of acclaimed, significant, diverse, groundbreaking titles and read them in both a curricular and a personal fashion. 100. Why not? Once I finish poring over this book. And get my life in order. And deadlines met. Sigh.<br />
<br />
Jane Smiley is the first author I ever met. Ever laid eyes on. I was a sophomore at <a href="http://www.rpi.edu/" target="_blank">Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute</a> (or was I a junior?), and I'd won an essay contest at school. Smiley was invited in as the author who gave an address at the awards ceremony, then handed each of us our award certificates and envelopes containing checks with the award money. (I totally entered for laundry quarters.) I thought her reading (from <i><a href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780307472762" target="_blank">Moo</a></i>) and remarks were interesting, but I remember a twinge of disappointment that when I met her, she was a normal human, like me. Both of us had to choose, reluctantly, what to wear that day. Both of us felt vaguely awkward at the ceremonial requirement that we shake hands on a stage and she hand me a paper. I think I wanted her to have a visible, glowing authorial aura. Perhaps the discovery that she didn't was a step on my path toward thinking, heck, maybe I could write a book, too.<br />
<a href="http://www.albany.edu/writers-inst/graphics/smiley_jane_credit_elena_seibert.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.albany.edu/writers-inst/graphics/smiley_jane_credit_elena_seibert.jpg" height="200" width="151" /></a><br />
Reading <i>13 Ways</i> unveiled the aura in all its luminosity. I'm mesmerized by the flow of her insights into the novel, at the precision of her thinking, and by both the profundity and the obvious validity of her multifaceted perspectives on this thing I've always loved and now devoted my career to. Am I gushing? I don't care.<br />
<br />
On page 86, Smiley catalogs a long list of the "many pleasures a novelist has to offer" (slight paraphrase). I reached for my notebook to write them down and mull upon them. I don't presume she meant her list to be exhaustive. In any case I found myself listing a few additional pleasures, meaningful to me, that weren't listed. I hope they're distinct from those that are already there. And I wondered, gentle readers, what have I missed? What other pleasures do you take in books that don't appear on the Smiley-Berry list? (Egads.)<br />
<br />
<b>Jane Smiley's List of Pleasures to be Found in the the Novel:</b><br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>the unusual pleasure of the exotic </li>
<li>the intellectual pleasure of historical understanding</li>
<li>the humane pleasure of psychological insight into one or more characters</li>
<li>the simple pleasure of entertainment and suspense</li>
<li>the exuberant pleasure of laughter and trickery</li>
<li>the guilty pleasure of gossip</li>
<li>the tempting pleasure of secrecy and intimacy</li>
<li>the confessional pleasure of acknowledged sin and attempted redemption</li>
<li>the polemical pleasure of indignation</li>
<li>the rigorous pleasure of intellectual analysis</li>
<li>the reassuring pleasure of identifying with one's nation or people</li>
<li>the vicarious pleasure of romance</li>
</ol>
<br />
<br />
Her use of descriptive adjectives is strategic here; we'd have a much weaker grasp on what she's trying to say the novel actually does in our human brains if we merely listed the pleasures without hinting at what they do to us.<br />
<br />
Here are few more that occurred to me as I took my diligent school-girl notes.<br />
<br />
<b>Julie Berry's Addenda to Jane Smiley's List of Pleasures</b><br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>the sensual pleasure of place and atmosphere</li>
<li>the emotion-coloring pleasures of mood</li>
<li>the romantic pleasures of bucolic nature, heroism, idealism, and social simplicity</li>
<li>the nostalgic pleasure of a remembered past </li>
<li>the subversive pleasure of lunacy and nonsense</li>
<li>the deductive pleasure of puzzle-solving, code-breaking, and mystery-unraveling</li>
<li>the existential pleasure of nothingness, the vertigo of eroded ego in a vast, unfeeling cosmos</li>
<li>the cynical pleasure of irony</li>
<li>the erotic pleasure of horror</li>
