July 21, 2006
We're sizzling here, in more ways than one! It's 90 degrees in our house right now, and we Northwesterners wilt once we hit 80. (I know, no sympathy from the rest of the country, where many of you have temps well over 100 degrees today. )
But the REAL sizzle, the wonderful sizzle I want to write about today is The Beast of Noor, my writing friend's new young adult fantasy. This sound from the heart of author Janet Lee Carey is the story of the Shriker, a massive beast of incredible strength, who roams the dark woods of Noor, killing those who encounter him, held in the spell of a long ago curse. Even more, it's the story of Hannah and Miles, brother and sister, seeking to break the curse of their long ago ancestor who started it all.
For me the most wonderful thing about Janet's book is the depth of her own spirit expressed in the lovely language of the book. I read a heart-stopping passage like "A searing pain ran down Miles's right flank as he crept along the passage. He wanted to lie down, to change back into himself, but he couldn't rest, couldn't risk changing back while Hanna was still in danger. He needed all his animal strength to kill the Shriker before the beast attacked again."
Then, a few pages later in the book, "The Falconer held her, and she cried into his wool shirt. The shirt smelled like winterleaf, and under that a woodland scent like Granda's used to have, and that made her cry all the more. He patted her shoulder in quiet rhythm until her sobbing ceased. She sat back and the old man looked into her eyes. 'I've set my mind on finding him, Hanna. You should know this.' "
I admit, I'm unable to put down this lovely long book (497 pages, including the Noor/Oth glossary.) And this is despite the fact that I got to see most of it in its earlier drafts in our writing group.
Our dear Janet is going to be truly famous some day, famous like Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. I have believed that for a long time. That is not her personal goal in writing, but as she opens for all of us the vast enchanted country of her own heart, it cannot help but happen.
I hope you'll look at her amazing website (www.janetleecarey.com) . You'll delight just in her opening page! Better yet, buy a copy of The Beast of Noor, and experience for yourself Janet's Deep, True Magic.
Friday, July 21, 2006
Monday, June 26, 2006
The Write Weather
June 26, 2006
It's hot, hot, hot outside, but I am comfortably cool! I'm downstairs, hunkered next to the computer, with the tiniest breeze wafting through my office window. It's the right time to write! Okay, I admit it, when our young adult son zoomed by an hour ago to pick up his swim shorts and head for the lake, a little bit of me thought "Why write today? Why not play?" But my Pockets deadline is looming (next Monday-yikes!) and I yearn to get back to working on my book as well. That means hot or cold, this is the Write Weather.
Apply seat to chair and write. Okay, the first draft may not be brilliant. But by golly, by the time I get up this afternoon, the draft will be written. And my side benefit will be, no sunburn.
That said, I'll admit, sometimes in the summer I take my printed-out story draft with me, head for my favorite park, and rewrite at a picnic table. Hmm, sounds like a good plan for tomorrow. I'll bet I can find a nice shady table, with a bit of breeze off the lake. It will be just the Write Weather, I'm sure!
It's hot, hot, hot outside, but I am comfortably cool! I'm downstairs, hunkered next to the computer, with the tiniest breeze wafting through my office window. It's the right time to write! Okay, I admit it, when our young adult son zoomed by an hour ago to pick up his swim shorts and head for the lake, a little bit of me thought "Why write today? Why not play?" But my Pockets deadline is looming (next Monday-yikes!) and I yearn to get back to working on my book as well. That means hot or cold, this is the Write Weather.
Apply seat to chair and write. Okay, the first draft may not be brilliant. But by golly, by the time I get up this afternoon, the draft will be written. And my side benefit will be, no sunburn.
That said, I'll admit, sometimes in the summer I take my printed-out story draft with me, head for my favorite park, and rewrite at a picnic table. Hmm, sounds like a good plan for tomorrow. I'll bet I can find a nice shady table, with a bit of breeze off the lake. It will be just the Write Weather, I'm sure!
