What's YOUR fav Indie Bookstore? And Happy Poetry Friday!

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Howdy, Campers!

We're jumping up and down and popping balloons, celebrating our Fourth Blogiversary...and you're invited to join in the fun by entering to win one of four gift certificates to a fab independent bookstore.  Details?  Read all about it here!
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And it's Friday, so happy Poetry-Friday-in-the-midst-of-Poetry-Month! Thank you, Laura Purdie Salas, for hosting PF today!

And now...on with the show:

In keeping with our blogiversary celebration, we're talking about indie bookstores.  Here's my riff:

I was a long-time active member of the Southern California Children's Booksellers Association (SCCBA), a feisty organization of indies who generously shared knowledge on how to run a bookstore among themselves and with those thinking about starting a children's bookstore. These newbies could have seen as their competitors, but instead they were embraced as colleagues and became friends. 

SCCBA was a leader among children's independent bookseller associations and in 1984 SCCBA was the midwife in the birthing of the national organization, American Booksellers for Children (ABC) (which has since merged with the American Booksellers Association.)

SCCBA itself folded into the Southern California Independent Booksellers Association just a few years ago. All this merging was hard for many of us, and sad, so sad...but SCIBA has proven itself to be a lively, engaged and strong non-profit trade association.

So which are my fav indies?  Must I choose just one?  A longtime favorite, just up the freeway from me, is Children's Bookworld, founded in 1986 by Sharon Hearne, and still going strong.

I am still mourning Dutton's Brentwood Bookstore, which closed in 2008.

BUT there's great news: indies are making a comeback and I'm lucky to have not one but two fabulous indies just a few miles from my home, both opened within the last few years:

 The marvelous Mysterious Galaxy 

and the absolutely wonderful {pages}!

Here's my rough draft of a book poem in honor of indies today:

HOOKED ON A BOOK (The Evolution of Bruno Littlemore By Benjamin Hale)

rough draft poem by April Halprin Wayland

I’m reading the autobiography
of a classically educated, erudite
chimpanzee.

I stay up too late reading it.
Rather than listen to NPR’s Morning Edition,
I prop the book against the fish bowl as I brush my teeth.

His story
sticks to the souls of my hiking shoes
as I clamber up a steep slope in Arizona.

While buying half a head of Napa cabbage at the farmers market,
I wonder what will happen to his owner, Lydia
and why he’s writing the book from a jail cell.

Through a dinner of grape tomatoes, Napa cabbage,
juicy chicken and roasted potatoes, baby turnips and carrots,
it haunts me

like cookie dough ice cream
haunts me
from the freezer.

poem © 2013 April Halprin Wayland. All rights reserved

Hats off to Indies that offer us so much! Please DO NOT wander around an indie and then go home to order online.  Here's why (under two minutes and worth watching...):

And remember to enter our indie bookstore gift certificate giveaway!

I'm trying to remember to put my name at the end of these posts...this is important because those who subscribe don't see the byline which automatically posts our names for us. So...

tah-tah from April Halprin Wayland!

3 New Giveaways for our 3rd Blogiversary! Hooray for Poetry Friday! And Who Won Janet's Books?

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Howdy, Campers!

Unbelievable! April 22nd is our

3rd--3rd--3rd Blogiversary!!!

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...and we have a special giveaway
cooked up to honor our faithful readers!

But first, announcing the three winners of Janet Wong's book, DECLARATION OF INTERDEPENDENCE--poems for an election year (see our interview with this marvelous poet here)...the winners are...

drum roll, please...

Laura Shovan (aka Author Amok), Laura Erzen, and Nemo (via email)

YAY!

Hooray for Laura, Laura and Nemo--and congratulations, ALL!

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Today, in honor of our blogiversary and for Poetry Friday, I'm rerunning the poem I wrote for our 2nd blogiversary:

     .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

Isn't this a beautiful cover illustrated by Ted Rand?

Now, from TeachingAuthors, in honor of our wonderful readers on this amazing blogging adventure in the sky, here's your chance to win one of three $30 gift certificates from Biblio.com!  

If you're one of the lucky winners of the three BlioBucks certificates,
you can use them from anywhere in the world,
since they are issued online and have no expiration date.

How do I win one of these cool
happy-blogiversary-TeachingAuthors gift certificates?
I'm glad you asked.

