Other Writers Websites

On this Thursday late in August, I offer you the inspiration of two other writers.  (Clicking on their names takes you to their websites.) 

Lois Lowry:
Her newest book, Son, extends The Giver trilogy to a quartet.

Eoin Colfer:
Colfer's latest book is Artemis Fowl and the Last Guardian. Although I have not yet read Colfer's books, I've been on two panels with him and am completely charmed by his wit.

Any author websites you particularly enjoy?

xx

Connections

I am fascinated by connections

by seeming coincidences

by intricate design

and serendipity

You pass a window and see

two silhouetted figures

You don't know that they grew up in

the house you now live in

You watch a young girl climb a tower

and admire her dexterity

You don't know that she is the daughter

of the woman who will be your boss

In a diner you see four men on stools

You don't know that

one was  your high school math teacher

who advised you to hang out with

a better crowd

You see boats bobbing in a harbor

You don't know that one of them

belongs to the boy (or girl)

you had a crush on in third grade

You stop and photograph a jewel box of a house

You don't know that the owner is

the grandson of a famous painter

and that one day

he will marry your granddaughter

As the narrator of The Great Unexpected asks:

"Did a delicate cobweb link us all, 

silky lines trailing through the air?"

xx

Real or Not Real?

Usually a book begs to be written when several ideas clump together. Yes, I wanted to write a story about how the unexpected could be great (see earlier post), but also I'd been thinking a lot about the importance of story and imagination and the beautiful wildness and freedom of children's imaginations.

I thought about two conversations I'd overheard between my grandchildren and their parents (these are also reprinted in the preface to The Great Unexpected):

Father:  Did you brush your teeth?

Son:  Yes.

Father:  Really?

Son:  Yes.

Father: Tell me the truth.

Son:  What is 'truth'?

-and -

Daughter:  I'm going to be a dolphin.

Mother:  Is that so?

Daughter:  Yes. I will live in the ocean.

Mother:  For real?

Daughter:  What is 'real'?

I loved those conversations. I loved being reminded that 'truth' and 'reality' are learned labels.  When we are young – or when we are writing a story – characters are as vivid as 'real' people. Reality and fantasy, past and present and future all dwell easily together. 

I wanted to explore those blurred regions.  Maybe I dance around the edges of these regions in many of my books (Fishing in the Air and  Replay come first to mind here), but in The Great Unexpected, I took these notions up (or down?) one more level.

(One young reader diving in . . .)

xx

Something Great and Unexpected

In a school a few years ago, when I was introducing The Unfinished Angel, I asked the students to imagine discovering "something unexpected."  I was going to refer to the character in that book who discovers an angel living in a tower.

But as soon as I said the word unexpected, the audience collectively shrank back in their seats. They looked fearful and anxious. That surprised and bothered me.  When had the unexpected become something to be feared?

I thought about this for some time. I wanted to write a story in which the unexpected was something great, something that might alter someone's feelings about the unexpected. Perhaps, then, that person's whole view of the future might also be altered.

That was the central impetus for this newest book, The Great Unexpected:

I've had my own great and unexpected event:  a call one cold, gray February day in 1995 when I was home alone in England, ready to throw a manuscript-in-progress out the window.

The phone rang.  "Walk Two Moons has received the Newbery Medal."

"Cut it out, Tom,"  I said. (I thought it was my brother playing a joke.)

Shortly thereafter, my publisher phoned. I asked her how many of these medals were awarded each year?  "500? 300? 100?"

There was a long pause while she, no doubt, considered my ignorance.  At last, she said, "One, Sharon. One."

I can assure you that this was completely unexpected–and very, very great. . . and it took me a long, long while to believe that it was okay to accept this good fortune.

Other Writers' Blogs and Websites

I love to hear what other writers have to say on their blogs and websites.  Every now and then I'll highlight some here.

For today, here are three writers whose works I admire and who offer thoughtful, interesting, insightful posts on writing and life. (Click on their names for links.)

Karen Hesse

Karen Hesse's blog is new. She and I both like to offer you photos with our words . . . or words with our photos. . .  Safekeeping is her newest book, due out mid-September, and it's another Hesse gem.

Kate DiCamillo

Clicking on her name above leads you to Kate's official Facebook page, containing touching bloggish posts. She has another lively Bink & Golly book out, Two for One. Try her website, too.

Karen Cushman

Clicking on her name (above) leads you to her website, but also check out her Facebook page, with its nice bloggish posts. Her newest book, Will Sparrow's Road, will be published in November.

Love these writers!

xx

Drafts

Above:

three years of work

six drafts

of one book:

The Great Unexpected

(due out 4 September)

By the time

I reach this phase

it's a bit like having been pregnant

for ten months

maybe eleven

and I am thinking

I did the best I could do

I love it

but

GET IT OUTTA HERE!

xx

Still Got It

Purging bookshelves

I came across a keeper:

Honey, I Love and other love poems

by Eloise Greenfield

(HarperCollins, 1978)

In it is one of my favorite poems:

Things

Went to the corner

Walked in the store

Bought me some candy

Ain't got it no more

Ain't got it no more

Went to the beach

Played on the shore

Built me a sandhouse

Ain't got it no more

Ain't got it no more

Went to the kitchen

Lay down on the floor

Made me a poem

Still got it

Still got it

xx

Endings

(see last post for the 'before' pic)

After all the mess

after all the ripping

and shredding

and wondering

and worry

and planning

and 

more ripping and shredding

ta da!

The ending:

so smooth

so seamless

so satisfying

and pleasing

you have to sit back

and marvel.

Well:

ideally.

xx

Middles

Sometimes 

you have to rip out

big chunks

of the story

in order to

fix

lumpy, bumpy bits.

(Meanwhile, this is what our driveway looks like today.)

Beginnings

Until you turn on the faucet

the bowl is empty

Until you read the first line

the story is empty

Here is a first line I like:

On a continent of many songs, in a country shaped like the arm of a tall guitarrista, the rain drummed down on the town of Temuco.

--from The Dreamer by Pam Munoz Ryan

Do you have a favorite first line?

The Great Unexpected

Some people fear the unexpected

but

sometimes

the unexpected

can be

great.

For some time, I've been wondering if we adults are passing along too many of our own post-911 fears to children, making them too wary of the unexpected, diminishing much of the joy in childhood.

That was one of the seeds for this book . . .