My Squirrely Idea Gathering Ways

This is a post that I wrote for Smack Dab in the Middle for our November 2015 "harvest" theme: 

Story ideas are everywhere. At least they are in my world…some are in my journal, while others are in the little composition book that I carry in my shoulder bag, or in the note pad I keep in my night stand, or on another little pad that I keep tucked inside my golf bag. They might also be on a sticky note (or napkin) in my car, on the grocery list (or receipt). A new favorite if I’m without pen and paper: the “Notes” app in my phone. This month I’m participating in Picture Book Idea Month (PiBoIdMo, the picture book writer's equivalent of NaNoWriMo headed by picture book author Tara Lazar), so ideas are flying in particularly fast – one or more a day. Wherever I am, if an idea strikes I try to get it down. The problem (if you want to call it a problem) is, I’m not very organized with my ideas once they’re captured.

In the wild, I recently learned, this gathering methodology has a name: Scatter Hoarding. 

To read more, you can click over to Smack Dab in the Middle Blog.

~~~~~

Thanks for stopping by!

FEAR IS THE NEW FUN! (Or is it?)

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. And regardless of the time of year, I love to read a well-constructed murder mystery, ghost story, or psychological drama. (Nothing overly grotesque or horror-bound, though...it’s not for me. I’m a big chicken.) So when it comes to my writing; scary, dangerous, or creepy are somewhat foreign ideas. As it should be, right? After all, my target readers are pre-k to 6^th graders and I don’t want to frighten the children. A recent review from Publisher’s Weekly has me thinking, though. In a starred review of the children’s book WHAT THERE IS BEFORE THERE IS ANYTHING THERE: A SCARY STORY by Liniers, trans. from the Spanish by Elisa Amado. Groundwood Ages 4-7, the reviewer included this intriguing line: “Fear is the new fun…”

Hmmm. Children do love Halloween, and not necessarily for the candy. Children tell ghost stories and try to gross out each other on a regular basis. But is fear the new fun, or has it always been here marinating as a juicy ingredient for authors to drop into our stories for readers of any age? After all, as Janet Burroway says so well in WRITING FICTION: A Guide to Narrative Craft:  “[In fiction] Only trouble is interesting.” p. 32. Some of the best, most satisfying types of fictional trouble involve fear and the recognition that at times, life is scary. Handled well, books for children with a scary element may be able to help young readers navigate those fears.
So as we head into Halloween, I’m reading well written stories for children that have some scary elements, (I recently completed the excellent story THREE TIMES LUCKY by Sheila Turnage and just began reading it's sequel, THE GHOSTS OF TUPELO LANDING.) along with Poe and Shakespeare, captivated by this “what’s old is new again” notion of fear as fun and how it might apply in my own writing. (And trying my best to be brave.) 

I wish you a Happy Halloween, and Spooky Stories!

~~~

This post has been modified from the original version that appeared on Smack Dab in the Middle Blog on 10.14.2014

Poem: THE SOLITARY REAPER by William Wordsworth

Today I'm enjoying a poem by William Wordsworth called THE SOLITARY REAPER. I learned about it through the Academy of American Poets "Poem a Day" service. Initially, the title made me think of Halloween and something spooky, but the poem is sweet and a bit melancholy though not at all scary. To me, this perfectly evokes the sense of change and passing time that comes with fall and the harvest. It also has me thinking about those chance meetings with people - the ones who quickly, unexpectedly enter and leave my life, but something about them stays with me even after they're gone. 

THE SOLITARY REAPER

by William Wordsworth

Behold her, single in the field, 

Yon solitary Highland Lass! 

Reaping and singing by herself; 

Stop here, or gently pass! 

Alone she cuts and binds the grain,

And sings a melancholy strain; 

O listen! for the Vale profound 

Is overflowing with the sound. 

No Nightingale did ever chaunt 

More welcome notes to weary bands

Of travellers in some shady haunt, 

Among Arabian sands: 

A voice so thrilling ne’er was heard 

In spring-time from the Cuckoo-bird, 

Breaking the silence of the seas

Among the farthest Hebrides. 

Will no one tell me what she sings?— 

Perhaps the plaintive numbers flow 

For old, unhappy, far-off things, 

And battles long ago:

Or is it some more humble lay, 

Familiar matter of to-day? 

Some natural sorrow, loss, or pain, 

That has been, and may be again? 

Whate’er the theme, the Maiden sang

As if her song could have no ending; 

I saw her singing at her work, 

And o’er the sickle bending;— 

I listen’d, motionless and still; 

And, as I mounted up the hill,

The music in my heart I bore, 

Long after it was heard no more.

This poem is in the public domain.

LINK TO ACADEMY OF AMERICAN POETS

Middleview Interview with Debut Author Darlene Beck Jacobson

At Smack Dab in the Middle Blog today, I had the good fortune to interview Darlene Beck Jacobson, debut author of historical novel WHEELS OF CHANGE, released with Creston Books on 09/22/2014! I'm happy for Darlene's book to have arrived and I look forward to reading it soon. Here is a link to the feature article on authenticity in historical fiction that Darlene wrote last month for this blog:

AUTHENTICITY IN HISTORICAL FICTION by Darlene Beck Jacobson

Here’s a description of WHEELS OF CHANGE:

Racial intolerance, social change, sweeping progress. It is a turbulent time growing up in 1908. For twelve year old EMILY SOPER, life in Papa’s carriage barn is magic. Emily is more at home hearing the symphony of the blacksmith’s hammer, than trying to conform to the proper expectations of females. Many prominent people own Papa’s carriages. He receives an order to make one for President Theodore Roosevelt. Papa’s livelihood becomes threatened by racist neighbors, and horsepower of a different sort.  Emily is determined to save Papa’s business even if she has to go all the way to the President.

Here is an excerpt from my interview with Darlene. You can see the full Smack Dab interview by clicking on the WHEELS OF CHANGE book cover above. 

Smack Dab Middleview with WHEELS OF CHANGE author Darlene Beck Jacobson

1. In a nutshell, what does your main character, EMILY SOPER want?

Emily’s Papa owns a carriage business. Emily wants to spend her time in the carriage barn, helping Papa and hoping one day to become a blacksmith, like Papa’s beloved employee Henry. She adores this life and wants everything to stay just as it is.

2. What is in her way?

The proper expectations and roles for females in 1908 is one thing standing in her way. The other is the sweeping changes – personal, social, and technological – that threaten their safe and comfortable way of life.

Congratulations, Darlene! I wish you and your book the best.

10.13.2014 

CLEL Bell Award Nomination for THIS OLD BAND!

THIS OLD BAND has been nominated for a Colorado Libraries for Early Literacy Bell Award! It's in the category of SING. This is a neat initiative by CLEL - they seek out and nominate picture books in five categories, READ, WRITE, TALK, PLAY, and SING. Click on the logo to link to the SING list of nominations so far: 

10.11.2014