Friday, February 7, 2025

How to Make a Writer's Day


Happy Poetry Friday! I share a poem at the end of this post along with a link to this week's Poetry Friday roundup. 

As April mentioned when she kicked off this series of posts, our first topic of the year was inspired by the 2025 Tournament of Roses Parade's theme, "My Best Day Ever!" Of course, back when we planned the topic, we had no idea that it would be a challenging one given all that's going on in the world. But perhaps Providence was at work, because I can't imagine a better time to focus on being thankful for good things, which is crucial to the Best Day theme.

Like Zeena, I can think of many personal Best Days, such as my wedding day, the birth of my son, his wedding day, etc. I've also been blessed with many writing-related Best Days. Highlights of those days include graduating from Vermont College, being offered a contract for my first novel, and having a packed house for my first-ever book signing at my local independent bookseller. But my most recent writing-related Best Day was completely unexpected and happened just last Friday, January 31. It's related to my latest publication, a true story in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Tales of Christmas: 101 Stories of Holiday Joy, Love and Gratitude edited by Amy Newmark. The book was released in October 2024, but it continues to bless me in surprising ways. Before I describe last Friday's Best Day event, I need to provide some backstory.

Finding out last summer that my story, "A Life-Changing New Year's Tradition," would be included in Tales of Christmas was itself a writing "Best Day." I've submitted pieces to Chicken Soup multiple times but have been accepted only once before--a poem in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Teens Talk High School, 101 Stories of Life, Love, and Learning for Older Teens edited by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Amy Newmark, & Madeline Clapps back in 2008. I'm not sure if the paperback is still in print, but the book is still available as an ebook.

Despite it's title, Chicken Soup for the Soul: Tales of Christmas features stories about events beginning with Thanksgiving and running through Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, and New Year’s Day. My story is about our family's tradition of keeping a Good Things Jar and how the jar helped me through an especially difficult time. 

When my copies of the book arrived, I was honored to discover that my piece is the last one in the collection. But then I thought, maybe the honor wasn't that great, since the book contains only two New Year's stories. 😄 

If you read my latest Creativity Newsletter, you already know that the publication of Tales of Christmas led to an interview in our local newspaper. (If you don't get my quarterly newsletter and would like to subscribe, you can do so here.) I was quite surprised by the newspaper's interest--I've sent them press releases in the past without ever receiving a response. But I was even more surprised on Sunday, December 15, when I opened my copy of the paper to find the photo I'd provided on the front page! 

Carmela Martino holding a copy of Chicken Soup Tales of Christmas
Photo taken by John Martino

I learned in the article that the reporter had also interviewed Amy Newmark, the book's editor. He asked Amy about the Chicken Soup selection process and how she chose my piece. Here's an excerpt from his article:

“I love to put some New Year’s stories in our Christmas book,” Newmark said. “I liked Carmela’s story, which is a twist on the more conventional approach to gratitude, which is to have a journal. The gratitude jar. What’s great about it is it makes you approach every single day with a different perspective. You start looking for the good things instead of the bad things.... I can see hundreds of people doing that because they read it in her story,” Newmark said.

Martino’s story is the last one in the book.
“I like to end the book with a nice, strong story. You finished Christmas, here’s a great idea to put you on a positive footing for the new year,” Newmark said.

Wow! Reading Amy's comments gave me another Best Day! I loved learning about how she chose my story and why she ended the book with it. But the blessings related to the publication of "A Life-Changing New Year's Tradition" didn't stop there. Several friends I hadn't connected with in some time contacted me after seeing the article. My friend Gayl, who had moved to Minnesota, must have read the article online, because she emailed to congratulate me. She also said that her library had ordered Tales of Christmas, and she couldn't wait to read my story. 

And that, at last, brings me to what happened last Friday. Out of the blue, I received a text from Gayl saying that her library finally got Tales of Christmas. She wrote, "I loved your story and its message," and said that she and her husband had decided to start their own Good Things Jar. Her text made my day! She had verified Any Newmark's comment that my story would inspire readers to create their own Good Things Jars. I was thrilled to know that my story had touched someone so much that they'd been moved to action. 

Gayl ended her text with "Thanks for the lift!" But her message had lifted me, too, giving me another "Best Day." (And something great to share in my post for this series!) Of course, I included a note about her message in my own Good Things Jar. 😄

Now, for the poem I promised. Some of you may recall that, back in December 2021, I participated in the Kidlit Winter Poem Swap. I had the pleasure of swapping poems, and a small gift, with Linda Mitchell. My gift to Linda included a glass jar I'd decorated and labeled for her to use as a Good Things Jar and two poems. I've copied one of those poems below. I believe it fits well with our Best Day theme of gratitude. What do you think? 

