Real life experiences

My brother writes beautiful poetry. I write children's books. We've exchanged work and it's so fun to talk writing with him. As a good brother should, he pays my work high compliments. And I am in awe at how he can say so much with so few words. (He was kind enough not to remark that I could say so little with so many words.) In recent works, we both honored our father, a kind, gentle man who battled macular degeneration before his death. My brother's lyrical description brought tears to my eyes. In my middle grade novel, DON'T LOOK BACK, I relied on memories of Dad's experiences to create my grandpa character. Even my own words at times brought tears to my eyes, but that's when I knew I'd accurately captured pieces of my father's life. Real life is multifaceted, good and bad, pain and laughter, sorrow and joy. The trick in any artistic endeavor is to feel it deeply enough to recreate it, to relive it as you reproduce it, whether it's in a painting, a poem or a character.

TRY HARDER, WRITE BETTER

I learned so much from Claudia Mills as she mentored me through my middle grade novel, DON'T LOOK BACK, that I asked her if she'd consider mentoring me on a revision of my tween novel, SEASHELL SECRETS. Both of these manuscripts are "completed," and both have won awards in the Pikes Peak Writers contest. But I knew in my heart that both manuscripts had problems I couldn't identify. And both had been reviewed by my wonderful critique group. I believed in the stories in each book and didn't want to give up on them. The SCBWI Mentor Program offered the perfect vehicle for me to move forward. I'm excited about the revised manuscript and have begun sending it out. Meanwhile, I'm delving into revisions to SEASHELL SECRETS with the hopeful attitude that working with Claudia gave me with DLB. In our very first meeting on SS, she made a suggestion that completely transformed the approach I'm taking at the beginning of the novel, and I'm loving it, and hope my reader will, too. It's amazing to be excited about a book you've already revised a number of times, but I am. SEASHELL SECRETS is a story about racial prejudice and racial identity during the turbulant times surrounding the Civil Rights Movement. I first wrote this book about four years ago, set it on the shelf for a while, but am ready to revise and polish it now. I recently read THE HELP and was humbled by the depth of the story and the beauty of the writing. I've heard some writers say that reading such magnificent books makes them question their own ability. It makes me want to try harder, to write better.

Finishing a Novel

Authors express a variety of feelings upon completion of a novel: exhilaration, letdown, relief, anticipation...and the list goes on and on. I just completed my middle grade novel, DON'T LOOK BACK, and am going through a variety of emotions. Certainly I feel the exhilaration of writing the last chapter and typing the words "THE END." But I also miss working on it. My mentor, Claudia Mills, once paid me a wonderful compliment. She told me she loved my characters so much she wished they were real and she could go visit them. Her words were music to my ears. The truth of the matter is, I miss the characters myself. I loved creating their stories--their challenges, setbacks and accommplishments, and putting words in their mouths only they would say because that's how I created them. I've begun sending the manuscript out to literary agencies, and pray that someday I'll see that book in libraries and stores where children can meet my characters and hopefully love them, too. Now, it's time to shift my attention to a brand new story with brand new characters, all with their own gifts, faults and challenges. I can hardly wait to meet them!

Pikes Peak Writers Conference 2010

I attended the 2010 Pikes Peak Writers Conference last month and as always, it was fabulous. It never disappoints, from the keynote speakers, to the sessions, to the hobnobbing with other authors. The opportunity to pitch to agents and editors is a special feature of the PPW conference. This year, I pitched to Sarah Warner and found her to be attentive and delightful. And there was an added bonus: a special 4-hour workshop by Donald Maass on enhancing the tension in your novel--great timing for me. He's such a master, and did a wonderful job, especially considering it was Sunday afternoon, the end of the conference, and all of us (probably including him) were tired. We were told to bring a manuscript-in-progress to work on during the workshop. It was interesting to apply his teachings to our own work. Kudos to all of the volunteers who make this conference one of the best in the country every year.

Tension in story telling

I had a really interesting meeting with Claudia this morning. She hit on a key ingredient to writing a good novel, and one I was struggling with as I reached about the halfway mark of my novel. The ingredient I'm talking about is TENSION. I didn't have any trouble with it in the beginning of my novel as I put my character in a tense situation right off the bat. But there comes a part in many novels where things begin to mellow. In mine, it was a part where the main character and a secondary character were beginning to gel. I mean, gelling sounds like a good thing, but not if it puts the reader to sleep. I had actually recognized this problem in my novel before starting my mentorship with Claudia, and tried to remedy it by introducing a whole new tense-filled storyline. However, Claudia pointed out that this thrown-in storyline only detracted from the main story. The tension needs to revolve around that main story throughout. So I've deleted the added storyline (which was no small task since in wound through various areas of the book) and am back to work with setting a few road blocks and setbacks in my character's path in order to heighten the stakes in her main quest...a very interesting challenge!

Childrens Books as Gifrs

I went to my granddaughter's 8th birthday party yesterday. What fun! I gave her a United States of America game, and 3 books. I loved seeing the smile on her face as she thumbed through the books. One was extra special. It's called PERFECTLY CHELSEA and was written by my mentee, Claudia Mills. I had told my granddaughter about my participation in the RMC-SCBWI Mentor program and about Claudia, and she was thrilled when she saw the special note to her inside the book, signed by Claudia herself! It's so fun to see a child become interested in books. Suddenly, a million worlds are opened up for her. I remember the thrill of reading a book you don't want to put down, can hardly wait to get back to, and feel a sense of loss when you come to the end. But then...you find another one, and the cycle starts all over again. A writer can provide so much joy to a child. What a great way to spend your life!

Kids as Motivators

I attended a dinner a couple of nights ago held in celebration of volunteers and contributors to the Ridgeview Youth Services Center, a model program designed to treat young boys who have been sentenced by the courts to the Division of Youth Corrections (DYC) for serious crimes they committed. DYC is a wonderful Colorado state agency which oversees both state-run and privately-run (e.g. Ridgeview) programs for kids in trouble with the law. It was great to see several staff with whom I'd worked during my time as Director of Research for DYC. One of the speakers at the dinner was a former Ridgeview client who is soon to become a teacher. There are many similar success stories for kids whom, by the time they reach Ridgeview, many have given up on. A couple of years ago, a former work cohort and I partnered to teach a one-day class on life skills at Ridgeview through the Junior Achievement Program. It was a fabulous experience. The kids were respectful, attentive and eager to learn. We ate lunch in the cafeteria and listened while kids talked about the books they were reading. Their excitement was contagious and I could hardly wait to get home and work on my novel. There's nothing more motivating than the enthusiasm of kids, especially kids who are finally finding their way in a world that has been wrought with problems and heartbreak.