<li>the spectator pleasures of vicariously but safely experiencing violence and combat</li>
<li>the aesthetic pleasure of savoring any literary excellence found therein</li>
<li>the therapeutic pleasure or catharsis of release, identification, and/or empathy</li>
<li>the obsessive pleasure of infatuation with a character or a group of them </li>
</ol>
<br />
It's not a bad gig, really, being in the business of offering a platter of pleasures to readers the world over. I can think of worse jobs.<br />
<br />
I'm neither judging nor sneering at any of these pleasures. All are valid and available. Have I overlapped? Have I strayed off the rails? What pleasures have I missed? <br />
<br />Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02988568411272528022noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4574386226748614156.post-44257755991106429872016-01-12T11:42:00.000-08:002016-01-12T11:42:37.321-08:00A Scandalous CelebrationToday is the release date for the paperback edition of <i><a href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9781250073396" target="_blank">The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place</a></i>, released by the <a href="http://us.macmillan.com/thescandaloussisterhoodofprickwillowplace/julieberry" target="_blank">SquareFish</a> imprint of Macmillan, so I thought a scandalous celebration was in order. Cue the ginger beer and the shortbread biscuits! But whatever you do, beware the veal.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr8RUSNItjIslhMTvAjwqyAsjkr4MYhvYvjZWiwEn2rn8NdAe0JEtIBPU14KvOhxVR9rIV6IUhfLDGO7miPtwYJggKlPnHBnHPpCqU2CJ0akLH7Ox2B0yN-0Kon34aM_pDcV4cyopV1uaL/s1600/Scandalous_Paperback.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr8RUSNItjIslhMTvAjwqyAsjkr4MYhvYvjZWiwEn2rn8NdAe0JEtIBPU14KvOhxVR9rIV6IUhfLDGO7miPtwYJggKlPnHBnHPpCqU2CJ0akLH7Ox2B0yN-0Kon34aM_pDcV4cyopV1uaL/s320/Scandalous_Paperback.jpg" width="218" /></a></div>
First of all, the cover deserves some love. This artistic gem by Italian illustrator <a href="http://iacopobruno.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Iacopo Bruno</a> has been a gift to the book. But look! The paperback gets a new treatment in blue, as compared to the amber color of the hardback original. I think it makes the girls' faces pop, don't you?<br />
<br />
Writing <i>The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place</i> was too much fun. It was my first novel set during the Victorian era, so it was an homage to All Things Victorian: Dickens and shoulder puffs, manners and murder. Their fascination with the macabre took the shape of Dour Elinor, one of my favorites among the girls, who plays the 19th Century version of a goth girl. Their rigid but evolving rules for women created the backdrop for the story: what if seven spry young ladies saw a chance at independence, and seized it?<br />
<br />
The book also celebrates my lifelong infatuation with <a href="http://www.agathachristie.com/" target="_blank">Agatha Christie</a>. The youngest of the girls, Pocked Louise, wins the Hercule Poirot award for this story. She's neither Belgian nor fussy, but she's got enough spunk to stand up to the older girls and solve the mystery.<br />
<br />
I can't talk about Scandalous and not show you its animated trailer. Huzzah for illustrator <a href="http://sallygardner.com/" target="_blank">Sally Gardner</a>, animator Chris Becker of <a href="http://www.beckerstudio.com/" target="_blank">Becker Studio</a>, and composer/performer Andrus Madsen who helped make this tasty little morsel. (To see how we made it, click <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtCQPVR7NTs" target="_blank">here</a>.)<br />
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<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/w9NJHszL3hA/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/w9NJHszL3hA?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
