Something New About Turtles and Micro-tensions

 Teaching Authors starts a new topic, our “Something New I Learned and Can’t Wait to Share!” It’s been a long minute since the planets aligned just right, allowing me to take a writing class. And this one is a doozy, sponsored by Lorin Oberweger and Free Expressions. This six-week course -- The Breakout Novel Intensive -- explores the principles outlined in Donald Maass ‘ book, Writing the Breakout Novel (2001). As a story nerd, I thrive on taking deep dives into the story engineering process, and this is as deep as it can get. This class is bloody brilliant. The lectures offer a deep dive into concepts. I so appreciated the discussions into creating emotionally complex characters. The one-on-ones took a further dive into my work. I had so many "ah-ha" moments when everything came together. One of the best ah-ha moments explored micro-tensions.

This type of tension isn't in the action itself, but in the psychology underscoring the action. To make this happen, the narrative uses dialogue and exposition to highlight the emotive presence, build tension and expand the plot that leads to an emotional payoff.

As a working writer, I consider my job is to write. As such, I dutifully and gleefully do my job, sometimes hours at an end. I LOVE my job (writing, that is)!

Except, unexpectedly, these days I find myself rather spent after only an hour or two. It's not just writer's block. And not just exhaustion. Something else bubbling just beneath the surface.

For example, I went about doing some errands. I kept squirming because my running shorts didn’t seem to fit. O no, I bemoaned. I already have enough old lady fat. Turns out, I had put my britches on inside out AND backwards. And yes, I went out in public like that. (You can’t take me anywhere.)

And it’s hot outside. Too hot to sleep. My garden is decimated. Bees are dropping off the petals, their little wings burned. I even feel sorry for the wasps, those evil little buggers. The heat index has reached over 100 for several days, and there’s no end in sight. Combined with the high humidity, I feel like a toad swimming in boiling water. And toads do not like to swim.

You may remember that I am the ultimate Doctor Who superfan. I’ve been watching the show since it first aired in 1963. In other words, my relationship with the Doctor has outlasted two husbands, four dogs and three cats. And yet, when the finale for the Fifteenth Doctor finally aired, I fell asleep. What? What? WHAT?

You may also remember that I live in the middle of Red Hat County. Politics are posted everywhere. I’ve learned to ignore it. Mostly. True, one neighbor did rant on about 800,000 dead people who voted illegally. I had to admit that zombies are just the worse. Another neighbor railed about how we are a republic and not a democracy. I told him that he reminded me of some of my good friends. Perhaps he knew them: John Adams, James Madison, my personal favorite John Jay, and that upstart Alexander Hamilton, who all argued the very same thing for years. I told him, he could read all about it in the Federalist Papers. Granted, with 85 long-winded essays, it’s thicker than a comic book.

The stakes are rising. Everyone brags about how many guns they collect. One man rants about shooting a coyote (in the middle of a neighborhood?). Meanwhile, the school down the road had gone on lockdown a couple of weeks ago. And a couple blocks away, a high school student shot his neighbor.

You may remember, too, that I’m counting the days to when I no longer have to teach. At long last, I can choose which classes, and when, to teach. Or not. After forty years, it’s a daunting decision. By the way, I hate WorkDay, with those online forms you have to fill out, all those fecking buttons and columns, and rows and arrows and … it took longer for me to fill out one spleeny form than to grade two weeks of class. (Yes, it’s God’s greatest joke to the universe that I teach online classes. But I am not laughing. I remember that movie when computers took control. It didn't end well for most folk.)

By the way, the water pipe burst. What a MESS. And it’s messing with my internet.

I think I'll go for a walk, and get some ice cream. Chocolate. Better yet, chocolate fudge, with chocolate sprinkles. I'll go to the local pond and count the dragonflies and watch the turtles. At least turtles make sense. And no worries, I will put my britches on the right way. Not that the turtles will care. And when I return, I’ll get back to that bothersome scene.

By the way, see what I did there? I used micro-tensions to illustrate how micro-tensions can be used to add tension to an otherwise very ordinary, if not downright bland scene.

And of course, you want a big emotional payout at the end of such a scene. Take this, for example:

 

For more information about the BONI and many other excellent seminars, webinars and classes at Free Expressions, check out their website. 

