Get to Work

August 26th, 2009 by Sara

Today, a quote for determination and courage. This is an excerpt from the brilliant book The Writing Life by Annie Dillard. Enjoy.

“Every morning you climb several flights of stairs, enter your study, open the French doors, and slide your desk and chair out into the middle of the air. The desk and chair float thirty feet from the ground, between the crowns of maple trees. The furniture is in place; you go back for your thermos of coffee. Then, wincing, you step out again through the French doors and sit down on the chair and look over the desktop. You can see clear to the river from here in winter. You pour yourself a cup of coffee.

Birds fly under your chair. In spring, when the leaves open in the maples’ crowns, your view stops in the treetops just beyond the desk; yellow warblers hiss and whisper on the high twigs, and catch flies. Get to work. Your work is to keep cranking the flywheel that turns the gears that spin the belt in the engine of belief that keeps you and your desk in midair.”

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Lost Art? Really?

August 19th, 2009 by Sara

Ok… a friend of mine posted this article, The Lost Art of Reading, on my Facebook page yesterday.  You can pretty much guess what it’s about.  The author proposes that, in this culture of constant buzzing, finding the quiet mental space to commune with a book is becoming increasingly rare.

My question then is, Why are teenagers, the ones who are most inundated with this scattered stimulation, reading more than ever?

I should admit a bias right here.  Despite my love of the sinisiter ‘what -ifing’ of science-fiction, I have little tolerance for people who say, “X is ruining the world.”  In my lifetime already, Sesame Street, video games, and, most dangerously, ‘certain’ books have all been accused of bringing civilization to an end as we know it.

But I will concede a point to the author.  It is, of course, important to find time and space in your life for reading.  And his end conclusion is undeniable, this can be difficult.  I’m just not sure that equals technology ruining books.

I’ve been encountering this feeling a lot recently.  Another article I read recently bemoaned lost childhood.  Children, it says, aren’t given the freedom and space to imagine, be alone, have adventures.  I agree that this is often true, but only with a for certain section of the population.  In my neighborhood, kids are still tearing around on bikes, playing clapping rhythm games (really), and buying ice cream from the guy with the cart.  And this is not main street, small town USA.  This is a street of old (and I don’t mean antique or classic) apartments in LA directly behind a strip mall. A place where we have the unique combination of flashing police lights and yard sales.

Am I still on point?  I think I am.  Every generation is different and every other generation foretells the fall of civilization based on these differences.  Has Facebook and blogging and texting changed our world? I answer with an emphatic YES.  But has this led to reading become a lost art?  I don’t think so.

I will offer another illustration of this attitude.  At the risk of offending a great author and those who are fans of his, I will mention a speech I recently heard by Richard Peck.  Now Richard Peck is a incredible writer and speaker. I remember in junior high reading Are You In The House Alone while I was babysitting.  Big mistake. I was scared out of my mind and yet I couldn’t put the book down.

And Richard Peck’s talk held the same riveting quality.  During his stunning speech at the SCBWI Summer Conference, I both laughed and cried and I’m not exaggerating.  More than that, I took away a meaningful understanding of why we write for children that I will keep with me for a very long time.

But I was also unnerved.  In his charismatic speaking style he railed against the vacuum of MySpace (a paraphrase) and a world in which teenagers text at the dinner table.   It wasn’t Richard Peck saying this that made me uneasy, it was the audience’s reaction.  I watched a room full of people who are speaking to, and often for, the younger generation get caught up in this panning of technology.  I find it dangerous that the very people who profess to give voice to the pain and experiences of childhood were also deriding the very tools that generation holds dear.

Are there crappy, stupid things about MySpace or blogging or Twitter? Yes.  But there is also a chance for teenagers and kids to reach out and connect in a way they never could before.  A way for someone who doesn’t fit into their small town to know that there is a larger world out there.  People like them.  There is a way for high schoolers to feel empowered, speaking in voices that the Gatekeepers can’t silence.

The opportunities for this technology are exciting and endless, and yes, scary.  But they are worth exploring, understanding, and giving credence.  These are the tools of our readers and it is making them active participants in this world in a whole new way.  And this will be good and bad and most of all, it will be fascinating.

Posted in Authors, Books, Conference, SCBWI

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SCBWI Conference ‘09

August 13th, 2009 by Sara

Another SCBWI Summer Conference come and gone!  This year, I won’t bother to summarize what happened, since that’s already done so beautifully by the SCBWI ‘Team Blog.’  Thanks you guys!

Instead, I’ll give an illustrated version of a few moments that really struck me.  I’ve stolen most of the beautiful pictures and illustrations from other talented people, Debbie Ridpath Ohi, Karyn Raz, Edith Cohn, Marie Miranda Cruz, Lee Wind, and the SCBWI Live Blog, so click on the pictures to check out their own versions of the events!

Holly Black:  I pretty much wanted to copy down everything that came out of her mouth.  For example, “All writing is in conversation with what has come before it.”  She gave a talk about plot, citing her own struggles with it.  Evidently when she started writing she didn’t know how to move the plot forward, so she had “lots of scenes with elves sitting around drinking coffee, experiencing ennui.”

She also did a break-out session about career, talking about practical and terrifying things such as when to quit your job (the ’safe’ answer is once you can live off your royalties), taxes (about 33%), and choosing which author’s career you’d like to have (she wanted Neil Gaiman’s, which I think is a fantastic choice).  It was an incredibly concrete talk that made me really ponder career goals and attitudes.  And here’s the best line from it.

Audience Member (speaking about benefits): “It’s in our publisher’s best interest for us to be alive.”

Holly Black: “Actually that’s not true.”

So now we know why it’s so hard for writers to get health care!

Karen Cushman advised us all that when it comes to our inner voices, it’s important to “separate the writer from the editor, the editor from the critic, and dump the critic.”

David Wiesner showed us how the shape of UFO’s and the movie The Shining, both inspired the picture book Tuesday.  He also literally illustrated how ideas can try for years and years to express themselves through different projects, before they finally manifest.

Sherman Alexie inspired us all with his charismatic speech and eloquently reminded us about the nature of writing as well as its purpose.  “You’re alone.  You are doing this alone.  But remember someone else is out there alone.”

And then, after so many insightful and inspiring words, we got to what the conference is all about.  Boooogying at the Blue Moon Ball!

Posted in Authors, Conference, Illustration, Nifty happenings, SCBWI

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Collect Them All!

August 5th, 2009 by Sara

So… as I may have casually mentioned… THE SCBWI SUMMER CONFERENCE IS COMING!  For me, this means checking out great stacks of books from the library, doing my homework on editors, and hitting the thrift store for clothes that say, ‘I’m professional, yet artsy, and you should give me a heap of money.’  I’ve never found quite the right outfit, but you should see the ‘publish me’ boots I got for this year.

I also made new business cards.  And by ‘made,’ I mean my brilliant artist of a husband designed them but I’m gonna take all the credit. 

They’re inspired by my book, The Harbinger, and the classic Rider-Waite Tarot card art.  Warning: Colors may not be as bright as in real life.

For a week, I stalked our mail carrier, hoping they’d arrive.  When they finally did, I was blown away. I’m can’t wait to swap them around this weekend.  Hey kids, collect them all!

Posted in Authors, Books, Conference, Nifty happenings, SCBWI

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