Contest rules: 
Be sure to read these rules carefully before entering  Note that you could potentially receive two bonus entries (gasp!) read on:

1. This giveaway is for our Fabulous Followers. Therefore, to qualify, you must follow us via Google Friend connect, Facebook/Networked Blogs, or as an email subscriber. If you are not already a follower, subscribe via one of the links in the sidebar before you enter. (We will verify that you're a follower!)
2. We want to get to know you better! So, in your entry, tell us whether you're a teacher, librarian, parent, student, aspiring writer/illustrator...or another kind of follower. Also tell us how you follow us. If you are an email subscriber, you must provide your email address (so we can contact you when you win!)
3. You may enter one of two ways: either post your comment on today's post, or send us an email: teachingauthors (at) gmail (dot) com.  If you enter via a comment, make sure to include your email address--or how will you know you've won?
4. You can receive a bonus entry by telling us what kind of posts you like best (Interviews? How-tos? Writing exercises? Reviews of books on writing? Poetry? Reviews of plain old good books?, etc.) -- OR you can suggest topics or types of posts you're dying to see here.
5. You can receive an additional bonus entry by helping to spread the word about this giveaway via a blog post, Tweet, or Facebook link. As proof, you must post a second comment containing a link to your blog post, Twitter address, or Facebook wall. 
6. No more than three entries per person (one entry and two bonus entries). 
7. Entry deadline is 11 pm (CST) Monday, May 21, 2012.
8. The winner will be determined using the random number generator at Random.org, and will be announced Wednesday, May 23.  Good luck, Campers! 

is at Random Noodling today ~ Thanks, Diane!

And speaking of random, here's a random selection of Poetry Month happenings:

~ Check out my original poem-a-day (all of 'em are dog poems!) with an accompanying poetry prompt for Poetry Month.
~ Learn how Teaching Author Carmela celebrates the pleasures of poetry in the classroom on her recent post, and check out her listing of National Poetry Month resources in a different post.
~ Hang out with Sylvia Vardell as she interviews poets throughout the month on her Poetry for Children blog.
~ Try guest Teaching Author Helen Frost's marvelous writing exercise/game which she calls "Poetry Sticks" in her recent guest post.
~ Be inspired to write your own Found Poem by Teaching Author Mary Ann Rodman, who offers us two fabulous found poems of her own in this week's post.
~ Come on Teaching Author Esther Hershenhorn's tour of the Poetry Foundation and the galaxy of free resources it offers.
~ Whew!  I'm exhausted!  But if that's not enough for you, Jama Rattigan lists a veritable feast of events for National Poetry Month in the kidlitosphere.

So go ahead...dive in and play with some poems today!

poem and drawing (c) 2012 April Halprin Wayland.  All rights reserved.

Book Giveaway and Guest Teaching Author Interview with Carolyn Marsden!

The Teaching Authors are thrilled to present an interview with our dear friend and Guest Teaching Author Carolyn Marsden.

Carolyn grew up in Mexico City and Southern California. Although she wrote for adults for many years, she began to write for children after the birth of her daughters. She attended Vermont College and earned an MFA in Writing for Children. Her first book, The Gold-Threaded Dress, published by Candlewick, was a Booklist Top Ten Youth Novel of 2002. Her second novel, Silk Umbrellas, was a Texas Bluebonnet nominee and Booklist Top Ten Art Novel of 2003. Since then, Carolyn has published several more award-winning middle grade chapter books with Candlewick and Viking, almost all with multicultural themes. The Buddha’s Diamonds was a Southern California Booksellers Association finalist and a Booklist Top Ten Religion Novel of 2008. Her latest book, Sahwira: An African Friendship, is set in what is now Zimbabwe. Carolyn lives in La Jolla with her Thai husband and two half-Thai daughters.

To celebrate Carolyn’s appearance on our blog, we're giving away an autographed copy of her newest book, Sahwira: An African Friendship. To enter the drawing, see the instructions at the end of this post.

Welcome, Carolyn! How did you become a Teaching Author?

In 1981, when I was living in Tucson, Arizona, mostly writing poetry for adults, I got a job as a Poet-in-Residence. For either a week or a month at a time, I visited urban and rural schools (K-12), including those on the Navajo and Pima reservations. Whenever I entered a classroom, I had about one minute to convince the kids that writing poetry could be fun. Following the lead of Kenneth Koch (Rose, Where Did You Get that Red?), I never used poetry written for children as my examples. I enjoyed seeing the children’s writing rise to new levels when I used poems by writers like Shakespeare or William Carlos Williams, or poems from other cultures. The students absorbed the rich language, rhythms, and subject matter. To my eternal delight, the kid at the back of the class, the one the teacher told me wouldn’t write anything, the one with the learning disability, invariably wrote the best poem.