        Good Things

    A morning walk
    beneath blue skies.
    A cardinal calling
    as it flies.

    A smiling stranger
    holds a door.
    A new museum
    to explore.

    The patter of
    much-needed rain.
    A breath of air
    that's sweet again.

    A lovely dinner
    with a friend.
    A stunning sunset
    at day's end.

    The flavor of a
    favorite tea.
    A comfy chair
    and time to read.

    Record these joys
    on little cards
    and save them in
    your Good Things jar.


    © 2021 Carmela A. Martino. All rights reserved.

 

Don't forget to check out this week's Poetry Friday roundup hosted by Carol Varsalona at Beyond LiteracyLink.

Happy writing!

Carmela

Friday, January 17, 2025

Best Day Ever ... Winning the CABA

So many moments. So many best days ever… I follow after April Halprin Wayland and share in her celebration of the wonderous moments when a class gets going and you realize you have congealed into one living organism learning, playing, supporting, and loving together. 

I also think of those deeply personal moments of best days ever, like when I birthed my daughter at a birth center in Hollywood, CA off of Sunset Blvd. with direct-entry midwives.  Eight strong women, the majority of which were healers held space around a birthing tub.  My daughter was born in the water in a lavender painted room with white curtains blowing and Bach playing in the background.  Candles surrounded the birthing tub and when she came into the world…then there were ten (including me.)  It was truly a sacred birth.

But, that’s not the memory I want to share at this time.

This past October, Hatem Aly and I were awarded the Children’s Africana Book Award (CABA) for Egyptian Lullaby from Howard University. The committee flew me out to Washington D.C to accept the honor.  

Honestly, when Hatem reached out, I had mixed feelings.  Awards set apart one person from the others and creates hierarchy.  Awards more often than not appeal to one’s ego.  I am in favor of an egalitarian society over a hierarchical one.  I’m not in favor of awards for teachers because I see teaching as a collaborative process which spans the years of a student’s academic career.  Progress cannot be measured by a single year with a single teacher.  We all contribute to the final “product.”  Awards for artistic endeavors are a bit less cut and dry for me. How many of us have watched the Academy Awards or Grammy’s and fantasized ourselves on that stage. (OK maybe that’s an LA thing.) Awards given to artists/writers can help awardees obtain more opportunity to create more work.  It’s hard to ignore the reality.  Hard to ignore that the words “award-winning” can change the trajectory of one’s career. While I can be competitive, I prefer to lean into my collaborative self which is actually stronger and more productive and comfortable to exist in. I have spent decades developing and nurturing my skills as a collaborator as an activist, organizer, educator and artist. I felt honored and yet compelled to acknowledge that I was embarrassed by the attention that singled me out… Humbled by all the congratulations I received. I knew I was expected to give a speech.  What would I talk about? My writing process? The intention of Egyptian Lullaby? The importance of normalizing Arab culture? In the end I chose to celebrate the intentions of the award itself.  




Click here to watch video of speech 1

Click here to watch video of speech 2

Click here to watch video of speech 3

Below is a transcript of my acceptance speech:

Thank you to Africa Access and the African Studies Association and the Howard University community on behalf of Hatem Aly and myself.  I am an Egyptian-Filipino American.  Egyptian Lullaby is my love letter to Cairo, the homeland of my father.

 There are literary awards out there that might have served my ego and vanity, and then there is this award that speaks to my heart, my soul, and most importantly…aligns with my purpose. Your mission to encourage the publication of children’s books to contribute to a better understanding of African societies and issues, intersects with my own 35 years of activism and grassroots organizing for social justice.  

I am both a children’s book author as well as a public-school kindergarten teacher in Los Angeles.  I wrote Egyptian Lullaby to normalize Arab culture because Hollywood and the media have done a bang-up job of demonizing Arabs in addition of course to almost all the cultures on the continent of Africa.

