On Perseverance: my book birthday

Tusday is the on-sale date for my newest book from Random House, Written in Stone. I can’t help showing off, yet again, my beautiful cover art done by Richard Tuschman. Canoes are iconic to the tribes of the Northwest and I’m beyond thrilled to see them portrayed here so faithfully.

But what I find myself thinking about as this long awaited day approaches is how very long it took me to get here. This is the book I worked on longer than any other. I finished the first draft of this book when my youngest girl was a baby and my oldest had just finished third grade. My youngest girl will begin high school this fall and my oldest just graduated from college. Now on the one hand that might be discouraging. Many times as I worked on this book I walked past this particular tree in the Arboretum in Portland and reflected on how much of the work of this book has been roots that will never see the light of the page.

I didn’t keep count of revisions. I do know that this book started out in third person. It has been re-written both in present and past tense, in blank verse and prose, and now in first person narration. I researched a thousand things related to this story. Spoke to dozens of experts on everything from weaving to wildcatting. I developed an appreciation for reference librarians who have patience for my many obscure questions and for public universities who support the publication of such fascinating books as The Ethnobotony of Western Washington. It is a listing of every native plant in the region, it’s name in a dozen native languages, and its medicinal and practical uses. Fascinating!

And here’s what else I learned. EVERY revision made the book stronger. EVERY research source made the story richer. I could have self-published this book at any point in the last ten years. I probably could have sold it to a regional press at any time in the last five years. And yet I am grateful that both my agent and editor were willing to wait for a stronger book to emerge.

My agent Stephen Fraser of the Jennifer DiChiara Literary Agency, loved this story five revisions ago. It was the story for which he first offered me representation. He was more than happy to shop it around as a novel in verse, which is how he first came to know these characters. When the book didn’t get picked up in the first round of submissions, he continued to believe in Pearl and her family even as he sent around other manuscripts. When Heart of a Shepherd was picked up by Random House and made a very strong showing for a debut novel, Stephen resisted what might be a reasonable impulse to refashion Written in Stone more along the lines of Heart of a Shepherd. He was willing to wait for me to think through what the story needed rather than what the market might want. My editor (who also liked Pearl’s story from the start) was willing to wait for my Quinault and Makah sources to have time to read and respond to the story and offer me fuller resources for research. I am not a patient person by nature, but I am grateful to both of them for waiting long enough to get this story which is the one I was trying to write all along.

Here’s the thing about Twitter/Facebook/Youtube/Goodreads/blogs/and the whole social media juggernaut–they make it seem like all your favorite authors are releasing a new book at the rate of one every ten days. If you are still in the pre-published phase of your writing career it can seem like your publication day will never come. And yet what I’ve heard over and over from readers that I trust and admire is this: “I’ll wait ten years for your next book if that’s what it takes to write a good one. Just don’t disappoint me.” Molly Gloss and Virginia Euwer Wolff are Portland writers that I admire very much. They take years with each book–not writing and teaching part time or writing and raising family. They just write. One novel. Over and over for 3 to 7 years or more. And guess what? Their books are worth waiting for!

So that is my new writing goal. Not the path to fame and fortune I am sure. But I hope the path to stories with staying power and books that I’m proud to have carry my name.

There is a summary of the book and some great reviews here including one by Mira a very articulate nine year old. It was sent by the owner of McNally Jackson Bookstore in New York. The page also has a link to Powells or your nearest Indy bookstore. I hope you will consider checking my book out at the library. Strong library circulation is just as important to me as strong sales. And if you’d like a chance to win a free copy there are giveaways this week at Literary Rambles and The Styling Librarian–both great book blogs that I’d recommend even if they weren’t giving away my book. Thanks to Natalie Arguilla and Debbie Alvarez for the beautiful blog posts for Written in Stone. I’ve also got a post up here at the Mixed Up Files on the topic of writing characters from a culture not your own.

If you’ve got a story of perseverance, I’d love to hear about it in the comments.

Last but not least, I hope you can come to my book party at the Cedar Hills Powells Friday night at 7pm. 3415 SW Cedar Hills Blvd. I’ll have treats and first foods, art and activities for kids and a special gift for teachers and librarians from the good folks at Random House School and Library. I hope to see you there!

