Student Art: Ruby Holler

Have I said how much I 

LOVE

student artwork?

Love

love 

love

it.

A privileged glimpse

inside their heads.

Such gifts!

xx

Most Best and Dignified

(Click to enlarge)

"Beautiful"!

"Most best"!

"Dignified"!

Welllll, okayyyy!

Love this envelope.

(And the old wooden table beneath it is pretty cool, too.)

xx

Names (and Fan Mail, continued)

Amid this latest batch of mail are

handmade postcards:

on one side a scene from one of my books

and on the back a note to me.

Love these

 glimpses into the head of a reader

to see what he or she sees.

In this mail pile

are hundreds of signatures:

the expected Sarahs and Mikes and Davids

and Kates and Johns and Jills and Abbys

With spelling variations:

Natalie, Natalee, Nataley

Rachel, Rachael, Raychil,

Kaitlin, Kaitlyn, Caitlin, Katelyn

And these more rare, but beautiful names:

Alaina, Alondra, Amiya, Angelica, Abraham, Ameer, Ariel, Aristan, Arda, Alaura, Alouette, Ariana, Aejah,

Brooklyn, Chaun, Camden, Cole, Caleb,

Delia, Della, Delaney, Devron,

Emmanuel, Eunice, Eva, Estefania,

Gabriella, Gianni, Hadia, Haley, Hunter, Isela, Izzy,

Jade, Jayden, Jazzmyn, Jerred, Jesse, Joman, Jevarius, 

Kara, Kadamma, Kazuma, Kaleb, Karlee, Kei, Keani, Khyrea, Kira, Kori,

Leighton, Lariah, Lily,

Mei, Maximillian, Marika, Mallory, Morgan, Mackenzie, Macalistair,

Nellie, Nile, Nora, Oshen, Olivia, Paris, Peyton, Paige,

Rainey, Roya, Radhika, Rose, Reeve, Rahul, Rocene,

Sydney, Sofia, Sierra, Sami, Shayna, Shareka, Serena, Sidalie,

Trinity, Tristan, Tatem, Tate

Uziel, Vega, Veronica, Whitney, 

Xavier, Yzsabella,

and

 Zizy.

I've long been intrigued by the ways in which

we are shaped by

or perceived by

our names

and

cannot move forward 

with the writing of a story

without names.

I've already chosen two from the above

for a future book.

Those names will not only shape

the character

but also suggest

the plot.

So if you're ever stuck

in beginning a story

try choosing two random names

and let them

(the characters with those names)

go at it.

xx

Fan Mail

Sometimes mail becomes stuck in the cogs

of the mighty publishing wheel.

Sometimes it falls off a desk

or sticks to someone else's mail.

Sometimes the handwriting on the envelope

is illegible

and it has to wait for a code-breaker to decipher it:

Is this for Ms. Cleary or Ms. Cushman or Ms. Creech?

How else to explain that the most recent box of mail

forwarded from the publisher

(a small portion of which is shown above)

contains letters written as far back as 

September, 2011?

Ack!

I feel badly that readers have had to wait so long for a reply.

I need fortification as I tackle the pile:

This batch comes from these countries:

USA, Belgium, Canada, England, Israel, Japan, Taiwan

and 38 states 

from Alabama to West Virginia

and from towns with such great names as

Big Spring, Eagle, Minnetonka, Washougal, White Salmon

 Little Chalfont, Brussels, Coquitlam, Taipei

and these streets

King Albert Avenue, Cokes Lane, Ivy Flower Loop

Grassy Lick Road, St. Pippin Road, Sugar Avenue

In my next post, I'll treat you to

wonderful names

of readers 

a beautiful

collection

of

beautiful

names.

xx

Encouragement

We all need encouragement from time to time, mm? The above note, which now rests on my office window ledge, was written on an interior envelope which contained a letter from a fan/reader. Several things I like about this note: that it says 'keep on' instead of 'keep up'; that it was first written in pencil and then retraced in marker; that this second envelope was used to hold the special letter (the outer, addressed envelope not being secure enough perhaps); that the reader recognized that writing might be 'hard work'; and that the reader was thoughtful enough to send encouragement. All of these things tell me I would probably like the writer of this note very much.

I wonder what bits of encouragement other writers keep on or near their desks . . .