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Scandalous has friends around the globe, with a lovely version illustrated by <a href="http://nicolakinnear.com/" target="_blank">Nicola Kinnear</a> published by <a href="http://piccadillypress.co.uk/2015/02/23/designing-the-book-cover-the-scandalous-sisterhood-of-prickwillow-place/" target="_blank">Piccadilly Press</a> in the UK, and this toothsome cover from the German edition, <i><a href="http://www.thienemann-esslinger.de/thienemann/buecher/buchdetailseite/lasst-uns-schweigen-wie-ein-grab-isbn-978-3-522-20199-5/" target="_blank">Lasst Uns Schweigen Wie Ein Grab</a></i>, which, if I'm not mistaken, means something like "Let's be a silent as the grave." The cover is a view from the grave. Super fun. There are also editions of Scandalous in Brazil and Japan. Hope to see them someday. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyTxFT3hWF8wNdcBPi-RRk2xAhjCraF58Kb896RD34oEL9MufJlRKnxsWLhNXOAFnjZQr0rUiLa1dSV6toCNARYpyrRc8DRdtIbILkBWah2Gpm1fA2TMshrPEr0xh7sC4X5LEjn3gNAwfq/s1600/UK+and+Germany+Cover+Scandalous.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyTxFT3hWF8wNdcBPi-RRk2xAhjCraF58Kb896RD34oEL9MufJlRKnxsWLhNXOAFnjZQr0rUiLa1dSV6toCNARYpyrRc8DRdtIbILkBWah2Gpm1fA2TMshrPEr0xh7sC4X5LEjn3gNAwfq/s320/UK+and+Germany+Cover+Scandalous.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5iOz5ZxKIOnH70Kq4RF5wFO7X19SRJsZQmroPGogRGO6dKluVEb3wMR4l-gX-U8Br0CTfqiMj4Zx-_fEmM-5hR2b6vNqDQMPlWaBeqWCQEvNPLK4JbhsXrC8eo9ApHO1XyGq2u8rLpe7J/s1600/JayneEntwistle2-214x200.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5iOz5ZxKIOnH70Kq4RF5wFO7X19SRJsZQmroPGogRGO6dKluVEb3wMR4l-gX-U8Br0CTfqiMj4Zx-_fEmM-5hR2b6vNqDQMPlWaBeqWCQEvNPLK4JbhsXrC8eo9ApHO1XyGq2u8rLpe7J/s1600/JayneEntwistle2-214x200.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX8WQWAdRVHXRTDEWFT_c44iAroRYmhjt9jZrvCjcpSYFnjtPrdhkjYZo-5hlfd1AxgZ5pOhDtQkq-vYaGr75nRNIYD5PbAQv_jDvP29IS7XLgjvgRQqm2et-lxbu3IeXRi4W6zDbgpRco/s1600/Scandalous+audiobook.jpe" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX8WQWAdRVHXRTDEWFT_c44iAroRYmhjt9jZrvCjcpSYFnjtPrdhkjYZo-5hlfd1AxgZ5pOhDtQkq-vYaGr75nRNIYD5PbAQv_jDvP29IS7XLgjvgRQqm2et-lxbu3IeXRi4W6zDbgpRco/s200/Scandalous+audiobook.jpe" width="172" /></a>The <a href="http://www.booksontape.com/book/240270/the-scandalous-sisterhood-of-prickwillow-place/" target="_blank">audiobook</a> for Scandalous, performed by the inimitable <a href="http://thejayneshow.com/" target="_blank">Jayne Entwistle</a>, won an Odyssey Honor from the ALA, and gained this shiny sticker. Here also is a picture of Jayne celebrating her well-deserved accolades. (Click <a href="http://www.booksontape.com/odyssey-honor-for-the-the-scandalous-sisterhood-of-prickwillow-place/" target="_blank">here</a> to hear a sample.) </div>
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Reviewers & committees brought gifts to the party: a star from Publisher's Weekly, a best of 2014 nod from the Wall Street Journal, inclusion in the Dorothy Canfield Fisher list, the Amelia Bloomer project, and the Whitney Award. Best of all, bookstores, book clubs, and readers got on board and came along for the nutty farcical ride.<br />
<br />
I'm thrilled to see the novel find a new readership in paperback, and can't wait to hear from more readers about it. Till next time, sleuths!<br />
<br />
<br />Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02988568411272528022noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4574386226748614156.post-33997384743825884252015-10-05T05:24:00.001-07:002015-10-05T13:26:36.864-07:00Cover reveal: The Passion of Dolssa, coming April 12, 2016<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfRVwL9W00uQ3hlRJ4SPBFRWLf7e5SpKVjeELfaGWR64KLGHBhtG4FgJT-O3dkPtFiIQK3DXC21EKiZyYdhBzCShPStzAF3HL9iWqKew91qFXqJNK1GbGikDQCgJXlAaMf510L9s1zjWE7/s1600/image1+%25283%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfRVwL9W00uQ3hlRJ4SPBFRWLf7e5SpKVjeELfaGWR64KLGHBhtG4FgJT-O3dkPtFiIQK3DXC21EKiZyYdhBzCShPStzAF3HL9iWqKew91qFXqJNK1GbGikDQCgJXlAaMf510L9s1zjWE7/s320/image1+%25283%2529.JPG" width="211" /></a></div>
I'm excited to share the exquisite cover of my upcoming young adult novel, <a href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780451469922" style="font-style: italic;" target="_blank">The Passion of Dolssa</a><i>, </i>coming April 12, 2016 from Viking Children's Books in North America. Isn't it pretty? My thanks to the talented design team at Penguin Young Readers Group.<br />
<br />
This has been my most engrossing, challenging, and heart-rending project to date. It's a historical drama and romance, and I'm thrilled (and a little nervous!) to share it with the world. Set in medieval France, it tells the story of Dolssa, a mystic girl whose tales of her visions earn her a sentence of execution for the crime of heresy. When she manages to escape her burning and flee across southern France as a fugitive from the friar obsessed with finding her, she encounters Botille, a peasant girl whose desire to help a poor stranger brings peril down upon her entire village and family.<br />
