My Latest Writing Career Surprise and a Poem from Louisa May Alcott

Happy Poetry Friday! You'll find a link to this week's roundup by Jone Rush MacCulloch at the end of this post. Today, I'm sharing an excerpt from a poem that appeared in a classic novel. The roundabout way I found the poem is tied to my topic: "Surprises Along the Way." Last week, Gwen kicked off this series by discussing several surprises in her writing journey. While I, too, have had many career surprises, I'm going to share just one—my latest. Also, at the bottom of this post, I include a link to an anniversary giveaway for Playing by Heart. 

Before I begin, let me announce the winner of our giveaway of Carol Grannick’s debut novel in verse, Reeni's Turn. Congratulations to:

Merysa C!

Now, for today's topic.

After years of writing everything from nonfiction articles for newspapers and magazines to novels for tweens and teens, my latest surprise is that I'm back to my first love: poetry. I mentioned my return to poetry back in this August 2019 post. Of course, I've dabbled in poetry off and on over the years. I've even had a few poems published in magazines and anthologies for kids. But I haven't been focused on poetry the way I am right now.   

In my very first TeachingAuthors post, I talked about how I began writing in sixth or seventh grade, when I started keeping a journal and writing poetry. I was published for the first time around age 16: my seven-line poem, "My Sanctuary," appeared in Crystals in the Dark: An Anthology of Creative Writing from the Chicago Public Schools. Several more of my poems were published while I was still in high school. But I eventually put poetry aside for more "serious" endeavors.

It's been probably two years now since I made the decision to rework a picture book manuscript into poetry. In that time, I've been having great fun reading, studying, and writing poetry in a variety of forms. Although the draft is nearing completion, I want to make poetry an ongoing part of my life. 😄

I mentioned above that I discovered the poem I'm excerpting from today in a roundabout way. I'd been looking for kid-friendly poetry anthologies when I saw this one on a shelf in the juvenile section of my local library: The Waldorf Book of Poetry edited by David Kennedy. 

The book includes a poem by Louisa May Alcott that appears in Chapter 16 of Little Women. I haven't read Little Women in years and didn't recall the poem at all, or even that the book contained poetry. When I read Alcott's cheerful "A Song from the Suds" in The Waldorf Book of Poetry I was especially struck by the second stanza:

Excerpt from "A Song from the Suds"
by Louisa May Alcott 
(from Little Women) 

I wish we could wash from our hearts and souls   
      The stains of the week away,   
And let water and air by their magic make   
      Ourselves as pure as they;           
Then on the earth there would be indeed   
      A glorious washing-day!

(You can read the whole poem here.) 

There's so much I'd like to wash from my heart and soul these days. The closest alternative I've found is spending time outdoors. Nature has been my greatest balm lately, and I'm grateful for the lovely fall weather we're having.

For more poetry, be sure to check out this week's Poetry Friday roundup hosted by Jone Rush MacCulloch at her new blog.  

Finally, as promised, here's a link to the book giveaway I'm hosting to celebrate the third anniversary of the release of my young-adult historical romance, Playing by Heart. 

Posted by Carmela

Career Surprises Along My Road to Fortune and Fame as a Children’s Book Writer

My road was more of a circular path on No Thank You Boulevard. 

But I learned a lot from my travels. (And I’m still learning.) It has been therapeutic thinking about those highways and byways that led to dead-ins for so many years. My first career surprise was the time it took to become a published author. I can be a time waster and that was part of my problem. But the main reason was learning to write well enough that a publisher wanted to take a chance on me. Thankfully, I found one after years of studying the craft and writing. I was close to the point of “I need to try another career path. I think I was truly surprised to find an editor who saw worth in my writing.

Early in my career, I met several people who warned me about sharing my ideas. Someone might steal your idea. I was always skeptical. To this day, I’ve never met anyone who was as equally fascinated with our Oklahoma prairie dogs. But I did learn that the more I talked about an idea, the less interesting it became.

There is one exception to the above comments. I have found the most supportive authors in my critique group. Over the years, we have learned each other’s strengths and weaknesses. I always feel comfortable sharing my writing with them. I know I will have a stronger manuscript by the time I leave.

  All of the above have molded me into a much better writer than I ever thought I could me. But I was still super surprised when my Tiny Stitches – The Life of Medical Pioneer Vivien Thomas won two awards: SCBWI CRYSTAL KITE and the NAACP IMAGE AWARD. They are my career surprises and my cheerleaders.

CAROL COVEN GRANNICK’S TURN: A STUDENT SUCCESS STORY + Book Giveaway!

 As I wrote in my very first TeachingAuthors Thanku, I consider my students and writers “my storied treasures.”

Lucky me!