I often present at teacher’s conferences on Using Picture Books to Decenter White Culture and Recenter Diversity.  Your mission recenters true global diversity.  I know that my fellow teachers in the US as well as myself, come to our classes with internal biases.  It is impossible to not.  And without resources and support, we pass those on to our students unknowingly.  We choose books that prioritize stories told through a white, Eurocentric lens.  Your mission is so important to widening the span of available books like, Egyptian Lullaby and those of my fellow authors and illustrators here today.  If teachers and librarians can choose from a greater variety of books, we can consciously shift the way we center marginalized cultures and not reinforce the dominant culture.  We can create a lens through which children see a world where many different peoples and cultures live equitably…A world where children in current marginalized communities see themselves as valued…A world where we can address the unequal power dynamics.  We can demonstrate valuing all people and most importantly, bring marginalized people out of the margins.  Sometimes it feels like doing anti-racist work is insurmountable and overwhelming.  Your work makes it easier.  Spotlighting and encouraging the creation and production of more books about many diverse cultures on the continent of Africa facilitates more access for teachers, librarians, and ultimately, readers. It helps motivate the publishing industry to create and value the stories of currently marginalized peoples.  It creates opportunities for writers and artists to tell their stories that may not otherwise get told. And, it influences what bookstores choose to carry and market.  Providing a balanced view of the world for children is imperative to promoting equity.  Afterall, if we keep reinforcing for our young children through the books we share…that Eurocentric cultures have more value…we cannot be surprised when Anglo-Americans grow into adults unable to recognize their privilege.  Your work helps to deconstruct the dominant paradigm and erase marginalization.  This is the reason why I create.  This was the intent of Egyptian Lullaby.

I would be remiss not to thank the people who birthed this book into being…My cousins Nabil and Fatma, adult children of my Aunt Zina who inspired this story, my writing teacher and friend, Deborah Norse Latimore, my dear agent,  Abigail Samoun, the Roaring Brook team…executive editor, Emily Feinberg, assistant editor, Emilia Sowersby, copy editor, Sarah Gommper, art director, Aram Kim, designer, Mercedes Padro, publicist, Sara Elroubi, and school and library marketing assistant, Grace Tyler.  Thank you!  Thank you! Thank you!












                                                            



Truly what made the day, “the best day ever,” was the confluence of people who came together in that room at the luncheon.  Brenda Randolph, Vanessa Oyugi and Harriet McGuire who made it all possible.  The other authors and illustrators with whom I shared this once in a lifetime memorable day.  

Each person honored was given their own table.  Those in attendance sat at the table of their choice. And there it was, a table full of people with points of access representing different parts of my life. Instantaneously, I felt like I was sitting with family.  Each person familiar in their own way and intersecting different parts of me. Seemingly, all roads led to those social justice aspects of my past trajectory referenced in my speech and soon I would find that they would continue into my current journey providing camaraderie and solace along the way…Fellow picture book author of Hands Around the Library – Protecting Egypt’s Treasured Books, Karen Leggert Abouraya and I connected for a couple of reasons.  She wrote the book that I had found a few years ago as a comp for a story I was researching about the Arab Spring Revolution in Egypt.  I remember finding the story and wishing I had been the one to write it.  It’s so beautiful.  She is also married to an Egyptian man.  Cheryl Hamlin Freeman, board member of Africa Access and a member of the CABA planning committee and I connected with the other side of my heritage, my Filipino side as she is married to a Filipino man.  She was accompanied by her daughter.   Heba F. El-Shazli, fellow political activist who shares my Egyptian roots and is a professor at George Mason University’s Schar School of Policy and Government connected with me immediately like sisters. I reconnected almost immediately after I was back in LA to tap into her wealth of knowledge pertaining to Israel and Gaza. Then checked in with her again regarding Syria. My good friend from college, Kathleen West came to experience this best day ever.  We hadn’t seen each other in almost 2 decades and went to school together in the early 80’s.  Lastly, Deborah Menkart, executive director of Teaching for Change, an organization that influenced my teaching in the 90’s as I was developing, sat at my table unknowing of the influence she had had on me as a progressive teacher.  As a result of their work and the work of Rethinking Schools, I have grown to see my role as a teacher as an act of social justice. 








I reached out to many the following Wednesday, the day after the elections, to find community.  These are the words from Deborah that brought tears to my eyes and hope to my heart.  Meeting this amazing group of people was truly the result of “the best day ever!”







I get choked up every time I read this.  My heart is full...

by Zeena M. Pliska

Friday, January 3, 2025

MY BEST DAY EVER

Howdy, Campers, and Poetry Friday!

I'm kicking off our first series of 2025  ~ Happy New Year! We've decided to borrow the 2025 Tournament of Roses Parade's theme, "My Best Day Ever!"

For more about the parade's theme, read this article.

At first, I was going to post about the fantastic time I had at the NCTE Convention in Boston this past November. There were numerous Best Days that week, one of which was when I was on my way to hear the opening speaker...and the sheer pleasure of attending a huge convention (7,500 attendees) for the first time in years. What. A. Blast!