<br />
I'll be posting more about the book and my travel schedule soon. Meanwhile, anyone interested can add it to their <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25902198-the-passion-of-dolssa?" target="_blank">Goodreads to-read shelf</a>, pre-order it from their <a href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780451469922" target="_blank">favorite bookseller</a>, or request it from their local library.<br />
<br />
Enjoy!<br />
<br />
Here's the copy available online:<br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;"><i><br /></i></b>
<b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;"><i>I must write this account, and when I have finished, I will burn it. </i></b><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;"><i> </i></b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">Buried deep within the archives of a convent in medieval France is an untold story of love, loss, and wonder and the two girls at the heart of it all. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">Dolssa is an upper-crust city girl with a secret lover and an uncanny gift. Branded a heretic, she’s on the run from the friar who condemned her mother to death by fire, and wants Dolssa executed, too.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">Botille is a matchmaker and a tavern-keeper, struggling to keep herself and her sisters on the right side of the law in their seaside town of Bajas.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">When their lives collide by a dark riverside, Botille rescues a dying Dolssa and conceals her in the tavern, where an unlikely friendship blooms. Aided by her sisters and Symo, her surly but loyal neighbor, Botille nurses Dolssa back to health and hides her from her pursuers. But all of Botille’s tricks, tales, and cleverness can’t protect them forever, and when the full wrath of the Church bears down upon Bajas, Dolssa’s passion and Botille’s good intentions could destroy the entire village. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">From the author of the award-winning </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">All the Truth That's in Me</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;"> comes a spellbinding thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the final page and make you wonder if miracles really are possible.</span><br />
ISBN: <span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">0451469925 </span>Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02988568411272528022noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4574386226748614156.post-91385569547608288182015-07-02T13:46:00.002-07:002015-07-02T13:46:59.650-07:00Writing Advice from Inside a DogLast March, I guest-blogged for the <a href="https://insideadog.com.au/" target="_blank">State Library of Victoria, Australia</a>'s groovy blog for YA readers: InsideADog.com. Over the course of the month I wrote eight posts about writing. Enough time has passed that I should repost them here, with links to the original. Enjoy!<br />
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POSTS:<br />
<a href="https://insideadog.com.au/blog/where-world-julie-berry" target="_blank"><b>Where in the World is Julie Berry? </b></a><br />
"Why do we do this? Do you have the same crazy appetite that I do to chuck three-dimensional, ultra high-definition reality for the hazy murk of a fictive world? To disappear like a drop of ink soaking into paper into an altogether imagined place? ... Writing is just as immersive as reading. it's the same kind of deep dive, the same thrill, the same high. Only with a lot more grumbling, and revision, and deadlines."<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGHilOQMjWm9CAZvUcG4EvWEufPtJPWj7J8EEhzO-h0jFpUddvsWY2kmyEsViWckDQN0PGBjVdYwPo8kt8Ue7JvhoTfZmqGk03BxMX25nBToS7qjs2YS0Q3OHwYGW0jg8SG5RHTJ06dagC/s1600/JulieBerryAtHerDesk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="103" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGHilOQMjWm9CAZvUcG4EvWEufPtJPWj7J8EEhzO-h0jFpUddvsWY2kmyEsViWckDQN0PGBjVdYwPo8kt8Ue7JvhoTfZmqGk03BxMX25nBToS7qjs2YS0Q3OHwYGW0jg8SG5RHTJ06dagC/s200/JulieBerryAtHerDesk.jpg" width="200" /></a><b><a href="https://insideadog.com.au/blog/Residence/201503" target="_blank">Creating from Chaos</a></b><br />