What’s a common problem your students have, and how do you address it?

The most common problem is being too abstract or general in the writing. I address this by pressing for details. For example, if the student is writing about a flower, I ask what kind of flower? If it’s a daisy, I ask what color? If it’s a white daisy, I keep inquiring until the student arrives at the kind of particulars necessary for good writing. For example, this might be a white daisy picked for a dead pet hamster’s funeral under a damp May sky.

Can you describe your writing process, including collaborating with other authors?

I used to get story ideas based on experiences in the lives of my two daughters. However, as they’ve grown older, my ideas mostly come from people who’ve lived interesting lives in other cultures.

Normally, I work on at least three projects at a time. This somewhat scattered approach isn’t my preference—I just have too many ideas!

I usually start work by taking notes in a little book. Then I transfer whatever I know of the story into the computer, even if some parts are sketchy. My computer is in a 1959 Airstream trailer. I three-hole punch the pages and put them in a binder. I carry this binder everywhere, seizing every small opportunity to edit by hand. Every day I type and print out a new version. And so on, many, many times!

Because I write about cultures other than my own, I’ve always used gatekeepers to vet my work and to bounce ideas off of. Beginning with The Jade Dragon, I’ve written four books in actual collaboration, using and transforming people’s childhood stories. Although the material is gleaned from real life, all of my collaborative stories are extensively fictionalized.

In writing The Jade Dragon, Virginia Loh took care of the rough writing (the most terrifying part for me!) and I did the more relaxing work of revision. Virginia wrote at night, which worked nicely since I’m a day person. Mornings I’d wake to find new material already in my in-box. We spent endless hours brainstorming in cafes.

I wrote The Buddha’s Diamonds with a Vietnamese Buddhist monk. Typically, Phap Niem swung in a hammock, chatting about his childhood, while I scribbled furiously. He left for Vietnam as I was still shaping the first draft, and didn’t return until after the book was published.

Whereas I grew up in Mexico with missionary parents, my first cousin, Philip Matzigkeit, lived on a mission in Rhodesia, now the troubled country of Zimbabwe. Philip always told fascinating tales of his childhood. Yet I was reluctant to write the story because of the complicated political and historical backdrop. Finally, with several books under my belt, I felt ready. While Philip didn’t do any of the actual writing, he did write many great informative emails. Because I couldn’t travel to Africa, I had to get a sense of the setting through Philip. He and I also spent time in cafes, drinking coffee, hashing out the plot. After a couple of intense years of work together, we produced Sahwira: An African Friendship.

Philip’s friend, Daniella Cinque, had lived in an institute for girls in Naples in the early 1950s. The institute was a place where mothers who had been raped by soldiers dropped off their unwanted children. One afternoon, Daniella recounted memories to me while I typed notes in my computer. After that, I did the writing mostly on my own. Because I didn’t want to let go of some of the rich, beautiful material, plotting the story was quite a long process. Take Me with You will be released by Candlewick in spring 2010.

One of my future projects will be with a Czech doctor who escaped the Czech Republic along with his family at age fourteen. Because Milan lives across the country in Pennsylvania, (and isn’t the best communicator!), working together will present new challenges.

How can teachers use your books in the classroom?

My books can be used as teaching tools for the many countries I’ve written about--Thailand, Vietnam, Italy, Rhodesia, Mexico (and soon, I hope Iraq and Czechoslovakia!). They also bring to life various historical periods, ranging from 600 AD (Starfields, upcoming from Candlewick in 2011), to 1950s Naples (Take Me With You), 1963 Rhodesia (Sahwira), to 1983 Fairfax, Virginia (The Jade Dragon). I’ve also written through the eyes of characters for whom religion is central. I’ve explored Thai and Vietnamese Buddhism, Protestantism (the Methodist Church), Catholicism, Mayan Shamanism, (and soon, I hope, Islam!). Several of my books address the issues of immigrants to the US.

When did you first know you were a writer?

When I was thirteen, I discovered that I could temporarily escape the angst of early puberty and live out my fantasies through writing. I first wrote a take-off on 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, then turned to romantic stories featuring myself with the Beatles, especially Paul McCartney. Through writing, I discovered my life’s path.

Nowadays, my writing is no longer motivated by escape or fantasy, but is more about exploring the worlds, minds, and hearts of my characters.