 Thank you for putting up with my micro-tensions!

--Bobbi Miller

Pickle Words: Crunchy, Punchy Pickles and Poetry by April Pulley Sayre--posted by Mary Ann Rodman

 

Welcome to the Pickle Party! Who knew there were was so much poetry in pickles? My dear friend, the late April Pulley Sayre, that's who! Fans of Sayre's "chant books" (Trout, Trout, Trout and Rah, Rah, Radishes) will recognize the style of these short punchy poems about the multicultural world of pickles in Pickle Words: Crunchy, Punchy Pickles and Poetry.

"Gherkins workin'/Mustard--wow!/Piccalilli/Chowchow now!"is a sample of the pungent, picklicious poetry, combined with commentary, history and recipes of fermented food. From kosher dills to kimchi, chowchow to chutney, Sayre represents a variety of cultures and countries. Jialei Sun's multimedia illustrations feature children in a range of skin tones concocting and consuming the many sorts of pickled foods. 

However, this more than a paean to pickles. It's a love song to the power of punchy words. In the author's note, Sayre writes of her love of "delicious words...these kinds of words feel good in your mouth." An impromptu word association exercise during a school visit inspired this book. The original topic of the school visit was "whales." Only April could've described a whale as "pickle-shaped"...and then segued into asking her students "what are some words that describe pickles?" I can just hear her "tasting" each word before selection in this collection. April taught me the art of brainstorming word choices when I was writing A Tree for Emmy. Since then, I've started every picture book project with a list of associated words. I've included a "word list" exercise in every class I've taught.

April Pulley Sayre left this world way too soon, but how like her to leave us with a playful pickle party.

I miss her.

Mary Ann Rodman

Hanging on to Hope...

In 1973, a man named Mr. Nadeau wrote beloved children’s  book 

author E.B. White requesting inspiration about humanity’s future. 

Mr. Nadeau’s world view was bleak and hopeless.

As Maria Popova wrote in her Marginalian blog’s introduction to 

the letter, which follows, Mr. White’s response “endures as a 

spectacular celebration of the human spirit.”

North Brookline, Maine

30 March, 1973

 Dear Mr. Nadeau:

 As long as there is one upright man, as long as there is one 

compassionate woman, the contagion may spread and the

scene is not desolate. Hope is the thing that is left to us, in 

a bad time. I shall get up Sunday morning and wind the 

clock, as a contribution to order and steadfastness.

Sailors have an expression about the weather: they say, the 

weather is a great bluffer. I guess the same is true of our 

human society — things can look dark, then a break shows 

in the clouds, and all is changed, sometimes rather 

suddenly. 

It is quite obvious that the human race has made a queer 

mess of life on this planet. But as a people we probably 

harbor seeds of goodness that have lain for a long time 

waiting to sprout when the conditions are right. Man’s 

curiosity, his relentlessness, his inventiveness, his ingenuity 

have led him into deep trouble. We can only hope that 

these same traits will enable him to claw his way out.

Hang on to your hat. Hang on to your hope. And wind 

the clock, for tomorrow is another day.

Sincerely,

E. B. White

                        

Alas, hanging on to Hope is easier said than done, in our Real 

World as well as in our Children’s Book World.

A group effort is oft required.

With that truth in mind, I invited five children’s book writers I’ve 

had the honor and Good Fortune to coach and teach to share 

One Golden Nugget that kept them keepin’ on… until they 

secured this past year representation by a literary agent.

Look for each of their names on an upcoming children’s book 

cover!

 ·    Becky Hohensee, represented by Essie White of the

     Storm Literary Agency, lives in Houma, Louisiana and 

     writes picture books. 

            Becky wishes she’d spent less time revising one manuscript 

            for several years, even though it was the one story she needed

            to tell.  “It zapped my creativity for a long time. Write a story,” 

            she advises, “share it when you believe it’s ready and let it go. 

            Work on something new. Exercise your writing muscles. And 

            don’t forget to reward yourself every now and then.”

·       ·   Chicago-area picture book writer and middle grade novelist        

            Sonya Kenkare signed with the 75th agent she queried,  

           Jackie Kruzie of Focused Artists.