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“As far as I can tell, creativity springs from chaos. The universe swirled into being via a colossally explosive mess. Life begets life in a similarly messy way. The artists and writers I know can’t always find their calendars or their keys, but something loud and messy is generally brewing inside.” <span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG3YnOd4z0f-VsYsThrZ5uZFsszhW3vDDU5IH-XfaQzbeUwJ-BM-JGe-7r25mjkfpnQOqvxaGYkwTHdIdH2i8fGENipJECLaqCqIeLgHBsh7BlcCaH0GaSn4cHVy4D_-iRf2tDzg03F2L_/s1600/WeFoundLoveInsideADog.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="121" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG3YnOd4z0f-VsYsThrZ5uZFsszhW3vDDU5IH-XfaQzbeUwJ-BM-JGe-7r25mjkfpnQOqvxaGYkwTHdIdH2i8fGENipJECLaqCqIeLgHBsh7BlcCaH0GaSn4cHVy4D_-iRf2tDzg03F2L_/s200/WeFoundLoveInsideADog.png" width="200" /></a><a href="https://insideadog.com.au/blog/we-found-love-inside-dog" target="_blank"><b>We Found Love Inside a Dog</b></a></div>
“I’m going to die in here.” Loraine didn’t realize she was thinking out loud.<br />
<o:p></o:p><br />
“I had so many more meals I wanted to eat,” said Phil. “Sandwich meat to steal. Who knows? Maybe, someday, start a family.”<o:p></o:p><br />
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Loraine gasped. A guy who valued the simple things...</div>
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<a href="https://insideadog.com.au/blog/dial-piggy-more-writing-prompt-mischief" target="_blank"><b>Dial-a-Piggy: More Writing Prompt Mischief</b></a></div>
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This little piggy went to market. This little piggy stayed home ... </div>
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<b><a href="https://insideadog.com.au/blog/its-time-we-talked-about-revision" target="_blank">It's Time We Talked About Revision</a></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 17.1200008392334px;">"Revision, people seem to think, is the Dark Side of writing, the necessary evil, the cross to bear. Making a story could be fun, they concede, but fixing it is like surgery without anesthesia."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9lpvmLtPBZ6Afuhs5IsLE4IQeNs57qw2oXxGQZq-oAZOjMDcx219nbu-ncoe7_ZGP4ovsFeybpDRdndYgTk2qEr9X-aO2Q8uQ0_CRlJvpX0GBGdXEwwlSsCPAMtU8skB4cmRTnzE7ibl1/s1600/JoyOfTeamwork.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="84" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9lpvmLtPBZ6Afuhs5IsLE4IQeNs57qw2oXxGQZq-oAZOjMDcx219nbu-ncoe7_ZGP4ovsFeybpDRdndYgTk2qEr9X-aO2Q8uQ0_CRlJvpX0GBGdXEwwlSsCPAMtU8skB4cmRTnzE7ibl1/s200/JoyOfTeamwork.png" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 17.1200008392334px;"><a href="https://insideadog.com.au/blog/joy-teamwork-lets-talk-about-collaboration" target="_blank"><b>The Joy of Teamwork: Let's Talk About Collaboration</b></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 17.1200008392334px;">“When I was a kid in school, I hated group projects. I begged my way out of them whenever possible. “I’ll do twice the work,” I would plead. “Three times. Four. Only don’t make me collaborate, pleeeeeeze!” The truth was, I was a bossy little snobby-pants who didn’t like compromising. I didn’t want somebody else to miss a deadline and lower my grade. Bottom line: I didn’t play nicely with others.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC8UG8PZu2PZ2FOs6RCOV13wT9bfDYo6YwR9hyt-LW6UyjpDKpUXQ2GosYPquBsVJNhkNp8ASwJQoI5zZY3ziWPP3mVjHqUe4xlMYZBmiIW5JKEXDIA9l8GPM_lSNeApWvxsFvm4nw58Ml/s1600/SufferingPrisoner.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="123" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC8UG8PZu2PZ2FOs6RCOV13wT9bfDYo6YwR9hyt-LW6UyjpDKpUXQ2GosYPquBsVJNhkNp8ASwJQoI5zZY3ziWPP3mVjHqUe4xlMYZBmiIW5JKEXDIA9l8GPM_lSNeApWvxsFvm4nw58Ml/s200/SufferingPrisoner.png" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 17.1200008392334px;"><a href="https://insideadog.com.au/blog/its-time-we-talked-about-suffering" target="_blank"><b>It's Time We Talked About Suffering</b></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.1200008392334px;">“The impulse to protect the character is strong, and not just for beginning writers. I thought I was immune to it. In all my classes, I preach the gospel of suffering. But in the book I’ve been working on most recently, it took me about four passes through to succumb to all the hard things I needed to do to one particular character. Some part of me knew it, all along, but I wouldn’t admit it.