Would you share a favorite writing exercise with our readers?

One of my favorite writing exercises is very simple. I make a random list of 15 words using a variety of nouns, verbs, adjectives. An example of a list might be: sheep, crisscross, damp, fling, clever, tide, shadow, amber, avoid, glassy, stone, etc. I ask my students to write quickly, using all the words at least once. Of course they can use other words as well, as well as variations on these words (e.g. avoided instead of avoid) I tell them not to try to make sense—to just let the sentences flow. This exercise invariably produces wonderful poems!

Thank you, Carolyn! The Teaching Authors appreciate your visit and your insights! 

Readers, before entering our contest, please read our Giveaway Guidelines here.

Now, for the contest requirements:
For a chance to win an autographed copy of Carolyn Marsden's Sahwira: An African Friendship, post a comment to today's blog post telling us why you would like a copy of the book. To qualify, your entry must be posted by 11 p.m. Saturday, November 14, 2009 (Central Standard Time). The winner will be announced by 11 p.m., Sunday, November 15, 2009.

We look forward to reading your comments. Good luck!

From Concept to Completion: A New Year at the Pier Time Line

Find out about our Teaching Author Book Give-Away Contest running all this week! Click here for details.

Happy New Year! This week we’re celebrating the new school year and our very own April Halprin Wayland’s book, New Year at the Pier—A Rosh Hashanah Story, which is about another kind of new year—the Jewish New Year.

JoAnn:
Give us a feel for the time line of this book—from the first inkling of an idea to Book On the Shelf.

April:
I’ll tell you, but if you’re an aspiring children’s author, it might be best to cover your ears and sing “La, la, la” through today’s post…especially the very end.

So—here’s how it started. An editor asked me if I had any Jewish stories in me. I had a few…but one ritual was the standout for me: tashlich.

I began by writing down everything I knew about tashlich—how it feels to walk up the pier, singing, with two hundred of my friends, the sun, the waves, the butterflies in my tummy, the feeling I have when I give my “sins” to the winds.



Next, I read books about tashlich, starting with children’s books, though there weren’t many. The most recent children’s book I found in which tashlich is the main subject is Carol Levin’s A Rosh Hashanah Walk (Kar-Ben, 1987).

Then I interviewed my friend, Rabbi Neil Comess-Daniels of Beth Shir Sholom Temple in Santa Monica, California. Rabbi Neil is very tuned into kids; he’s written many albums of children’s songs.

I just re-read my notes from that afternoon and realize how much of what he taught me infuses the book. Look over my shoulder at a few of my notes:

• Rabbi Neil doesn’t like using the word “mistake,” as mistake means not on purpose, and sometimes you do some of these things on purpose.

• There’s a famous story of a man who goes to his rabbi and says that he gossiped about someone in town and he is now sorry and wants the rabbi to help him make it right. The rabbi said no, he can’t help this man. What? What do you mean, says the man. I really am sorry. I want to make it right. No can do, says the rabbi. But why? Asks the man. Go get me a knife and a feather pillow, says the rabbi. The man does. The rabbi stabs the feather pillow and takes out all the feathers and throws them to the winds. The idea is that you can’t always fix a situation. A situation can be changed through apology, but not undone.

• His example, regarding how you can’t fix something completely, was of a child stealing a doll and bringing it back. She might say, “I know I can bring the doll back, but I can’t make you trust me again.”

• Not: “It’s okay.” (Because maybe it’s not okay.) But: “I accept your apology.”

• Neil suggests that instead of burning her list, she uses it as a checklist.

After the manuscript was written and accepted, my editor, Lauri Hornik, guided me through the rewrites with her clear vision. I growled at her under my breath. She sent edits. I stomped around my computer. She sent more edits. Back and forth, back and forth.

But ask her now how many “Thank you, my dear darling editor!” notes I’ve sent her since the book came out! (Lauri’s since been promoted to President and Publisher of Dutton Children's Books, in addition to her previous title of President and Publisher of Dial. My new fabulous editor at Dial is Jessica Garrison.)

So here, finally, is the spoiler…the actual time line of New Year at the Pier:

• April 2002: interviewed rabbi

• October 2004: accepted by Dial

• many, many, many edits, changes, drafts…

• May 2007: projected publication date is 2008

• September 2007: book delayed until 2009

• April 2008: tiny edit—five small word changes

• June 2009: book is on bookstore shelves—YAY!