            “Never give up,” she shares, “and keep batting at the fences.  

            All the rejections should be worn as a Badge of Honor. 😊”

 ·      ·   Sara Crowe of Sara Crowe Literary represents Christal Presley 

           of Abingdon, Virginia, and her bounty of picture books.

     “Whatever genre you’re writing in,” Christal shares, “spend 

     equal time READING in. For reading in the same genre shows 

     you all the possibilities!” 

·    Melanie Uteg lives in Lake Forest, Illinois, writing chapter 

     books, plotting a middle grade book and reviewing bi-monthly 

     on her blog picture books, chapter books and middle grade 

     books that feature the best of science, humans, nature and 

     communities. She recently signed with Tina Schwartz who 

     founded The Purcell Agency.  

     “I believe all children matter,” Melanie responded. “Their 

     hearts. Their minds. Their voices. I believe getting to that core 

     is important as you pursue your path towards publishing. Get 

     out there and meet people – share your story and share your 

     purpose.” 

·    Fiona Wong of Los Angeles, represented by Ellen Goff at 

    HG Literary writes picture books, chapter books and middle 

    grade. 

    “Be curious,” she shared.  “Take opportunities to learn from 

    industry professionals, even if they’re discussing genres, craft 

    topics or age categories outside your focus. Hearing diverse 

    opinions and experiences can enrich your understanding of your 

    own craft, purpose and journey as a writer.” 

·   And how could I not invite my fellow TeachingAuthor blogger 

   and writer of fiction and nonfiction, Carmela Martino, to 

   share her Golden Nugget?! She, too, secured literary 

   representation this past year with Anjanette Barr of Dunham, 

   Literary, Inc.

         Carmela admitted it was “a stubborn belief that the stories I was 

         working on were worth sharing, and that they deserved to be in 

         the world, one way or another.”

         She confessed she was “so relieved and heartened to finally find 

         an agent who agreed with her!”

 

fe    I offer buckets of Hoorays! and Hurrahs! to our fellow 

       children’s book creators for both keepin’ on AND sharing a 

       Golden Nugget to keep US keepin’ on.

       Hoorays! and Hurrahs! hasten Hope.

   I  IMHO: Second Chances help us hang on to that Hope.

       And GOOD NEWS! The Andrea Brown Literary Agency is 

      offering such an opportunity – the ABLA Second Chance!

    “At ABLA we take pride in our collaborative approach to 

     agenting and we often share queries internally when we 

     believe a colleague is a better fit for the material.

     However, if a creator would like another opportunity to have 

     their project considered by ABLA after their first choice agent 

     passes, we invite you to submit your work to the 

     Second Chance Inbox. All our agents have access to this 

     inbox and will regularly look through it to discover new 

     material! If an agent finds something they are interested in, 

     they will reach out to that  creator directly.”

 Click here to learn the details so you can grab this Do Over. 

 

Thanks to former fellow TeachingAuthor blogger Laura Purdie 

Salas for hosting today’s Poetry Friday at Poems forTeachers. 

Laura, too, deserves an Hooray! and Hurrah! for her newest 

picture book– Line Leads the Way (Capstone, 2024).

Here’s to Hope and our hanging on! 

Esther Hershenhorn

CELEBRATING!

Howdy, Campers ~ and Happy Poetry Friday! (Link to PF is at the end)

Look what I found in the depths of my closet:

No TeachingAuthor we've asked remembers who created these t-shirts nor for what occasion...which makes me laugh.                                                                                            

This is our final post celebrating our 15th (FIFTHEENTH!) blogiversary. 

Bobbi wrote a post titled What Comes Next?, Zeena posted Congratulations on 15 years!!! Here's to 15 more!!! Mary Ann posted 15 Years? No!!!  Esther posted  Happy15th Book and Gift Card Giveaway!  and Carmela, our Mother Board Blogger, posted 15th TA Blogiversary and Book and Gift Card Giveaway!

Let me be upfront with you. In my very first post, I wrote, "I learned that in teaching, as in poetry, less is more."   So here's the truth: this post is too long and I'm tired because I'm a puppy mom. I'm sure one day I'll get more sleep, but for now, I'm going to honor my tiredness and turn off my laptop without spending hours making it perfect. 