Middle Grade Monday book review: Calvin Coconut Kung Fooey

Calvin Coconut Kung Fooey

Calvin Coconut is a series by Graham Salisbury. It’s set in the Hawaii of Graham’s childhood and stars a big-hearted fourth grader with a talent for finding trouble. Kung Fooey is the 5th book in the series. It’s a friendship story about the new kid in class, Benny Obi who knows kung fu but doesn’t know how to handle the local bully.

Three things to like as a reader

1. If you are looking for a contemporary story with characters from a variety of cultural backgrounds where race is not the issue or the point of the story then these are your books.

2. There’s no denying middle grade readers have a taste for the grotesque. Sometimes a book for MG readers goes a little overboard with it, but Kung Fooey strikes a good balance, there’s a scene with the new kid eating bugs which is described in enough detail to make a reader squirm or a whole class audience go, “Eww!” But it’s not so vivid that you’d be uncomfortable reading it out loud or sharing with a tender-hearted reader.

3. Plenty of books take on the topic of bullying. This one is written with a better understanding of the group dynamic among boys than most, and doesn’t shoot for an unrealistically happy ending.

Something to think about as a writer

Dialect and slang are hard to write and Sandy does a great job here of adding enough local idiom to make the characters lively and authentic on the page but not so much that it is difficult to read. I’m going to go back and take a much closer look at how he uses non-language words in dialog to give it the right pacing and also how he uses turn of phrase to communicate something about culture.

How I came across this book

Sandy is another Portland writer. He gave this book to my daughter who does martial arts at a book event he held at a Moonstruck Chocolate Shop. Sandy sometimes writes at his local Moonstruck in Lake Oswego and I sometimes write at my local Moonstuck in Beaverton. On a dreary Portland afternoon it’s hard to beat a cup of their cocoa and a cosy quiet cafe to work in. Sandy is published by Random House as am I, and he’s been a generous colleague for more than a decade. I make no pretense of objectivity in my book reviews.

Summer Writing

There are a thousand things to love about summer in Portland

Roses! Everywhere!

Free Shakespeare and symphony and opera in the Park

It finally stops raining, it’s never humid, and it always cools off nicely at night

And I get to move into my summer office.

My summer office is a tree house in the big douglas fir in my back yard. There’s a pirate ladder or a rock wall to climb up and a slide or a zip line to get down. It has a roof but no walls so I have an unbroken view and plenty of cool shade. I get lots of visits from squirrels and robins but also humming birds and crows and sparrows and flickers and once in a while a golden crowned kinglet which is a very majestic name for a bird no bigger than a pingpong ball.

But here’s what I really love about the tree house. Because it’s open to the air and animals and birds wander through all the time, I can’t keep anything up there permanently except the folding potting bench I use as a desk and the exercise ball I use for a chair. There’s no food, no electricity, no laundry or kitchen distracting me from my work. And there’s plenty of fresh air and sunshine to keep me energized. I find that I’m almost always inspired to write something entirely new up there and this summer is no exception. I’m going to be spending the first part of the summer on writing a brand new series for younger middle grade readers. I hope to have more news about where they will be available and when by the fall, but in the mean time, I’m loving the daily climb to my office where I can spend the whole day just making things up.

I have another new venture this summer as well I’ll be teaching a course on writing realistic fiction for kids and teens called Vampire-Free Fiction! The course is offered through the Loft Literary center in Minneapolis, but here’s the good part, because it’s summer, you can do the work at your own pace. Take some time off if you have a family trip. Work ahead if you’ve got extra time on your hands. And even better than that, the Loft will offer a full scholarship to one lucky teacher or librarian who wants to take this course. There’s lots more information at the Loft. Classes start next week!

How about you? Do you have a favorite routine for your summer writing? Do you have a goal you want to accomplish in your writing? My short term goal is to finish the chapter book I’m working on by the end of the month. As I write this post I’m on chapter 5. I’ll let you know in the comments how far I got.

Middle Grade Monday Book Review: My Father’s Dragon

My Father’s Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett, illustrated by Ruth Chrisman Gannett

My recent review of Oddfellow’s Orphanage reminded me of a childhood favorite the Newberry Honor winning My Father’s Dragon and it’s follow up titles Elmer and the Dragon and The Dragon’s of Blueland. I remember rereading these books dozens of times in first and second grade, so I went back to those books to give them a closer look and see what 7 year old me saw in them.