And now lucky you, because today I’m sharing one of those treasures - the author/poet/chronicler Carol Coven Grannick – and – gifting you with the chance to win a copy of her novel in verse REENI’S TURN (Fitzroy Books) which officially debuts this Sunday! In fact, you can attend her Sunday, 1 pm CST Book Launch at the Book Stall in Winnetka, Illinois simply by clicking here.

Full disclosure: Carol and I are a Mutual Admiration Society. We share a bevy of descriptive labels: Chicagoans, SCBWI-Illinois kin, children’s book creators, VERY long-time Writer’s Journey travelers, learning partners, and best of all, friends.
So you can imagine just how far my Teacher/Writing Coach buttons are poppin’ ….now that young readers will have the chance to hold REENI’S TURN in their hands and hearts.
Finally, it’s Carol’s turn! Some of you may already know Carol from her well-read chronicles of the writer’s life – published in SCBWI-Illinois’ newsletter The Prairie Wind and posted on popular blogs such as Cynsations and the Nerdy Book Club.

By underscoring the importance of resilience and learned optimism, Carol has kept scores of children’s book writers keepin’ on.

Carol’s eleven-year-old Reeni will do the same.

She’s a young dancer.  But she’s struggling with lifelong shyness, anxiety and a newly-developing and expanding body that doesn’t match the ballerina posters on her bedroom wall.  Ultimately Reeni must choose between coming to terms with her natural limitations or taking a chance on becoming the girl of her dreams. The story addresses universal themes of emotional resilience, body acceptance, and the search for courage.

Early readers lauded the “deeply-moving verse” and the connection readers will make with Reeni’s struggle.

Carol’s poetry and fiction for young readers has appeared and/or is forthcoming in Hello, Babybug, Highlights, Ladybug, Cricket, and Hunger Mountain. Her work for adults has appeared in Otherwise Engaged, A Moment of Your Time, Red Coyote, The Write City Magazine, West Texas Literary Review, 2018 Mizmor Anthology, The Lake, Broad! and other venues.

Thank you, Carol, for sharing REENI’S TURN, your Journey, your Spirit and this long-awaited singular Moment with our TeachingAuthors readers.

            My teacher’s heart kvells*
            like any Jewish mother’s
            Such storied treasures.

            *rejoices

 As always, I’m cheering you on!

Oh, and thanks to Kiesha Shepard at Whispers From the Ridge for hosting today’s Poetry Friday.

Happy Reading!

Esther Hershenhorn

P.S

Remember, Readers: you can win a copy of Carol’s REENI’S TURN just by entering our Book Giveaway at the end of Carol’s interview.

. . . . . . .

Here you are, finally, after years on task, readying for your official launch this Sunday of your first published children’s book, the middle grade novel in verse REENI’S TURN. Just how gratifying is this long-awaited moment? How much better is it than those you likely creatively visualized to keep you moving forward on your Writer’s Journey?

First, thank you, Esther, for this opportunity to visit Teaching Authors. I am a regular follower who constantly learns from the TA posts, and I’m honored to be here. To your question: I’m pretty certain I never visualized this moment, or these days leading up to the launch!

What lit my way was the process of discovery of Reeni’s character and of how the story would unfold. For me, that happened through writing, rewriting, revising, and re-visioning, then putting the manuscript away for a while before trying again. I didn’t know whether REENI’S TURN would ever find a publisher, and after a while, didn’t think about it unless it seemed a draft was ready for submission. My passion for this story fueled my work over the years, even when “forward” felt “backward”.

But now, and in the context of all the important issues we face in our current world, it feels like a virtual celebration will be the perfect thing for welcoming REENI’S TURN into the world. My biggest dream was always to have the story enable conversations with children and their adults, and now that’s possible. I feel a huge amount of gratitude to family, friends, and colleagues who cheered me on over the years with kind words, critique, crucial pieces of middle grade information, and above-and-beyond multiple draft readings and feedback. 

REENI’S TURN takes on the issue of body image and the underrepresented frequency in middle grade literature of dieting among young tweens. What are your hopes for this novel in the dialogues it will create – for both the reader and our world?

 Most of us want to live in a world in which we are valued and for our character rather than our shape or size, skin color, religion, ethnicity, and more. I believe size and weight stigma, non-stereotyped chubby and fat characters, and the diet culture’s impact on young children, beg for inclusion in diverse middle grade literature. 

I’d love for REENI’S TURN to open meaningful conversations about the story and the issues it raises—specific to the story as well as unique to each tween’s life. How does the pressure to be “thin” and “trim” cause us to question our value? What about Reeni’s great strength for self-reflection? Is introspection helpful, or harmful? Is an introspective journey just as powerful as an external one when we search for self-acceptance, the ability to speak up, the leaps we take to discover courage? How do we become the person we want to be if that involves facing down fears that have always stopped us in the past? How does it feel to need the safety of your family and other loving adults, and still need to be independent, finding solutions to your own problems even if you make mistakes along the way?