Thursday, June 15, 2006
And A Little Child Shall Lead You
June 15
I've just spent a lovely week with my daughter Deb and our 19 month old grandson, Weston, visiting from Santa Fe. Weston is learning to talk, and it's amazing what he does with his somewhat limited vocabulary. He tells entire stories with just four words. "Ball?" he says to me. Ever the compliant Grandma, I grab the ladybug ball. "Knee," he says, and points to his knee. "The ball hit your knee," I say, remembering the story his mama told me. He nods sadly, blows a kiss and puts it on his knee. "And Mommy kissed it to make it better." He nods again. "Hat," he says, pointing to his head. I smile. "Yes, you were wearing your hat when the ball hit you."
Weston sits back then, the tension relaxes from his body and he smiles. He has told his story and been heard. And he's done an amazing job of it! We have a main character, a problem and a resolution to the problem. (Mommy kissed his knee.) We even have some setting: the hat he was wearing!
Sometimes I think it behooves us in our writing to keep it simple, to look at those basic elements: plot, character, setting, when we get stuck. I just got off the phone, after going over a manuscript edit I did for a client, a wonderful and moving story of a young man struggling with the guilt of his best friend's death, for which he feels responsible. My client is struggling with this very thing: getting back to the basics, getting rid of those extra scenes that don't move the story forward. I consoled him, telling him of my same struggle as I rework yet another revision of my current novel, Finding Nonna--the story of a 12 year-old dealing with her beloved grandmother who has Alzheimer's Disease. So many wonderful scenes have bit the dust as I try to get back to the basics. I think this week as I write, I'll think of Weston, and take my cues from him: "Ball, Knee, Kiss, hat." Sometimes that says it all! Weston may not fully know it yet, but this week he gave me a Sound from his Heart, and I am grateful.
I've just spent a lovely week with my daughter Deb and our 19 month old grandson, Weston, visiting from Santa Fe. Weston is learning to talk, and it's amazing what he does with his somewhat limited vocabulary. He tells entire stories with just four words. "Ball?" he says to me. Ever the compliant Grandma, I grab the ladybug ball. "Knee," he says, and points to his knee. "The ball hit your knee," I say, remembering the story his mama told me. He nods sadly, blows a kiss and puts it on his knee. "And Mommy kissed it to make it better." He nods again. "Hat," he says, pointing to his head. I smile. "Yes, you were wearing your hat when the ball hit you."
Weston sits back then, the tension relaxes from his body and he smiles. He has told his story and been heard. And he's done an amazing job of it! We have a main character, a problem and a resolution to the problem. (Mommy kissed his knee.) We even have some setting: the hat he was wearing!
Sometimes I think it behooves us in our writing to keep it simple, to look at those basic elements: plot, character, setting, when we get stuck. I just got off the phone, after going over a manuscript edit I did for a client, a wonderful and moving story of a young man struggling with the guilt of his best friend's death, for which he feels responsible. My client is struggling with this very thing: getting back to the basics, getting rid of those extra scenes that don't move the story forward. I consoled him, telling him of my same struggle as I rework yet another revision of my current novel, Finding Nonna--the story of a 12 year-old dealing with her beloved grandmother who has Alzheimer's Disease. So many wonderful scenes have bit the dust as I try to get back to the basics. I think this week as I write, I'll think of Weston, and take my cues from him: "Ball, Knee, Kiss, hat." Sometimes that says it all! Weston may not fully know it yet, but this week he gave me a Sound from his Heart, and I am grateful.
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Recurring Sounds!