SEVEN YEARS?!?!?! Well, yes. Would you believe me if I told you it was worth the wait? Look at the harvest—a starred review in Publishers Weekly and lots of other wonderful reviews!

image credits:
photo of people walking up the pier by Rachel Gilman

erase writing:
http://christinabakerkline.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/red_pencil.jpg

1) Take a deep cleansing breath. 2) Set a goal. 3) Enter our contest!

One-half of knowing what you want
is knowing what you must give up before you get it.
~ playwright Sidney Howard
(he adapted Gone With The Wind for the screen)

Envision what you want your life to look like.
Then ask yourself, “What do I have to become to manifest this vision?”
~ Rev. Michael Beckwith (paraphrased)

Dear Readers,

Huzzah, huzzah--it's nearly fall and a new Teaching Authors CONTEST has begun!

New Year At The Pier—A Rosh Hashanah Story by April Halprin Wayland, illustrated by award-winning Canadian Stéphane Jorisch, is so delicious, we want you to have a chance to win an autographed copy!

Here’s lots of juicy stuff about the book, here's the 1:16 minute book trailer and here’s a summary of the book, which got a starred review in Publishers Weekly:

Izzy’s favorite part of Rosh Hashanah is Tashlich, a joyous ceremony in which people apologize for the mistakes they made in the previous year and thus clean the slate as the new year begins. But there is one mistake on Izzy’s “I’m sorry” list that he’s finding especially hard to say out loud. Humor, touching moments between family and friends, and information about the Jewish New Year are all combined in this lovely picture book for holiday sharing.

So...how can you win your very own autographed copy?

Simple. Since the book is about the new year...do you have a new school year goal? Great! Then post one reading, writing or teaching goal you'd like to accomplish by December 31, 2009 in 25 words or less.

Here are some sample goals to get you thinkin':

Do you want your student(s) to understand the concept of Show, Don’t Tell?

Do you want the courage to delete all of your emails so that the clutter isn't keeping you from writing the next Charlotte's Web?

Do you want to set aside 30 uninterrupted minutes to read for pleasure each day?

Do you want to send out a manuscript by Halloween?

What is that one goal for this bright and shiny new school year?

Be specific. Here’s the place to ‘fess up!

Win-an-autographed-copy-of-New-Year-at-the-Pier CONTEST rules:
1) Read the two quotes at the top.
2) Take a deep breath.
3) Post ONE reading, writing or teaching goal for the new school year in 25 words or less.
4) Your goal must be posted on one of the Teaching Authors blog posts between Friday, August 28, 2009 and Monday, September 7, 2009.
5) You must include your email address in your post so that we can contact the lucky winner.
Here are our general giveaway rules.

The winner will be announced Tuesday, September 8, 2009.

We expect to hear back from you in the first two weeks of January—every one of you. If you don't win this time, you'll have another chance in January when you report on your progress. How did you do? Who or what helped you? Who or what hindered you?

Coming next week: more on New Year at the Pier!

And finally, because it's Poetry Friday...and to REALLY confuse you now that you're thinking about goals...I leave you with a beautiful completely contrary anti-goals poem by my wonderful friend, poet and author
George Ella Lyon:

First homework, then housework, now soulwork.

No list, no checking off, no done.

~ George Ella Lyon

image of girl with a goal by April Halprin Wayland

Book Giveaway Guidelines

Planning to enter one of our giveaway contests? Please be sure to read the information below.


Entry Rules:

1. To enter a giveaway drawing, you must post a comment to the specified blog post. UPDATE AS OF 10/1/09: The comment function has been turned off for this post to prevent readers from leaving comments here by mistake.
2. Your comment must fulfill the requirements of that particular contest to be valid.
   
3. You must include contact information in your comment. If you are not a blogger or your email is not part of your online profile, you must provide a valid email address in your comment. Note: the Teaching Authors cannot prevent spammers from accessing email addresses posted within comments.
   
4. Your contest entry grants us permission to list your name as a winner on the website www.TeachingAuthors.com.

Winner selection and notification:

1. Unless otherwise indicated, winners are determined using the random number generator at Random.org.
2. Winners will be announced on the website by the date indicated in each contest. Winners will also be notified by email. Winners must respond to their notification email and provide a mailing address within 72 hours. If you do not respond in time, your prize is forfeited and an alternate winner will be chosen.

Restrictions:
Giveaways are only open to U.S. addresses.

Note: the Teaching Authors cannot be held accountable for any email that is lost in Cyberspace, or for any email sent to you that ends up in your Spam folder.

Good luck!