Because we all know there is no such thing as perfect. 

Over the years...

By the time I wrote my first TeachingAuthors post on May 8, 2009, I'd taught workshops in schools across the globe. But--whoa!--now the head of the UCLA Extension Writers' Program was on the phone, asking me to teach...TALL people?

In that first post, I blogged about how scared I was to teach adults:

"I practiced...by teaching teens at my home. The most important thing I learned from that was not to throw every single solitary thing I’d ever learned at them (those poor overwhelmed kids!)."

Over the years, as a teacher, I have learned to say less (except today on this post...forgive me). 

I've also learned to be more authentic. More human. More me. 

Here's an example:

This morning, my critique group of incredible, smart writers met. We meet every other Thursday at a deli in mid-town Los Angeles. We order breakfast, talk about our joys, our struggles, our kids and/or animals...and when we've finished eating, we get down to business. 

I was feeling weird and less-then last night because I had nothing for them to critique. 

It's dang hard to be honest, but today, when it was my turn, I told them that I was not nearly as brave as they are (believe me: they are seriously brave). When my manuscripts are rejected, or an agent asks for a revision, it takes me forever to send my revised story back. I'm timid when it comes to submitting and submitting and submitting. I'm sure my stories will never be good enough. 

How did it feel to be that honest with them? Good. 

Great, actually. I got support, practical advice and lots of love.

I did bring three picture books published in 2024--I love sharing them and hearing my group's reaction to the work of other authors and illustrators. That was really, really fun. We were all in it together, asking questions like, Did anyone edit this book? and Is this poetry or simply lyrical writing? and OMG I love this book!

I left feeling uplifted.

I've learned (am still learning) to trust that "still, small voice within."

Here's what I tell myself...and my students:

>There is no "right way" to write a book, train a dog or live your life.

>Ya gotta be honest. Telling the truth is hard. It's also what reaches a reader. 

> Listen to that still, small voice within. (Mary Ann's still, small voice has told her to write the book she must write before she dies. Not mine. Mine says to write the book that plops on my head unexpectedly and drips all over my t-shirt.)

>It's up to you to figure out what your fingerprint is... 

...whose advice to take, when to leave a critique group, a conference, an agent (and when to let that manuscript rest for awhile.) 

What's your fingerprint?

Here are three poems 

I've written over the years for our blogiversarys:

TeachingAuthors.com turns 2!

OUR  BLOGIVERSARY! 
by April Halprin Wayland

We six who ride our blog horse here

are rather like that Paul Revere

“One if by land, two if by sea,”
was revolution’s poetry

We TeachingAuthors gallop, too,

to share our lantern light with you

we aim to help, support and cheer

so you can write with joy, not fear

in this New Land: Kidlitosphere

(c) 2011 April Halprin Wayland, all rights reserved

TeachingAuthors.com turns 4!

       A Blooming Blogiversary

     Sheaves of paper, leaves of prose
     Typing wobbly rocky rows

     Planting tender inkling seeds
     Sowing words on glowing screens

     Underground the spark is struck
     Growing with some care and luck

     First a shoot, then a sprout
     Weeding all the adverbs out

     Seedlings reaching toward the sun
     Readers, writers we are one

     Blooming in the blogisphere
     Post by post, year by year
poem © 2013 April Halprin Wayland. All rights reserved

TeachingAuthors.com turns 1!

BLOG-I-VERSE-A-TREE
by April Halprin Wayland 

How does it feel to cross over this creek,
to fly from tree to tree to you?
To find, in the midst of the jungle a few
readers discerning, kind and true?

How does it feel, week after week,
to water a seed, now one year old?
To watch its young, green leaves unfold
as it gives me back a thousand fold?

I feel I’m Bird, just opening her beak,
at the top of a tree, on the first day of Spring,
easily found on Google or Bing,
joining five friends to Tweet, to sing!

© 2010 April Halprin Wayland. All rights reserved

Here's how I ended my first blog post...it's even truer--today:

So, it's been a process. I've become a TEACHING AUTHOR through the students I've worked with from kindergarten to AARP, through my colleagues, through my own teachers.

