My "Mary Oliver" Summer Days...

        

          "If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy,

           don't hesitate. Give in to it."

So wrote Mary Oliver in her now-so-relevant poem "Don't Hesitate."

I'm happy to report: I've spent many a day this summer giving in to

Joy, thanks to the writers who helped me make my life more "wild

and precious."

In June, self-proclaimed Joy Seeker and debut author Jamie 

Freedlund launched her original picture book Finding Joy, 

illustrated by her daughter Reese and Natalie Seaton.

As the book's back flap shares, Jamie's the founder of Mattea's Joy,

a non-profit organization that helps families with hospitalized kids

find joy in their journey.  Created to honor the memory of her 

daughter Mattea, Mattea's Joy provides care, connection and

community for anyone navigating the challenge of having a

hospitalized child.

Jamie donates a book to a Children's Hospital with each book

purchased.

Writing this children's book was Jamie's childhood dream come 

true.

Helping Jamie learn the picture book format, grow her story, revise her story, then guiding her as she took on the responsibility of independently publishing and marketing the book still has me dancing The Happy Dance.

The book's back cover declares, "Finding Joy is easy...if you know where to look!"

How true because...

...here I am in July, seated with my returning Manuscript

Workshop writers at the Landgrove Inn in Landgrove, Vermont,

enjoying yet another 5-star meal in a Joy-filled week.

I've facilitated this Workshop since 2016, honored to continue

its founder Barbara Seuling's unswerving commitment to

helping children's book creators tell their stories.

As always, by week's end my waistline expands (exponentially)

but more importantly, as always, so does my heart.

It gladdens me so, to see the writers I've loved seeding and 

feeding continue to grow and thus blossom - digging deeper,

revising and fine-tuning, so their singular stories connect

with their intended Young Readers.

In Finding Joy, Jamie Freedlund's Mattea learns: you find Joy 

when you give Joy.

Prior to the Workshop, I gifted each writer with a copy of

Tiffany Yates Martin's Intuitive Editing (FoxPrint Ink, 2020) - 

and - her slam-dunk brilliant Self-editing Checklist.

(Note: I declared Tiffany Yates Martin our "Visiting Author."

Her second book, The Intuitive Author (FoxPrint Ink, 2024),

served up numerous Food for Thought conversations.)

Channeling Mary Oliver, I also gifted each writer with the  

opportunity to express her writerly intentions...    

...and the reminder to keep an open heart.

Channeling my Positivity, I made sure each writer left

appropriately inked...

...with a flying wish and a prayer.

As luck would have it, though Summer's end approaches, 

I'm still giving in to Joy.

Overcoming awful, awful Despites, my writer Gail Aherne 

publishes her picture book Mouse and Bee, illustrated by

Lisa Blakeborough, this Fall, thanks to her successful

Kickstarter campaign that raised $12, 800 this past May.

The book began as a collaboration between Gail and her

dear friend Laura J. Foltz, but then the unimaginable

happened: Laura died unexpectedly.

Check out the Story Behind the Story on the Kickstarter

page to learn how Gail found the courage to seek a new

illustrator who could give Mouse and Bee a new life,

one that honored Laura's Spirit.

With each page Gail forwards as a preview, I add a step

or three to my Happy Dance.

The truth is, every teacher-student pairing is ripe for

rejoicing, no matter the season. 

Should you seek Joy on this Summer's day, click HERE

to listen to Mary Oliver read aloud her poem 

"The Summer Day" and HERE to listen to Kyndall

read aloud "Don't Hesitate."

Happy Giving In wherever you find Joy!

Esther Hershenhorn

p.s.

Thanks to Margaret at Reflections on the Teche for 

hosting today's Poetry Friday.

Wrapping Up Our Series on Frequently Asked Questions

Image by Margo Lipa from Pixabay

Happy August!  

It's hard to believe that summer is already waning here in the northern hemisphere and students and teachers will soon be returning to classrooms. Today, I'm closing out our latest TeachingAuthors series. At the end of this post, I also share one of my poems and a link to this week's Poetry Friday roundup.

I've enjoyed reading all my fellow TeachingAuthors' responses to the prompt: "Share a question you often get from your students or readers." I must admit, though, that the post that most resonated with me was April's, in which she talks about someone approaching her with an idea and asking her to write the book. I, too, have received that request many times, not only from my students, but also from strangers I've met at social functions and even via email from random people who found me online.

But there's another question I've heard far more frequently from those same sources: "How do you get a book published?" In fact, when I first started teaching classes in writing for children and teens over 25 years ago, the question was frequently worded as "How much does it cost to get a children's book published?" Back before self-publishing became prevalent, many people assumed you simply paid a book publisher like Scholastic or Random House to publish your book. These same people also typically assumed that if you were a writer and not an artist, you had to hire someone to illustrate your picture book before submitting to that publisher. 

If the person asking the question was not a student in one of my classes, I simply directed them to the Frequently Asked Questions page of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) website. But over the years, the answer has gotten increasingly more complicated, and the SCBWI FAQ page isn't as helpful as it used to be. Thankfully, Jane Freidman has a great resource: "Start Here: How to Get Your Book Published," that covers publishing books for adults as well as for children. The post describes three publishing paths: traditional publishing, hiring a company to publish for you, and self-publishing, and she updates the information periodically. 

There are now all sorts of books on writing for children, too. Two of my favorites include Ann Whitford Paul's Writing Picture Books: A Hands-on Guide From Story Creation to Publication and Writing Irresistible Kidlit: The Ultimate Guide to Crafting Fiction for Young Adult and Middle Grade Readers by Mary Kole, both published by Writer's Digest Books.     

How about you, Readers? Do you have any questions we haven't addressed in this series? If so, please let us know in the comments. 

Now for the poem I promised. Earlier this summer, I had the honor of having two poems accepted for publication at The Dirigible Balloon, a UK-based online magazine that publishes poetry for children--my first time being featured there! Here's one of them, which you can also see on their site here: 

      On the Launchpad (An Etheree)    
      by Carmela A. Martino

      Preparing for takeoff! I fuel up 
      on determination so I can 
      blast past expectations and climb
      skyward, higher and higher—
      beyond the stratosphere—
      to where earthly fears
      won’t weigh me down.
      Here I go—
      THREE, TWO,
      ONE …

  © 2025 Carmela A. Martino. All rights reserved.

As noted above, this poem is an Etheree. If you're not familiar with the form, you can learn about it on the Shadow Poetry site.  And you can read my other poem, "Puppy Litter," on this page of The Dirigible Balloon.

Don't forget to visit this week's Poetry Friday roundup hosted by Jane Whittingham for more terrific poetry.

Happy writing!

Carmela