I love that my shy and fearful Reeni, propelled by her own strengths, knowing she has a safety net of support, decides to take a big leap into the unknown and try, at least once, to make a significant change in her life, and maybe in the world as well.

I hope that we see that we all have that capacity.

 I happen to know: (1) you explored both prose and poetry as story-telling choices when writing REENI’S TURN and (2) while growing and crafting REENI’S TURN, you were privy to a whole host of voices, each recommending a different way to go.  How did you come to choose the novel in verse as the best format for Reeni to share her story of self-discovery? How were you able to find your way?

 My first draft was prose, probably because it felt like a natural extension of the seed story, “The Inside Ballerina”, my first children’s story published in Cricket in 2001. But when I began the post-critique revision, rhythms and words danced around in my brain. I wrote them down, and this changed and intensified the voice of the story. I felt the difference, even though the verse and the story itself were nowhere near finished.

After a few drafts, a professional critique with a respected editor guided me in creating a middle grade story and challenged the authenticity of the verse, suggesting I revise in poetic prose. I tried. It was difficult and unpleasant, and felt like it came from a different part of my brain. I didn’t mind difficult, not at all. But the prose seemed to be fighting with the rhythms, the line breaks, the white space in my head. But I also respected that I didn’t quite know what I was doing, and I don’t regret the attempt to return it to prose.

The next summer I attended a workshop with another respected mentor. Before my ten-page critique began, she asked, “Is there some reason you didn’t write this in verse?” That workshop was a turning point in my commitment to verse, and the hard work to make each verse—which are 95% of the book—authentic. I did have a couple of more prose requests from agents who felt that “verse novels are a hard sell”, but prose no longer matched my vision for the book.

As the years and revisions went on, there were many voices, as you put it, wanting not prose instead of verse, but content in and then the same content out. During that time of adding, subtracting, reorganizing, and streamlining, REENI’S TURN won a Finalist placement from the Katherine Paterson Award and Honorable Mention in the Sydney Taylor Manuscript Competition. By early 2019, I had revised the book to where I wanted it to be, and had several full manuscript requests with agents when Publisher Jaynie Royal of Regal House said she loved REENI’S TURN, and offered me a contract with her PAL-listed middle grade imprint, Fitzroy Books. I accepted, revised in a way that felt good to both of us, and found out what life was like without revising REENI’S TURN.

I believe verse works best for Reeni’s story because small doses of big, intense issues in lyrical language create greater accessibility to the story itself and to the specifics of  Reeni’s journey. The rhythms change with dance, her voices, her interactions with friends and family, and more. White space allows breathing and respite time to think, feel, and heal between “scenes”.

But ultimately, I stayed with verse and worked to make it shine because I had come to trust myself as a writer and a woman with a story to tell. I didn’t want to ignore the rhythms and sounds and beats that accompanied the language in my brain.

And just as my character learns to trust and listen to her “still, small voice”, I listened to mine.

Your website showcases your writer’s diversity: you are an Author, a Poet and a Chronicler. How do you balance your writing day/life, and as important, how has each separate focus helped you grow as a writer?

 I do love different formats and genres. REENI’S TURN (MG) is so close to my heart, and was a long-lived passion and mission. My poetry for very young children is a joy-generator—I love their voices! My lyrical picture books, vastly different in their subjects and tone, are now with agent Joyce Sweeney at The Seymour Agency. I’ve written occasional short middle grade fiction—maybe I’ll write more. And as a “chronicler”, I’ve long written regular columns, blog posts, and lots of guest posts and articles exploring the inner, emotional life of the writer (mine, and others’), and I continue to enjoy that.

With all that, I must submerge myself in one writing project at a time. I often write a poem first thing in the morning (especially since COVID), but then I’ll focus on a new work, or a revision, or my column, or it might be a “business” day, especially in these last months spent focusing on the pre-launch, during which I’ll do a lot of emails, send out ARCs, order postcards, business cards, posters. I am best in the mornings, beginning at 5, but I won’t ignore empty paper and pen if something pops into my brain later in the day!

I love variety, and I love delving deeply into one thing at a time.

YAY! and HURRAY! Now it’s Carol Coven Grannick’s turn! What can your readers – of your books, your poetry, your articles and posts, look forward to enjoying down the road?                                                

I wish I knew! In terms of my columns, I’ll continue to detail my journey and the journeys of other writers I interview. I have a lot of guest posts coming out—including one at Sylvia Vardell’s site last Poetry Friday that goes more into depth about why I wrote REENI’S TURN in verse. I believe it’s important for us to share our true journeys. I hear from readers that it helps, and that makes me happy. In terms of fiction and poetry, my agent is subbing a picture book right now, with a number of others ready to go; I’m finishing an adult poetry chapbook; I’m creating a collection of early childhood poetry; and I continue to draft new picture books, the latest based on something I’m watching unfold on my balcony, even as I write this answer. 