I’ve taught in the UCLA Extension Writers’ Program for 10 years now [Update: this year marks my 25th year of teaching in UCLA's Writers' Program] and this year: 

I. Finally. Understand:

Teaching is generosity.

I feel incredibly lucky to be part of TEACHING AUTHORS, and look forward to more of this great adventure of camaraderie and discovery and learning from you.

(photo by my husband, who is proud that he's
hard to find on the internet)

Thank you, Robyn at Life on the Deckle Edge  for hosting PF!

written with love by April Halprin Wayland 

with help from the film stars of my instagram account (https://www.instagram.com/aprilwayland/?hl=en):

7-month-old Sadie 

and 5-year-old Kitty

What Comes Next?

 

Teaching Authors is celebrating its Fifteenth Anniversary! That’s amazing, on every level! I’ve been with this amazing group for (almost) ten years. My first post was October 6, 2014, in which I discussed writing my drafts out by hand.  By the way, I still write everything out in longhand.

As a team, the six of us share our unique perspective as writing teachers who are also working writers. But as I reflect on what being a part of this blog meant to my career, I admit that it has meant so much more to me on a personal level.

You’ll remember our backstory: we met while students at Vermont College of Fine Arts, earning our MFA. I graduated 24 years ago! Friendships come and go with the ebb of time. Each serves a purpose for however long they last. Friendships change, evolve, and sometimes they come to an end. That doesn’t mean they matter less; it just means change happens.

But in all that time, amid all the changes, the TAs have been a constant.

I am grateful to the TAs.  I thank each of the TAs for having invited me into your circle, for being there in these last years that have been defined by dispiriting rejections, overwhelming life challenges, and ensuing life changes. I have learned so much from each of you, about the craft, the writing life, and about the nature of belonging. I have been inspired by each of you. And I have been awed by each of you for your dedication and passion.  And, I am thoroughly in awe of Carmela, who has managed the blog since the beginning.

 I am reminded of May Yang’s poem, To All My Friends:

To all my friends who have been with me in weakness
when water falls rush down my two sides

To all my friends who have felt me in anguish
when this earthen back breaks between the crack of two blades

To all my friends who have held me in rage
when fire tears through swallows behind tight grins

I know you
I see you 
I hear you

(Read the full poem here.) 

 So what comes next?  I’m looking ahead, planning out what I need, when  I realized…

I’ve been teaching forty years. FORTY years.

I've taught at high school, community college, university and graduate schools.  I’ve taught English as a Second Language, British Lit, Children's Lit, Writing Tech Reports, Critical Theory, and Harry Potter (yes, Harry Potter and the hero’s journey!). Critical Research, Graduate Research Strategies, Graduate Reading Strategies. Business Writing. Creative Writing. Graduate Thesis Writing one, two and three. Graduate Literature Studies. The Business of Writing. Editing and Line-editing. Composition one and two, and three.

And, I earned all the relevant certifications to keep going. BUT I didn’t make tenure because I was too old, and didn’t – couldn’t -- create a strong sense of community (because I was too crazy busy trying to keep a roof over my head and paying for my own medical insurance.)

(By the way, adjuncts hold the system together. I could go on, but I'd get rather frothy about how the system treat adjuncts...)

And yet, it’s important to remember the bigger story. I have survived for forty years, on my own, keeping a cabin’s roof over my head, making my own way doing (mostly) what I want beyond what I need. May not always have been the wisest of choices, but they’ve always been my choices. No wonder I’ve grown up to be such a roguish – and unmuzzled --  loggerhead.

More than this. I have met some massively impressive and splendid people along the way.  It has made the journey worthwhile.

So, what am I going to do next? Whatever I want. The possibilities are endless. Maybe I’ll be a pirate. And I'll continue writing about my adventures in writing, right here. 

Mary Read, in a colorized engraving (date unknown). Getty Images / Hulton Archive

 

 Congratulations to Teaching Authors, and thank you for bringing me along!

--Bobbi Miller

 

 

 

Congratulations on 15 Years!!! Here's to 15 More!!!

Congratulations to Danielle H.  You are the winner of the blogiversary giveaway!