But as I was hiking with our 1-year old pup Sadie, on New Year's Day, it became clear. I had to tell you what my favorite hike does for me.  This particular trail, which I've named The Courageous Trail, takes about two hours. It's a steep hike, the footing is tricky, and I rarely run into anyone on it.  I hike it at least once a week, often more. I'm always, always happier (often ecstatic) as soon as we're greeted by the pepper trees near the trailhead, and I'm definitely the Queen of Bliss when I make a point of touching the post at the end of the trail: we did it!

pepper trees greet us 
at the beginning of trail 

When I hike this trail, grey skies clear, Vitamin Green calms, heals, and softens me...and poem ideas jump up from their hiding places shouting, "SURPRISE!" 

Remember those pocket breath strips that would dissolve on your tongue? For me, brilliant ideas are like that. So, to make sure I don't forget, I send each idea from the trail. The subject line is simply: Poem: [whatever I just thought of]; I leave the body of the email blank.

Here are a few examples of those subject lines:
  • Poem: the toe has no nose but it knows; my eyes have no clothes but they're closed
  • Poem: I'm so glad I married this trail
  • Poem: HIKING PRAYER: I am here I am here
  • Poem: the wind leaves leaves. The leaves win.
  • Poem: as much as I love pepper tree leaves, I am developing an affection for the green spoon, the blue rubber glove, the empty whiskey bottle near the trash can at the end of this trail.
Yes. I love personification.

Some of the ideas turn into poems, some of them wander over to my husband's worm farm in the backyard. Apparently, old ideas are delicious.

For me, every day I hike--is my Best Day Ever.

Below are three poems related to nature and dogs.

I wrote the first one when we'd just adopted Sadie—my husband was healing from a major accident, I was recovering from whatever I was recovering from, our wonderful old dog Eli had died a few months before (Kitty was in deep mourning--she wouldn't sleep in our room, and refused to purr). A gloomy fog filled our home. You know what I'm talking about.

AND GOD SAID...
by April Halprin Wayland

Done. You’ve asked, I’ve granted. Now go
Out there and laugh, laugh, laugh!
Give all the love you’ve been saving to your new furbaby.


BLESSING
by April Halprin Wayland

I’m listening—
sometimes it’s clear,

sometimes I hear
a healing balm.

It whispers soft:
my word is calm.

We breathe in green.
It’s healing both my dog and me.


DOG PARK SPRING QUARTET
by April Halprin Wayland

1.
Dogs frisk in dust,
birds choir on wires.

2,
The sparks of spring
bring racing things
on paws
and wings.

3.
Dog’s full-stretch yawn.
The chill?  It’s gone.
Instead, the crazy sting
of spring.

4.
Our park is full of
barks that mean g’morning, howdy, hi!
My heart is full of wagging tails
and hope and song and sky.

poems (c)2024 April Halprin Wayland. All rights reserved.

Regarding the last poem:

Sometimes I get flashes on a topic. Pieces of a puzzle that don’t fit together with that satisfying click no matter how I rearrange the pieces.  Most days I discard all but one and work out a poem from that. But the day I wrote this one, I wanted to keep them all.  This is one way to organize ideas.  Bring 'em all on board! Then the poem's like a strobe light, flashing on one idea at a time in a black room.

It’s your turn. Pick a big topic–spring, love, Paris, mother–whatever it is, scribble down metaphors, words that sound like your feelings about the topic, etc.  Create a quartet of poems.  And remember to breathe.

Sit, Sadie...

Oh--I almost forgot! A different kind of Best Day Ever is teaching

Do I still get nervous when my classes begin? You betcha. 

But the moment I can tell that my students and I are in that flow--that's the Great Gift.

So, come join my next one-day, 3-hour UCLA Extension's Writers' Program class, INTRO TO WRITING THE CHILDREN'S PICTURE BOOK ~ A Workshop for Absolute Beginners 

many thanks to Barney Saltzberg for this illustration

Guess what?!?! 
UCLA Extension offers it FREE
Enrollment begins January 22nd--this class fills FAST!

* * *

Thank you for reading this post. 

Now, it's your turn. What's your Best Day Ever? (And if you've forgotten how the Tournament of Roses defines that, read this article.)

Thank you, Mary Lee, for hosting the first Poetry Friday of 2025 at A Year of Reading !


I believe that the Kidlitosphere will bring hope to this beautiful, sorrow-filled world. 
It's going to take time, humanity, art, humor, community, committment, poetry, and a few good songs.

posted by April Halprin Wayland
with help from Sadie and Kitty

PS: I just read that hashtags can be added to Blogger...so here goes
(and please let us know in the comments section if you found us via a hashtag--and which one!):

#newyear #wedandothis #wesing #wewrite #wecreateart #weteach #welaugh 
#poetryforchildren #writingchildrensbooks #poemsaboutdogs #poemsabouthiking #poetryfriday #BarneySaltzberg #Icouldgoonandon #dohashtagsmakemelookfat