Speaking at "Chronologically-Gifted Luncheon"

On Sat., Feb. 14, I spoke at the Chronologically-Gifted Luncheon of my Unitarian Universalist church. They spread out much good food and then we had an informal talk. I talked about how I moved from a school system to a writing life and then shared books to help them connect with their grandchildren. Most were written by friends who live locally. Wendie Old and I have co-authored two picture books and I showed pics and read an excerpt from her award-winning TO FLY for middle schoolers. I also read an excerpt from Edie Hemingway's ROAD TO TATER HILL (in press) and showed the cover photo plus two Civil War novels, BROKEN DRUM and REBEL HART that Edie and Jackie Shields have written. I wrapped up with KENYA'S WORD by NYC friend Linda Trice. The group was very receptive and interested and asked good questions so it was a fun afternoon. I'm sorry the photos are a little blurred--Guess I show those books fast!

I stressed to the lunch bunch and want to say it here: Altho' fiction may be based on truth, children's nonfiction writers meticulously research and double-triple check details. In fact, if I want to know more about a topic than I can easily find online but not an adult book full of info., I head for the children's room of my library. Nonfiction writing has evolved into telling a story. That means a nf book written for young people these days doesn't read like an encyclopedia, even tho' the information is definitely accurate. Tonya Lee Stone has an article in this month's SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL about how she dug out the details for her new book ALMOST ASTRONAUTS: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream (Candlewick, 2009). It's due out next week and I'm anxious to get my copy.

Polishing a Rejected Manuscript

Final paragraph from "Finding the Spirit of Historical Picture Book Biographies," Children's Book Insider newsletter, Sept 2008, p. 3:
"And finally, share your draft with other trusted children's writers. After reworking it forty times, it may be ready for submission."

How true! This past weekend was glorious--weather-wise and work-wise. Two writer friends, Edie Hemingway and Susan Detwiler, and I retreated to Ocean City, MD, to focus on writing and sharing our work with each other. As professional writers, we didn't want the stamp of approval on our work--we wanted comments that would make it publishable. Each of us felt the time was productive. Edie began her second novel, Susan revised a picture book, and I completely revised Elephant Charge! Vishindo vya Tembo! Both Edie and Susan contributed ideas to make my story more visual and more dramatic.

Writers must look at our work without being defensive and make changes that may, or may not, work. I am afraid to count the number of versions of this picture book that I have accumulated over the months, as I changed the words again and again. The story is Jackson's but my words have to entice children to read it.

Because Edie and Susan felt I needed to add dialogue and I wanted to get Jackson's "voice" just right, this weekend I listened to interviews with Jackson that I recorded during my trip to Kenya last March. I read articles for writing advice. I checked and double-checked facts about elephants. I talked with Edie and Susan and then returned to the computer yet once more. We write because we love it, but that doesn't eliminate the pain involved. The satisfaction of feeling material is much improved makes the work worth it.

A walk along the beach on a rare (for Maryland) warm February day helps!

FYI: Edie's novel, Road to Tater Hill, will be published in September by Delacorte Press, www.randomhouse.com. She blogs with www.onepotatoten.blogspot.com. Susan is also an artist whose magnificent illustrations you can see this spring in One Wolf Howls! (Sylvan Dell, www.sylvandellpublishing.com).