The best thing about this 15th blogiversary is getting to know my fellow bloggers. I am the new kid on the block, so I actually don’t know everybody’s stories.  Because stories bring us closer together and build relationships, this has been the perfect opportunity to peer into the lives of the 5 other authors/teachers and feel genuinely a little closer to them.  Seems so strange in this digital world in which we live, I have blogged with Carmela, Bobbi, Esther, Mary Ann, and April for over 3 years and barely know them except for April. 

I was invited to temporarily blog as a substitute by April.  I was honored that such a renowned children’s book author would even consider including me.  April has quite an amazing reputation amongst up-and-coming picture book authors who have taken her UCLA extension classes.  She is a legend. I am humbly grateful. 

Carmela, I did not know that you got your MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College and I didn’t know that your published middle grade novel was your creative thesis.

Esther, I didn’t know that you wrote S is For Story.  So sorry it’s out of print.  It sounds wonderful!

Mary Ann, I didn’t know that you have a 30-year-old daughter who teachers pre-k in a public school.

I am looking forward to the other stories to be revealed through the blog posts that follow mine.

As for me, 15 years ago…

In 2009, I was almost 8 years into my adventure as a single parent by choice.  

Prior to my decision to have a child, I had told stories as a filmmaker (ish), journalist, theater director, visual artist, and photographer.  I was a world traveler and a social justice activist. My story making days were put on pause as I concentrated on making my own life stories with my young daughter. My craft as a teacher got stronger as I found myself interested and immersed as a parent in my own daughter’s education.  I was happy to let go of the other directions that my life had taken, to concentrate on this new phase.  

However, I did hold on to one aspect of my activism, electoral politics. Gone for the moment were the days of making change through direct action, legal observing, and organizing.  My good friend was elected to the school board (of the second largest school district in the nation) and I found myself in a close relationship with the policymaking of my district.  Education justice became my focus.

I am happy that my life veered off in these new directions.  They have added to my understanding of the world and have strengthened the storytelling I would eventually return to as a children’s book author. Although I had dabbled in picture book writing in my early adulthood, I entered the kidlit world with commitment when my daughter became less dependent on me. I began writing when she was 13.  Signed with my agent when she was 17.  Published my first picture book when she was nearly 19.

As for my two loves: Education and Publishing, 15 years ago…

We started to see the negative effects of the policies of No Child Left Behind, enacted 9 years prior.  High stakes testing began to permeate the elementary school experience, shifting the focus of teaching. In 2010 the Common Core Standards were adopted in California. As I wrote about in my last post, the Common Core Standards have moved the expectation of young readers away from fiction and toward non-fiction. Imagination is less valued as a result of these standards. I feel that the shifts in education have moved the publishing industry, as well.  I read far fewer current picture books with fictional stories to my kindergarteners because books without complex, narrative stories seem to be the norm.  I see many Social Emotional Learning themed books that encourage readers to “be themselves,” “be strong,” “be brave.”  There are plenty of non-fiction picture books. I can’t say that I don’t long for the stories of the 90’s. Don’t get me wrong, I love the books that I see my fellow authors write.  I also find myself writing books that fit in this current market. I do hope that the pendulum swings a bit to include strong fictional picture books with narrative stories. 

I also have observed and am reading articles that are noting that children are reading less for enjoyment.  As a teacher, I am noticing this trend as well and believe that there is not one factor but maybe many.  Of course, I believe that social media and electronics in the hands of young children must have some effect.  How can it not?  At the same time, the focus on “the science of reading” has created a culture of reading for utility not joy.  Add to these ingredients, the over-testing of very young children which leads to the false assumptions that 4 and 5-year-olds should be reading or they are failing.  Also add an over scheduled world and we just might have the perfect storm. We’ve created an environment that doesn’t value the joy of reading. We don’t value imagination.

In the last 15 years, the corporate narrative that public schools are failing has become stronger.  Blaming teachers and public education for gaps between the “haves” and the “have nots.” Book banning has proliferated.  And AI is creeping into the education of our very young  (I am currently in development on a short narrative film exploring this topic.)

But all is not lost nor shall it ever be as long as we continue to use our voices and teach others to use theirs as well.  This is why I am a teaching-author.