A Sound from My Heart
May 30, 2006
As I write, whether it's a short story for my Pockets series, or a chapter for my current novel, Two Moon Journey, I find recurring themes weaving in and out, some big, some small. (My writing group accuses me of putting chocolate chip cookies in almost every story I write, something I need to ponder perhaps!) But I'm getting at something a bit deeper here. Like forgiveness. When all is said and done, my characters seem to struggle with this--the need to forgive or be forgiven. Whether it's 8 year old Sammy who's just shouted away her best friend Pete (whose duck Drabble has just eaten her slug collection) or 12 year old Simu-quah whose hatred for the Red-Bearded soldier holding her father prisoner propels her into a dangerous encounter by the jail wagon, my stories seem to echo and re-echo with the need for forgiveness.
And so it is in my own life--this is a sound that rings true in my heart. Every day I'm in need of forgiving or being forgiven--usually both.
Often enough, it's in my writing that I work out my own forgiveness struggles. Sometimes this takes a long time and lots of prayer.
Sometimes it's accomplished with as little a gesture as offering someone a chocolate chip cookie.
May 30, 2006
As I write, whether it's a short story for my Pockets series, or a chapter for my current novel, Two Moon Journey, I find recurring themes weaving in and out, some big, some small. (My writing group accuses me of putting chocolate chip cookies in almost every story I write, something I need to ponder perhaps!) But I'm getting at something a bit deeper here. Like forgiveness. When all is said and done, my characters seem to struggle with this--the need to forgive or be forgiven. Whether it's 8 year old Sammy who's just shouted away her best friend Pete (whose duck Drabble has just eaten her slug collection) or 12 year old Simu-quah whose hatred for the Red-Bearded soldier holding her father prisoner propels her into a dangerous encounter by the jail wagon, my stories seem to echo and re-echo with the need for forgiveness.
And so it is in my own life--this is a sound that rings true in my heart. Every day I'm in need of forgiving or being forgiven--usually both.
Often enough, it's in my writing that I work out my own forgiveness struggles. Sometimes this takes a long time and lots of prayer.
Sometimes it's accomplished with as little a gesture as offering someone a chocolate chip cookie.
Friday, May 26, 2006
Ideas--Sounds from my Heart
May 26, 2006
As a writer of stories for children, I often have the opportunity to go into classrooms and talk to kids about writing. "Where do you get your ideas?" they all ask. From things that really happen, from my own childhood, from watching you, I tell them. But what I often think about, and usually share, is the Japanese way of saying "Idea." Two Japanese characters comprise the word, and they translate as A Sound from the Heart.
Ideas. Sounds from the Heart.
I love this!
Any worthwhile idea I share in my writing is a Sound from my Heart. I've gotten adept over the years at recognizing these when they pop into my head, like a lightbulb flashing on. But there's a difference: when the idea is a Sound from my Heart, there's something that resonates within, like a bell ringing deep inside me.
That's what I want to share in this blog---some of those sounds from my heart: ideas about writing, about grandchildren, about life. Who knows what sounds from my heart will ring out, if I take this listening-sharing time each week? Twice a week, that's my goal to start with, to share some sounds from my heart with you--and to listen to the Sounds from your heart that you share back.
Let the Heart-Sounds begin!
As a writer of stories for children, I often have the opportunity to go into classrooms and talk to kids about writing. "Where do you get your ideas?" they all ask. From things that really happen, from my own childhood, from watching you, I tell them. But what I often think about, and usually share, is the Japanese way of saying "Idea." Two Japanese characters comprise the word, and they translate as A Sound from the Heart.
Ideas. Sounds from the Heart.
I love this!
Any worthwhile idea I share in my writing is a Sound from my Heart. I've gotten adept over the years at recognizing these when they pop into my head, like a lightbulb flashing on. But there's a difference: when the idea is a Sound from my Heart, there's something that resonates within, like a bell ringing deep inside me.
That's what I want to share in this blog---some of those sounds from my heart: ideas about writing, about grandchildren, about life. Who knows what sounds from my heart will ring out, if I take this listening-sharing time each week? Twice a week, that's my goal to start with, to share some sounds from my heart with you--and to listen to the Sounds from your heart that you share back.
Let the Heart-Sounds begin!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)