But I love surprises, so I’m ready for anything!

……..

WIN AN AUTHOR-AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF REENI’S TURN!

To enter our drawing, use the Rafflecopter widget below.  You may enter via 1, 2, or all 3 options.  (Note: if the widget doesn’t appear, click on the link at the end of this post that says “a Rafflecopter giveaway” to enter.)

If you choose option 2, you MUST leave a comment on TODAY’S blog post or on our TeachingAuthors Facebook page.  If you haven’t already “liked” our Facebook page, please do so today! 

If you prefer, you may submit your comment via email to: teachingauthors [at] gmail [dot] com. 

Note: if you submit your comments via email or Facebook, YOU MUST STILL ENTER THE DRAWING VIA RAFFLECOPTER BELOW.  The giveaway ends September 21, 2020 and is open to U.S. residents only.

 P.S.

If you’ve never entered a Rafflecopter giveaway, here’s info on how to enter a Rafflecopter giveaway and the difference between signing in with Facebook vs. with an email address.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Where Is My Creative Mind?

I keep telling myself, “Come on Gwendolyn. Show your creative side. Rewrite that last paragraph. Show some pizazz!  Pizazz? I let out a deep breath. My pizazz floats away disappearing in the warm April breeze along with any cool thoughts I might have had about my current work-in-progress.

I keep watching the news for updates. I think about my writing project. I watch the news. I think about my project.

What now? I need to finish this project. The deadline is somersaulting toward me with no brakes in sight.

I don’t turn off my TV. Instead, I tune in my favorite music station. It plays jazz music all day and all night. No voices. No commercials. Just soothing jazz. I get some of my best ideas while listening to jazz.

I talk to my writer friends who are extremely generous during regular times and even more so now with COVID-19 AND lockdowns on our minds.  We read each other’s work, offer comments that are on point. You ask yourself, “Why didn’t I think of that?” They bring out more of my creative self.
Pull out a manuscript in your “Not Quite Ready” file. With a new perspective, you may be able to zero in on what could turn it into a sale. Relax. Take deep breaths. Close your eyes and type or write with your favorite pen. Don’t judge your work. Don’t even read it. Just keep going. As I write this, I’m thinking to myself, “Gwendolyn, you need to follow your own advice.”

While Hubby fishes, I write  by the calming
waters of  Lake Draper in Oklahoma City.

I am one of those who stops typing more often than I should and reread, delete and add as I write. Maybe it is time I follow my own advice. After all, it seems as if I’ll have plenty of time for revisions. WOW! Just giving myself permission to write without worrying about the result makes me feel extra creative. Maybe I’ll try a different point of view. There is an old manuscript I want to bring to life.

Is there an idea or character you visit from time to time, but never seriously follow through with your plans for it? Then maybe this is your moment. You won’t know until you explore it fully.

Fill your computer screen with stories only you can write. Your creative mind is within you. Use it. I promise to do the same.

Posted by Gwendolyn Hooks

Leaping Over the Inner Critic . . . to Fly with the Hive

     I know these are trying times as we struggle with the COVID-19 pandemic, but I'm trying to stay positive. So I want to begin by saying Happy Spring! and sharing a photo I took on my walk yesterday:

Walking outside improved my mental health, and seeing these blooming snowdrops gave my spirits an added boost!  🌷🌷🌷

I also want to say happy Poetry Friday! See the end of today's post for a link to this week's Poetry Friday roundup.

     Now to continue our current TeachingAuthors topic: I've enjoyed reading all my fellow TeachingAuthors' posts on taking leaps in their writing and careers. One of the biggest writing-related leaps I've ever taken was my decision to apply to the Vermont College MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults program. I first learned of the program from Sharon Darrow, a wonderful teacher I had the privilege of working with many years ago. When Sharon explained the low-residency program to me, I knew immediately that I wanted to attend. At the time, I was working on a YA novel that was in great need of revision, and I figured the MFA program would be the perfect place to fix it. But when I considered the possibility of applying, my inner critic started screaming at me about how ridiculous the idea was. After all, my only published work at the time consisted of nonfiction articles for newspapers and magazines. How could I pursue a graduate degree focused on fiction writing (which was my goal).