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYLhh1MWsziC-_s-ySuYvi4bAd7wqzdAQ2RkBdthltGmVamYivCvEb09DYtyXI8O_4xLTao3OvZuWYTGdzUtUX5BG6spT0wo3ylOX-pvXoCQvh7D-D5zy9Wnyic_9FY9Bu0BlR-aokcKPv/s1600/TimeWeTalkedAboutCharacter.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="104" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYLhh1MWsziC-_s-ySuYvi4bAd7wqzdAQ2RkBdthltGmVamYivCvEb09DYtyXI8O_4xLTao3OvZuWYTGdzUtUX5BG6spT0wo3ylOX-pvXoCQvh7D-D5zy9Wnyic_9FY9Bu0BlR-aokcKPv/s200/TimeWeTalkedAboutCharacter.png" width="200" /></a><a href="https://insideadog.com.au/blog/farewell-its-time-we-talked-about-character" target="_blank"><b>A Farewell Post: It's Time We Talked About Character</b></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.1200008392334px;">“You must know your characters as fully as you can, in order to bring them to life on the page. The overarching lesson about knowing is context. To know someone, we must know where they’re coming from, and what they’re coming from. Not just Bosnia, but a refugee camp. Not just the suburbs, but a dysfunctional, abusive home there. Not just Manhattan, but a penthouse suite, with maids and chauffeurs. Not just high school, but a military school where you’re tormented for being gay.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02988568411272528022noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4574386226748614156.post-51179163786210997112015-02-22T23:55:00.000-08:002015-02-22T23:55:18.151-08:00On rest, on sleep, on Sabbath loveWhen I was a young (so very young!) bride-to-be, the women at my church threw me a bridal shower. Among the dishes, towels, and utensils I received from this coven of kind and knowing women was a gift that did not seem to fit--a slim, beige volume of poetry: <i>Sabbaths </i>by Wendell Berry, published in 1987 by North Point Press, San Francisco. The friend who gave the gift was undoubtedly making a little joke about what my name would be when I married Phil Berry. I confess that at the time I didn't appreciate this gift fully; we were poor college students, grateful for every spoon. I'd never heard of Wendell Berry. To be sure, I loved "literature," whatever that meant to me then, but my first glance through the book didn't grab me, and I had impending marriage on the brain, agitating and addling it.<br />
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This week I will celebrate my twentieth wedding anniversary. The towels have frayed, and the dishes broken, but two marriage gifts have remained with me: this little volume, and Phil himself. Time has polished and elevated them both in my estimation. Here's Athena the Cat with my original book.<br />
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Marriage and maturity both settle down with time, like the moldering leaves in Wendell Berry's Kentucky woods. Neither can stay in the flighty, angsty, hormone-crazed place in which they begin. They settle in time into a Sabbath peace. I needed to grow up into these poems, just as I have grown up into life with Phil. I never was an adult without him; perhaps we haven't become adults yet. Just tired adolescents with adolescents of our own.<br />
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When I reach for Wendell Berry, it is usually on a Sunday, when I search, so often in vain, to infuse a bit of Sabbath rest into my sabbath. Mr. Berry the poet spent seven years embarking on a similar search. From 1979 to 1985, he spent Sabbaths in solitary reflection in the woods and fields near his home in Kentucky. From his meditations came this book of poetry. It's out of print now, replaced with an updated and expanded book called <i><a href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9781619024366" target="_blank">This Day: Collected and New Sabbath Poems</a></i> (2014, Counterpoint). His Sabbath musings and writings have become a lifelong labor of love, and how lucky we are for it. I shall treat myself to the new edition as an anniversary present for me. (I could give it, ahem, to Phil, but he might as well buy a chainsaw for me. We are neither of us fooled by such tricks at this point.)<br />