Three things to love about this book as a reader

1. Like Oddfellow’s Orphanage, this book has art on nearly every page and a map on the end papers. I adored maps when I was a kid. I still do. And I loved the warmth of Ruth Chrisman Gannett’s illustrations. People often talk about the importance of pictures for struggling readers or kids accustomed to the more visual video game world. I was a precocious reader and at the age of 7 was able to read books much harder than this. I didn’t play video games until I was much older, but the pictures in this book were very appealing to me added much to the story. I remember that one of the first things I did when I picked up the book for the first time was flip through the pictures to make sure that the dragon was not going to be too scary. I was plagued by nightmares when I was little and careful not to read stories with unmanageable monsters. But look at this dragon. Who could resist this beautiful puppy of a monster? Not me.

2. I love Elmer’s inventiveness. Everything he needs is in his backpack. He thinks things through. When he’s really stumped he eats a few tangerines. And he isn’t afraid to go to an island that terrifies grown ups because there’s a mistreated dragon out there who needs him. I loved that kid when I was 7. I wanted to be that kid. I’d still like to be as kind and clear headed and brave as he is.

3. Also, Elmer Elevator is an awesome name.

And I love it that the author/illustrator pair is a woman and her step-mother. The mom writer in me loves it that Ruth Stilles Gannett (in addition to being a Newbery Honor winning author) is the mother of 7 daughters.

Something to think about as a writer

Here’s a great example of a character who takes action on his own without adult intervention. Elmer’s not the cliched orphan, or a kid who’s shipped off to boarding school. He has a loving family. And he just decides to go off on an adventure all on his own, on the advice of a very well-informed stray cat. He faces danger, makes decisions, out wits lions, tigers, and boars and wins the loyal friendship of the cutest dragon ever! Hard to beat that for kid appeal. When I go back to writing later tonight I want to look through my most recent scene and ask myself, is this character making his own decisions and living with the undiluted consequences of them?

How I came to review this book

My mom saved many of my favorite books and this is one of them. There is also a 50th anniversary edition available this year which includes all three of Elmer’s adventures. This book is published by Random House which also publishes me. I wouldn’t dream of claiming that my reviews are objective or impartial. I only hope that they are useful.

Using Pinterest with Middle Grade Novels

I don’t like to think of myself as a Luddite. I enjoy technology and social networking, but I confess when I first heard of Pinterest I was filled with dread. I didn’t need another distraction from my deadlines. I didn’t have an overwhelming desire to look at every cute kitten that ever lived or learn about people’s quirky taste in shoes. I had every intention of giving this new social network a pass.

But then while working on the author note for my book Written in Stone, I wanted a visual for a particular type of ocean going canoe made by tribes from the Pacific Northwest. I found a group of boards on Pinterest called the Native American Encyclopedia. It has, among other things, a large collection of historical photographs organized by tribe including a variety of images of canoes that I needed.

It got me thinking about ways I could use Pinterest to make my historical novel more useful to teachers and vivid for students.

Children in every single state study Native Americans at some point in their middle grade years. I know teachers are looking for good books with Native American characters. I also know that most people, when they think of Native Americans, default to the Great Plains tribes and picture the horse and teepee cultures of the prairie. My book is set among the cedar and salmon people of the Olympic Rainforest in western Washington. Most people don’t have a visual reference point for this incredibly rich and beautiful culture.

The Olympic Peninsula is home to the only temperate rainforest in North America. Most people don’t have a visual vocabulary for the temperate rainforest either.

I would have loved to do an illustrated book like the ones I remember from my childhood, but unfortunately illustrations would price the book out of reach for already struggling school libraries. It’s my hope that Pinterest can serve to fill the gap. I set up a board for each of my novels with images of the setting and key objects from the story.

The thing that makes Pinterest a particularly useful tool is the space at the bottom of each picture with room to write a caption. Most users put a very minimal title in the caption space, but there is room enough for 500 characters so I can give some context for an image or mention how it relates to my book.

It took me about 20 minutes to learn how Pinterest works and set up a board for each of my books. I spent about an hour gathering the initial images for each board. I spend about an hour a month adding images. That is a manageable amount of investment in time for what I hope will be an engaging and useful tool for classroom teachers and book clubs.

I’m still very new to Pinterest and I’d love to hear from teachers whether they use it already or would consider using it in the future. Here’s the link to my Written in Stone board. Please take a look and leave a comment!