SCBWI-Network Meeting at Fountaindale Library, January 2020

     I've been thinking a lot about dealing with the inner critic lately because I recently gave a talk on the subject at an SCBWI-IL Network meeting. (That's where the above photo was taken.) Back when I was considering attending Vermont College, I didn't have the tools I have today for quieting the critic, so I hesitated. But when several unexpected events coincided that would allow me to attend the MFA program, I took it as a sign that I was meant to apply, and so I DID! Keep in mind, I'm afraid of heights, so attending Vermont College felt like I was taking a giant leap across the old stone quarry near my home. But I'm so glad I didn't let my inner critic (or my fear of heights) hold me back. I made HUGE leaps in my writing while I was in the program. I ended up putting my YA work-in-progress aside to focus on a project I'd never expected to write: a middle-grade novel inspired by events from my own childhood. That novel was later published as Rosa, Sola by Candlewick Press. The MFA program also gave me credentials to be a teacher. (You can read a bit about my path to becoming a TeachingAuthor here.)

     But just as important, Vermont College was the place where I connected with many wonderful writers, especially those in my graduating class, which was known as the Hive. You can see us in the photo below. I'm standing on the right side, wearing a red polo shirt. Directly in front of me is fellow TeachingAuthor Mary Ann Rodman Downing. The woman at the far left of the front row is former TeachingAuthor Jeanne Marie Grunwell Ford, and in the middle of the middle row is another former TeachingAuthor, JoAnn Early Macken. Some other authors you may recognize in the group are Gretchen Woelfle, April Pulley Sayre, Carolyn Crimi, Carolyn Marsden, and Gretchen Will Mayo. As members of the Hive, we called ourselves "Bees." (You can see a stuffed bee perched on Gretchen Woelfle's shoulder in the front row.)

Hive graduating class, summer 2000 

     Even though the members of the Hive live all over the United States, many of us have stayed in touch over the years via an email group. We've had several mini-reunions, too, where subsets of the Hive have gathered to critique, celebrate, and support each other. I'd hoped we'd have another reunion this summer to commemorate the 20th anniversary of our graduation (gasp!), but in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, that's unlikely. Still, I'm so grateful to be a part of this amazing group of writers.

     Our class graduated in summer of 2000, which, like 2020, was also a Leap Year. Completing my MFA was a career leap that truly helped my writing take flight!

     Be sure to check out this week's Poetry Friday round-up by Michelle Kogan.

Remember to always Write with Joy!
Carmela

PW: Halloween Book has "Luscious Rhymes"

.

Howdy, Campers and Happy Poetry Friday! (The link to Poetry Friday is below.)

Be sure to enter our current give-away of Carmela Martino's new novel (inspired by two amazing 18th-century sisters who were far ahead of their time, one a mathematician, the other a composer), Playing by Heart. Details on how to enter are in this post, which introduces the book. The give-away ends October 16th.

Campers--I'm overjoyed to feature one of my former students in today's TeachingAuthors "Student Success Story." 

As soon as Denise Doyen walked into my 2005 UCLA Extension Writers' Program class, "Writing the Children's Picture Book," I knew she was a force of nature. Her writing was so strong, her life energy filled with such forward motion, this gal was going somewhere! She's a perpetual student. Before my class, she'd taken classes with Ann Whitford Paul and Barney Saltzberg. After my class she fit perfectly in Barbara Bottner's critique group.  

Author and poet Denise Doyen with her newest book
photo credit: Michael Doyen

Denise's first picture book, Once Upon A Twice, drew starred reviews (Kirkus raved that it was "Undeniably arrayed in a gorgeous brocade, woven of fresh, inventive wordplay," and a member of the EB White Committee wrote, "Wonderful writing in the spirit of Lewis Carroll. Enchanting. Tickles the tongue and 'comes to life' as a read aloud."). 

And...BOO!  Just in time for Halloween, her newest stellar rhyming picture book is out, illustrated by the fabulous Eliza Wheeler, published by Chronicle Books. Filled with Denise's trademark inventive wordplay, it's earned a starred review from Publishers Weekly which said, "Luscious rhymes and an atmospheric eeriness immerse readers in a neighborhood battle." (Read the whole review here.)

So, let's meet poet and author Denise Doyen, shall we?

Welcome, Denise! We're so glad you stopped by. Could you tell us a bit about how your writing career began?

I had been a director/choreographer for children’s television at Disney. I loved creating entertainment for kids; but production hours are long and Hollywood’s a tad ruthless. I quit so I could closely raise my two sons. Later, when they got to be teenagers (that poignant, inevitable age of detachment, “Mom, drop me off a block ahead!”) I realized I missed having a professional creative outlet. My focus remained children. So, I enrolled at UCLA Extension, in “Writing for the Youth Market.” Over two years, I took in a succession of courses, primarily about picture books.

I really enjoyed your class; we made dummies, visited booksellers and children’s librarians, made fave-book lists, wrote/rewrote stories, read Bird by Bird and generally, got inspired. Great class. After UCLA, I joined SCBWI, and started attending all of its editor/agent days, writing workshops and conferences. I worked hard to make sure I really knew my stuff, then I jumped in! ...and began submitting. 