Finally, the theme of coming full circle came up in the other blog posts.  For me, I also find myself full circle.  Having begun my storytelling journey wanting to tell stories utilizing the medium of film, I have returned to my post-college roots to explore short filmmaking while I continue to write more children’s books and teach more children.

What will the next 15 years bring?

By Zeena M. Pliska

Check out my developing film project

Check out my developing film project

15 Years? No!!! Posted by Mary Ann Rodman

 Fifteen years? Teaching Authors is fifteen years old? How is that possible?

 I have no sense of time.  People kept telling me “Wait until you have a child, and you’ll see how time flies.”

Well, no.  My daughter will be thirty in July, and her birth seems to have taken place in a “galaxy long ago and far away.” Everything in my life feels like it happened in the last Ice Age. I swear I’ve been writing these blogs for at least fifty years. 

So what is there to say on this momentous occasion? For one thing, we Teaching Authors, and especially our Mighty Blog Mistress Carmela, should give ourselves a big, old pat on the back. When we began posting 2009, everybody and his dog had a blog. The majority fizzled out after a couple of months…or weeks. We’re not the only blog that’s lasted this long…but we are definitely in an exclusive club. Let’s hear it for us!

I suppose this is a time for looking back. 

For 12 years I really was a Teaching Author, leading Young Writers’ Workshops and Camps in the Atlanta area. Then COVID hit and…well, there was really no way to do day-long programs for kids 9-15, virtually. I haven’t taught since 2019, and I really, really miss it.  The same thing happened with school visits. (I’m available for workshops and school visits...hint, hint.)

Life has shifted in my family as well.  Most of these fifteen years I was the “Sandwich Woman”; getting my daughter through school while trying to take care of my parents in another time zone. For the past ten years, my husband has been commuting from Atlanta to Chicago for work…every single week (except for the COVID year when he telecommuted from the kitchen table.) After four previously announced retirement dates (the first was March 2020 and we all know what happened then!), he is officially retiring this August.  My parents are gone, now. My daughter is teaching in a public school Pre-K, while pursuing a double masters degree in Special Education. (Her students can’t believe she was the inspiration for MY BEST FRIEND and FIRST GRADE STINKS!) The circumstances are constantly changing but life goes on.

I had a “milestone” birthday in March.  I’ve never really thought about age, but that particular number has brought me up short. My husband’s retirement plans are unformed, apart from wanting to move away from Atlanta traffic. The future seems fuzzy and uncertain. However, I am hanging on to something I was told in the Vermont MFA program; write the book you must write before you die (not that I'm planning on doing that in the near future!) So that’s what am I doing now.

I press on.

Don't forget--you have until May 18th to enter our Blogiversary Giveaway Book, S is for Story by TA Esther Herschenhorn. Details are here. 

Posted by Mary Ann Rodman

Happy 15th Blogiversary! + Book/Gift Card Giveaway

  

Crystal marks a 15^th anniversary,

so choose a flute from those pictured above, then join me in raising 

a toast to celebrate our TeachingAuthors 15^th Blogiversary!

Next, click here to enter our celebratory Giveaway to win a copy of 

my S IS FOR STORY and a $15 Bookshop gift card.

                                        S is for story, I wrote,

                                        so brilliant in its might,

                                        to help us see

                                        ourselves, our world,

                                        in oh, such dazzling light.

Reflecting on the past fifteen years, I see, as Carmela did, the 

circular structure of My Story.

I also see, and dazzlingly so: the more things change, the 

more they stay the same.

How honored I was when Carmela invited me to join five 

other children’s book writers who also taught writing 

to create this blog.

TEACHING AUTHOR? TEACHING AUTHOR!

As I shared in my very first post in April of 2009, I knew in my 

heart since learning my ABC’S, I wanted to teach and write 

children’s books.

I was grateful for the opportunity to share my Susan-Lucci-like 

Writer’s Journey to help others tell their stories to children, 

especially since I’d soon be publishing S IS FOR STORY.

As always, I was hopeful, (1) that I could hold my own in the 

company of such talented and highly-degree-ed writers – and – 

(2) that I could handle the requisite software technology.  I’m 

an unashamed Luddite.

