New Critique Group

I attended my first meeting with my new critique group yesterday. What an incredible group of writers! I've known some of them through workshops and conferences, and already knew the talent in this group was extraordinary. We meet once a month for four hours. The members take turns hosting the meeting, and it's a lovely atmosphere with snacks provided. Yesterday we reviewed a short chapter (possibly middle grade) book. The comments and suggestions offered were direct and insightful, not just to the author of the work, but to me, and I suspect to everyone in attendance. New members must wait three months before submitting their own work for review. The review itself can be grueling, but what an incredible opportunity to learn and improve my work. I was in a critique group prior to this, also wonderful writers, but the group began to dwindle and I was delighted to be invited to join my new group. About half of them are published. All of them are incredibly talented. They'll definitely keep me on my toes!

Using the Five Senses

At the prompting of my fabulous mentor, I'm focusing on making more use of the five senses to make my scenes come alive. It's always such a delight to find books written by authors who excel in this. One of my favorites is The Secret Life of Bees. So the other day, I paid close attention to an outing with my niece and my 2-1/2 year old grand niece as we met for a picnic in the park. What a lovely day that was. The sounds: happy squeals as kids rush to the swings, parents cautioning to be careful. The smells: freshly watered grass, occasional whiffs of dust as little feet patter across the playground. The visual: Little bodies wriggling across the monkey bars, colorful fall leaves drifting to the ground, wide eyes trying to decide what activity to do next. Taste: ham and turkey sandwich dabbed with red wine vinegrette, lightly salted chips, juicy grapes, and chocolaty brownies. The feel: the gentle autumn sun on my skin, the warmth inside as little hands reach for the peanut butter and jelly sandwich I made especially for her. We couldn't experience life without all of these sensory inputs. How can we expect our readers to feel the life in our books if we leave them out?

RMC-SCBWI Fall Conference

No matter how many times I attend a Rocky Mountain Chapter's SCBWI conference, I leave feeling rejuvenated and excited about writing for children. Bruce Coville's keynote address was both inspirational and humorous as he adapted the seven deadly sins for writers. The audience, in laughter much of the time, was also moved to tears. His talk reminded us that sometimes, as we spend many hours alone writing, we need to be reminded of the many lives our novels can touch. The conference offered participants an opportunity to submit the first page of their novels to be read aloud and reviewed by an editor. I read the submissions and Kate Harrison, senior editor for Dial Books for Young Readers, commented on each of them. I was proud of the quality of these submissions, and awed by Kate's thoughtful review of them on the spot. Author Traci Jones did a marvelous session on Tips for Writing a Multicultural Novel. Her words were particularly relevant to me as I work on revisions to my tween novel, SEASHELL SECRETS, which takes place in the early 1960s during the Civil Rights Movement. Author Denise Vega reviewed ways to ratchet up the tension, and evaluate and improve scenes in your novel. I walked away with ideas for improving my own work. Later that afternoon, I listened to a panel of agents and editors respond to questions from participants. It was a lively session with all of them responding to great questions about the publishing industry. Elizabeth Law, Editor of Egmont Publishing, was delightfully fun and funny. Of course, one of the best perks of these conferences is the opportunity to mingle with so many talented writers and illustrators. I'm so impressed with the professionalism displayed throughout, and all the hard work of so many volunteers to make the entire conference run smoothly. I can hardly wait until the next one!

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.