Boy, you're not kidding you jumped in, Denise. Can you talk a bit more about the critique groups, workshops, etc. you've jumped into? 

I’m in a critique group called GOYA which stands for either the Urdu word for “the suspension of belief created by a good storyteller” or an acronym for Get Off Your Ass! (and get published.) As you mentioned, I also claim a seat in Barbara Bottner’s Master Class, which is sort of a guided critique group with savvy pointers/prompts when you need them. I circled back through UCLA Extension and took novel and poetry classes to expand the scope of my writing. And I still take advanced workshops or seminars when I can find them and fit them in. I think a writer can’t help but keep learning while reading good books, editing, critiquing. But I do consciously search for new tools and shoot for keener insights. 

And how did you connect with your agent?

I went to the Big Sur Writing Workshop hosted by Andrea Brown Literary and Henry Miller Library. The wonderful writer, Meg Medina, was in my group. We synched, liked each other’s work. She rec’ed me to her agent there, Jen Rofe, and we hit it off as well. It was a kind act by a fellow writer, an example of a generous spirit that I’ve continued to find in the kidlit world. And Jen’s proven a true champion of my writing, exactly what one hopes your agent will be. 

(Campers, it's true, we are part of kidlit's generous community, and let me tell you, Denise is one of the most generous--truly.)  Denise, tell us about your new delicious new book.

It’s called The Pomegranate Witch. It’s loosely based on a childhood memory of a mysterious lady in my neighborhood. I told the anecdote to my writing group one Halloween and when I finished they said, “That’s a book!” Hunh. So, I stored that kernel of inspiration in my idea journal and started working on the story the next summer.

How did you go about writing it?

There were underlying themes I wanted to explore/expose: the fact that the hermits, loners or odd cat ladies we sometimes brush by, surely have—on closer inspection—interesting stories, depths or surprising former selves. I also wanted to show kids’ antics and imaginations back in an era of Free Play when an afternoon was full of exploring, scavenging and inventing on your own. Kids back then solved their problems without adult intervention. They learned from successive failures. They kept trying. It’s how one becomes resilient person. In the book, the gang fails time and again before they score a pomegranate—and yet they are thrilled with that singular prize ... because they really, truly earned it. (And yes, presenting those challenges is part of the Witch’s agenda.)

Because all this had a nostalgic feel and the witch and her tree, a legendary vibe – I decided on a traditional ballad form like Casey at the Bat or Paul Revere’s Ride, with their heptameter meter. It took me three months to craft the poem’s 24 stanzas--to make the rhymes unique and the cadences flow. I remember: I was working at a campus café at UCLA every morning from 8:30am – 12:30pm while my son took a pre-calculus course. He’d come out of class and I’d be so happy, “I got a line done!” And he’d be like, “Wait. You’ve been writing for four hours and you got one measly line done? And that’s good?” “Yes!” (Let’s face it: writing a rhyming picture book is a fun but grueling process.)

Then, my insightful editor at Chronicle, Taylor Norman, challenged and goaded and patiently helped me make everything more crisp and clear. It’s an interesting process, figuring out when to defend and when to bend. We worked well together, worked things out. And finally came Eliza Wheeler’s illustrations. <sigh> I was so captivated when I first saw her fantastic, charming, quirky rendition of The Pomegranate Gang! I’m still smitten. Lucky, lucky author here.

The Pomegranate Gang ~ from book, The Pomegranate Witch

I love that--"figuring out when to defend and when to bend." And it's true--writing a rhyming story can be a "fun but grueling" process. Many of our readers know this well.  And finally, Denise, what’s the One Thing You Wished You’d Known as you began your Writer’s Journey? 

Ya know, I naively started out thinking I was already a pretty good writer. But what I actually was―was a natural writer with good potential. I wish I’d gotten down to the nitty-gritty of tackling my craft at a rigorous and professional level sooner, really learning all those boring punctuation and grammar rules, not being content with an overused metaphor, etc. etc. etc. It would have made me competent and competitive years earlier.

That's a great answer--thank you for your honesty, and for stopping by for a chat. I don't want too give much away except to say that your rollicking, rhyming original story make me hungry for pomegranates!

Yum!

Now off you go, Campers, to Poetry Friday at Violet's today--
and oh, what a pumpkin-spiced feast it is!

posted with pomegranate juice stains on her shirt by April Halprin Wayland

Two Things My Students Have Taught Me

Happy Poetry Friday! My link to this week's roundup is at the end of this post.

With Labor Day behind us and a new school year started, I'm kicking off a TeachingAuthors series on "something I learned from my students (or from teaching)." Today I share not one, but two things my students have taught me.