But…and isn’t there always a but, I soon realized: TEACHING 

had over-taken my AUTHORING, filling my days and often, 

nights.

My story had become helping others tell their stories.

My students and the writers I coached – my “storied treasures” 

as I described them in my very first Thanku - had claimed my 

heart and refused to let go, which was just what my book 

characters – Lowell, Rudie, Pippin and Howie – had done.

And as former Chicago Cubs Manager Joe Maddon used to 

say, “It’s all about the heartbeat.”

Though I wasn’t writing a children’s book, I needed to do 

everything a children’s book does, beyond entertaining: 

inform, encourage, inspire and always, always offer Hope.

Chicago’s Newberry Library and the University of 

Chicago’s Graham School of Continuing Education 

continue to gift me with outstanding smart and caring 

human beings eager to tell their stories to children.

They’re joined by the singular writers I’m privileged to 

coach – in person or now via ZOOM, plus those I’ve been 

lucky enough to mentor and the Young Authors I’ve 

taught in countless school visits. 

All engage my head and heart on a daily basis.

To seed and feed, to grow these writers, I grew classes, 

workshops, seminars, programs, meeting writers’ needs, 

no matter their age or years on task. I’ve presented here, 

in Chicago, but anywhere and everywhere, often thanks 

to SCBWI.

Believe it or not, thanks to the Pandemic, I even 

learned how to teach virtually! I utilized the

unicorn's collective nouns to label the squares 

on my screen my marvel, my blessing, my glory 

of writers.

And miraculously, with a whole lot of help from 

Carmela, I posted on schedule, sharing my views, thoughts 

and opinion on the selected subject, always in service of 

offering Readers a Teaching Take-away.

                                            

Of course…and isn’t there always an of course, my students and 

writers reside in our Children’s Book World, where I reside, too, 

gladly on their behalf.

NEW has become this ever-changing World’s operative word, 

especially these past fifteen years.

New formats. New genres.

New publishers. New ways to publish a story.

New communities, online, offline.

New institutions of learning, both in person and virtually.

New gatekeepers and ways to reach our Readers.

New technology.

New social platforms.

New awards, grants, booksellers, resources.

And thanks to Walter Dean Myers’ NY Times OpEd that led 

to We Need Diverse Books, new doors, windows and mirrors 

for generations of Young Readers.

My job? To bring all of the above to the attention of my 

students and writers and to our Readers’ attention, too.

 

Yet…and of course there's a yet, our CBW's bottom line 

remains as always.

Stories matter.

Readers matter.

WE matter.

As I shared (with the help of my then 11-year-old tech-savvy 

grandson) in my recent Power Point Chicago workshop 

presentation As Our Children’s Book World Turns: the more 

things change, the more they stay the same.

It's all about the heartbeat.

 

Lo and behold, while I was fully-engaged seeding and feeding 

writers, they must have been seeding and feeding me!

How else could two very different characters – one a colonial 

Jewess, one a bunny potter – grab my heart and refuse to let 

go until I get their stories told.

Writing brought me to our Children’s Book World and in truth 

to this blog.

How good it feels to be writing - and revising - children’s books 

again, while of course, still TEACHING, but yet with 

AUTHORING now and once again in view.

 I remain hopeful…

and grateful.

How could I not?

Thank you to my eleven fellow TeachingAuthors bloggers, 

veteran and former*, for sharing your Smarts and Hearts 

these past fifteen years.

Thank you to our TeachingAuthors Readers, storied treasures, 

too, loyal Fans, Feeders and Fuelers.

 

Happy 15^th Blogiversary!  And don’t forget to click here to 

enter our Book and Book Gift Card Giveaway!

 

Esther Hershenhorn

P.S.

Thank you to Buffy Silverman/, whom I’ve cheered on since 

our Writing Paths crossed oh, so long ago in Illinois, for hosting 

today’s Poetry Friday.

P.P.S

One spot has opened up in my July 7-12 Vermont Manuscript 

Workshop! To learn more, click here and scroll down the page.

*Joann Early Macken, Jeanne Marie Grunwell-Ford, 

  Jill Esbaum, Laura Purdie Salas, Gwendolyn Hooks, 

  Carla McKillough