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There are several poems I'd love to share here, but to preserve Mr. Wendell Berry's copyright, and to entice you to lay hands upon this collection if you can, I will content myself with a few teasing snippets. Oh, but they're a butchery; each piece demands its whole.<br />
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On Sabbath rest, from the end of poem II, 1979:<br />
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<i>The mind that comes to rest is tended</i><br />
<i>In ways that it cannot intend:</i><br />
<i>Is borne, preserved, and comprehended</i><br />
<i>By what it cannot comprehend.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Your Sabbath, Lord, thus keeps us by</i><br />
<i>Your will, not ours. And it is fit</i><br />
<i>Our only choice should be to die</i><br />
<i>Into that rest, or out of it. </i><br />
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These two stanzas are all the sermon I will ever need.<br />
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Here's all of poem X of the same year, a poem that speaks as much to farm work as to the work of art, and to the work of building a life, a love, a family:<br />
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<i>Whatever is foreseen in joy</i><br />
<i>Must be lived out from day to day.</i><br />
<i>Vision held open in the dark</i><br />
<i>By our ten thousand days of work.</i><br />
<i>Harvest will fill the barn; for that</i><br />
<i>The hand must ache, the face must sweat. </i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>And yet no leaf or grain is filled </i><br />
<i>By work of ours; the field is tilled</i><br />
<i>And left to grace. That we may reap,</i><br />
<i>Great work is done while we're asleep.</i><br />
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<i>When we work well, a Sabbath mood</i><br />
<i>Rests on our day, and finds it good. </i><br />
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All we've ever grown, or built, written, performed, or birthed is contained in this graceful piece. Phil and I have learned to work well together.<br />
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Finally, tucked away in 1982 is poem VIII, "To Tanya," a poem on the occasion of their twenty-fifth anniversary. Some excerpts here:<br />
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<i>Our household for the time made right,</i><br />
<i>All right around us on the hill</i><br />
<i>For time and for this time, tonight,</i><br />
<i>Two kernels folded in one shell,</i><br />
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<i>We're joined in sleep beyond desire </i><br />
<i>To one another and to time,</i><br />
<i>Whatever time will take or spare ...</i><br />
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<i>... In faith no better sighted yet</i><br />
<i>Than when we plighted first by hope,</i><br />
<i>By vows more solemn than we thought,</i><br />
<i>Ourselves to this combining sleep</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>A quarter century ago,</i><br />
<i>Lives given to each other and</i><br />
<i>To time, to lives we did not know</i><br />
<i>Already given, heart and hand.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Would I come to this time this way</i><br />
<i>Again, now that I know, confess</i><br />
<i>So much, knowing I cannot say</i><br />
<i>More now than then what will be? Yes. </i><br />
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This week I must leave Phil on a business trip, and though I travel often, I'll be a piece demanding its whole. Sabbaths are more than a day in the cycle of seven to rest, though that itself is more than a gift. A sabbath is a place, a time, a space, a person in which we find our heart's rest. To live, to die, to sleep, to rise into the rest I find with Phil has been and will forever be my wedding gift.<br />
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<br />Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02988568411272528022noreply@blogger.com2