1. Writing is Hard!

This lesson came from an adult student and I've quoted it in other blog posts. For so many years, I thought my writing struggles were due to my own inadequacies, not the demands of the craft. Now I realize this is an important lesson for two main reasons:

• It's true. Writing IS hard. We can get stalled in so many ways, from figuring out what happens next in the plot to trying to decide how our main character looks/talks/walks to researching what flowers would be blooming during the time and place of the story. But "hard" doesn't mean "impossible." If we're persistent, we can succeed. 
• Admitting this truth helps me let go of self-criticism. When I take longer than planned to finish a project, it's not because I'm stupid or lazy or a bad writer. It's simply because writing is work.

In researching what other writers have to say on the subject, I came across an article in Psychology Today by Dennis Palumbo, an author and former screenwriter who happens to also be a psychotherapist. In "Breaking News: Writing is Hard!" Palumbo says:

"the reality is that telling a good story with intelligence, emotional truth and narrative complexity is hard. Really, really hard."

The fact that writing is hard work is what leads many of us to procrastinate. As Jeff Goins says in his article "Writing Is Hard (Or Is It?)":

The difficulty of writing has nothing to do with pen and paper, monitor and keyboard. It has to do with heart and soul and the mind behind the words.

That’s the real hard part of writing, the part that will experience all kinds of internal resistance: convincing yourself that no excuse is good enough to not write.

I've discussed here before, though, how the best way to eliminate excuses is to focus on the joy of the process. Which brings me to the second lesson I've learned from my students.

2. Writing is Fun!

This phrase has been uttered numerous times by the young writers in my summer writing camps. And it's one of the reasons I keep teaching those camps--I need to keep hearing it! How are young writers able to focus on the fun? I think it's because they're simply trying to tell a story for their own enjoyment. They aren't burdened by needing to please anyone else.

So, there's the paradox: Writing IS hard, but it can be fun, too.

This image came up when I searched Pixabay for "Children Writing" 😊

My students have taught me that we can choose to focus on the joy of the process. And, as I've written before, that's the real key to productivity. I even created an image to help remind me:

I'm so glad to be the one kicking off this topic because the reminder to focus on joy comes at the perfect time for me. Just this week, I recommitted to making time for some "fun" writing (as opposed to the freelance work I do to pay the bills). I can hardly wait to get back to it.

Don't forget, this week's Poetry Friday roundup is at Matt Forrest's Radio, Rhythm, & Rhyme.

And when you go back to the hard work of writing, remember to:

Write with JOY!

Carmela

My Month of Wild Adventure and a Poem

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Konnichiwa, Campers! Happy Poetry Friday and Happy nearly National Poetry Month! PF link and my own poem are below.

And...you have 'til the end of today to enter our giveaway! Details below.

We TeachingAuthors are excited that National Poetry Month begins on April 1st! (And I'm busily stretching my neck, preparing to turn my head a gazillion times an hour for the next 30 days, thinking someone is calling my name.)

Lately, as those of you who follow this blog may remember, I've been in a questioning mode about my writing life. So I set out on an adventure--to take a step back--without much Wi-Fi, social media, voice mail, phone calls or text. To be honest, most of that wasn't on purpose--most of it was because Wi-Fi was spotty at best and I was so busy doing outside stuff I had no time at the end of the day except to write my poem and fall into bed, happily exhausted.

I spent two weeks hiking in New Zealand:

So much beauty...so many miles of trails ~

and then two weeks in Japan with my dear friends, author Bruce Balan and his wife, Alene. They live on their cherry red trimaran, Migration, which takes its name from Bruce's first picture book, The Cherry Migration. They've lived on her for 12 years, sailing around the world.

Bruce and I were invited to speak at two schools in Japan: Marist Brothers International School and Fukuoka International School.

In we go!

Fukuoka International School: Best. Library Door. Ever.

 

Lucky, lucky me!

My notes before meeting  Bruce and Alene's friends for dinner...
a new language and new names ~

Sugoi! (= wow!) I'm still glowing. I don't have any conclusions yet...but here's the poem I sent Bruce last night--and below it is the backstory. (We love the backstory of each other's poems).

CAN'T


"Can't," says Ant.

"Just try," says Fly.

"Why?" asked Trout.



"I'll cry," says Ant.

"Defy," says Fly.

"Won't die," says Trout.



"No," weeps Ant.

"Move slow," says Fly.

"Have a go," says Trout.



"Freak out!" screams Ant.

"Don't doubt," says Fly.

"Find out," says Trout.



"Find out?" asks Ant.

So Fly 

helped Ant

just try.



And Trout

helped Ant

find out. 

And Ant?

Didn't die.

poem © 2017 April Halprin Wayland. All rights reserved

===================

Backstory: Today I heard an actor talk about roles that scare him. He says yes to them to find out if he can do them or not. He said, "What's the worst that can happen—I find out that I can't." Wow. I hope I can be less attached to the outcome when I write. For now, I am inspired by the words FIND OUT.

Maybe I can do it...to find out if I can do it. That feels light...like something easy, no big deal, as if I'm taking a little kid's hand and leading her to the playground so we can both try the slide, just to find out if it's scary.

Hmmmm.

Okay, Campers...what are you most afraid of doing? Write a poem about it (and share it with us if you're feeling brave) for National Poetry Month.

And if you're reading this on Friday, you still have time to enter our giveaway for a chance to win Matt Bird's The Secret of Story...it ends tonight, March 31, 2017.

Thank you, dear Amy LV of The Poem Farm, for hosting Poetry Friday!

posted guiltily (for including too many photos) by April Halprin Wayland, with help from her happy hiker's feet!

Ahhhhh....the half-way point of one of our longest hikes in New Zealand

A Book (PLUS Book Giveaway) for Every Children’s Book Writer!

No matter where you are on your Writer’s Journey – still thinking about writing for children and thus refusing the Call to Adventure, half-way past the First Threshold and revising your story or in the throes of a Supreme Ordeal while readying your manuscript for submission, I’ve got the perfect guide book to keep you moving forward:  Cheryl Klein’s THE MAGIC WORDS (W.W. Norton, 2016).

As luck would have it, you can have it!  Simply enter our TeachingAuthors Book Giveaway at the end of this post.

For those new to writing for children, Cheryl Klein’s credits as executive editor at Arthur A. Levine Books/Scholastic Inc.  guarantee writers the kinds of insights, techniques, exercises and reflections that are essential when placing the right words in the right order – “the magic words,” she says, that allow our books to change lives.

And not just our readers’ lives, but our writers’ lives too.

Knowing how this editor of award-winning books views her life’s work and passion speaks volumes for all she shares in THE MAGIC WORDS.

“I think of my work as an editor as being a mechanic for stories:  I take books apart, examine their component pieces, and help my authors assemble them again as more elegant and polished machines. My writing for writers, from this point of view, is the instruction manual that comes with the cars — how I articulate the instincts and knowledge about fiction I’ve gained over fifteen-plus years of working with writers and their books.”

Chapter by chapter, Cheryl Klein mines her years of editorial experience to clearly and thoughtfully instruct and show writers how to use and develop their gifts to craft a strong (and personally meaningful) story concept told in an appropriate format for their intended audience – a story that builds bonds between readers and characters, that keeps those readers engaged and turning the pages, that speaks to them with truth and thus is worthy of publication.

Each chapter offers Exercises, well-known referenced titles and concrete examples from esteemed authors such as Lisa Yee and Trent Reedy, all to support the stated take-away – The Power of Plot, for example, Seven Ways to Look at a Scene, Fundamentals of Voice, or Twenty Revision Techniques. Informational Asides, Book Map instructions and Checklists for Character, Plot and First Pages add to the content.

Together, the chapters underscore the 5 qualities this editor deems essential to magic-making:  good prose, rich characters, strong plot construction, thematic depth and powerful emotion, for both the reader and the writer.

A Recommended Reading List is also included.

Readers close the book smarter about story, craft, genre and format possibilities, children’s book literature and publishing as well as smarter about themselves as writers.

My all-time favorite chapter?  Chapter 16 – Perspective and Polishing.  Readers are offered the first scene of a YA novel, followed by Cheryl Klein’s annotated notes, followed by author Morgan Kass’ revised draft, followed by Annotations Part II. Talk about Show, Don’t Tell!  This eye-opening chapter should be compulsory reading for every writer of fiction. 

Speaking of which, I’ve now added THE MAGIC WORDS to my Recommended Reading lists for my University of Chicago’s Writer’s Studio and Newberry Library Workshops.

Why not see for yourself?  Click HERE to read an excerpt from Chapter 2 – Experience and Emotion -  Cheryl posted August 28 pre-publication.

MARY POPPINS creator P.L. Travers wrote, “We are all looking for magic…But indeed we have to wave the wand for ourself.”

Thank you, Cheryl Klein, for helping us wave our wands.

Happy Magic-Making!

Esther Hershenhorn

. . . .

AND NOW FOR OUR BOOK GIVEAWAY!

Use the Rafflecopter widget below to enter to win a copy of Cheryl Klein’s THE MAGIC WORDS (W.W. Norton).  The giveaway is open to U.S. residents only and ends September 26.

You may enter via 1, 2, or all 3 options.

If you choose option 2, you MUST leave a comment on TODAY'S blog post below or on our TeachingAuthors Facebook page. If you haven't already "liked" our Facebook page, please do so today! 

(If you prefer, you may submit your comment via email to: teachingauthors [at] gmail [dot] com.)

Email subscribers: if you received this post via email, you can click on the Rafflecopter link at the end of this message to access the entry form.

Good Luck!

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