Thankful

My daughter brought home a pretty red envelope from school. Imagine my surprise and delight at seeing a stack of thank you notes from school children (Grades 5-8). I did a little writing workshop for them the day before. Never before have I received such heartfelt appreciation from the students. My heart is full. Grateful. They especially loved the quote from Patti Gauch: A writer's heart must beat. A reader's heart must hear it. I can hear some of their hearts on the page.

Hunting Island

Fall is such a beautiful time of the year. We went camping at Hunting Island this past weekend and it was wonderful to take a break from the usual routine and just enjoy the outdoors. We went through the lovely little town of Beaufort. There's a Marine Air Base nearby.

We had a fire, baked potatoes, the best chicken, bacon, and lots of junk food to eat. I tell you ... life is gooood!

The water was deliciously cool. I had a migraine, but floating and soaking up the sunshine made it better. Apparently I drifted quite a ways away. The children kept their eagle eyes on me, calling me ashore. The dog romped through the waves. She was born on Whidbey Island and when we first saw her, she was wading in the water with her grandmother. I wonder if any ancient memories were rekindled.  

There was time to relax, take walks, fish, collect shells, admire the driftwood and so much more ...

We ate at the Shrimp Shack after Sat. vigil Mass and was it ever good (both Mass and food).

We left footprints in the sand, drew pictures, wrote, and headed home ...

to a gorgeous sunset ...

I might disappear for a while as I hunker down to finish revisions as well as meet some of my other deadlines. I hope you will take the time to enjoy fall ... wherever you are.

God bless you.

Carolinas Conference Tid Bits

Kelly Starling Lyons gave a retrospective of multicultural fiction. I wasn’t even aware of some of the dreadful books featuring black children. It’s a painful past. We’ve come a long way from Black Sambo, but we still need to explore the depth and breadth of stories of the people of color. Altogether, less than 10% of all children’s books star children of color. Kelly was all grown up when she read her first PB with a black child on the cover – Something Beautiful. She was instantly drawn to it. Her advice: write authentic stories, promote the sharing of books and story-telling within the communities of color.

I had a chance to talk to Steve Mooser about the multicultural grant (WIP) and a new opportunity for writers of color – On the Verge Emerging Voices Award. It’s heartening to see SCBWI supporting and promoting the education and funding for these under-represented voices.

Agent Panel: Jen Rofe, Sarah LaPolla, Liza Pulitzer-Voges

Jen’s sweet spot is middle grade, and she thinks there’s a need for all kinds of books, just like we need vegetables, fruits and cookies. And true to form, I saw her nibbling some cookies.

Sarah comes from the adult literary side, but it’s hard to sell. She’s focusing on YA (both literary and commercial).

Liza is a veteran and likes it all (vegetables and cookies) – she does the gamut (PB through YA) and you should see her impressive list of clients.

Susan Chang from TOR (Sci/Fi/F) gave a very entertaining talk about trends and what she’d like to see more of. Basically, you can take any episode of Twilight or Star Trek and run with it. Let stories in Popular Science, Archeology, National Geographic, and Lives of the Saints inspire you. Laurence Yep, Kiki Hamilton, PJ Hoover are all TOR authors. Check them out.

Trends: Horror is coming back, paranormal romance is on its way out, dystopian is reaching saturation. But fear not! If you’ve written a spectacular SFF book, she’ll want to read it.

Quote: Ideas are easy. Writing is hard. Everything is in the execution.

Books to help you on this writing journey:
Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott
Dear Genius: the Letters of Ursula Nordstrom
Making a Good Script Great by Linda Seger
Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne and Dave King
On Writing by Stephen King

Joan Holub talked about series books. She is a queen of it, having started on the illustration/design side to writing them. A good series will have main characters that readers can relate to. Think Junie B., Ramona, Percy. They have adventures, goals and stakes. They don’t necessarily have to save the world. For instance, her Goddess Girls series is about surviving middle school. So put on your thinking cap and go.

She didn’t speak much about nonfiction, but there is huge series potential here. Most of my books fall into that category. Concepts, biographies, etc.

Stephanie Greene, author of the Sophie books, spoke about revision. But first, it’s critical you finish the first draft. After, let structure guide you. Make sure your plot makes logical sense. Think dominoes – cause and effect. Plot will usually come out of your character’s motivation, conflict, personality. Work on pacing deliberately to build tension and conflict. It all takes practice. Stephanie encourages writers to print out a hard copy and do the actual restructuring by cutting, pasting, and discarding bits.

One thing she commented on was voice. You cannot superimpose it upon the story. It arises out of the book you are writing. However, in revision, you can strengthen the voice.

Molly O’Neill gave a wonderful talk on being an apprentice. She has a blog (TenBlockWalk) and posts about many aspects of book-making.

Read, read, read. Know where you’re coming from and how your story fits in the existing body of literature. What hasn’t been said before? Dig deeper.

You never stop learning when you have a career in writing. You learn something from every book you write. Each one presents new challenges, highs and lows.

Pursue things that fascinate you – art, music, science. What haunts you, what scares you? Be an apprentice to your own curiosity.

She quoted from the greats: Katherine Paterson (Gates of Excellence), Joan Lowery Nixon (Making of a Writer0, Ursuala Nordstrom (Letters). Ahhh!

That’s all folks. Happy reading, writing, living, and loving.

I leave you with a quote from Madeleine L'Engle: A book, too, can be a star, a living fire to lighten the darkness, leading out into the expanding universe.

The Next Big Thing

Okay, if you are expecting conference tidbits, you'll just have to wait ... because Faith tagged me and I can't pass up a chance to talk about my book. This is the same one that got the third prize in the Carolinas writing contest.

What is your working title of your book?


EMERGENCY

Where did the idea come from for the book?

I lived through this period in India (1975-76) without really understanding what happened. Political opponents were imprisoned, journalists were censored, and personal freedoms of common citizens were severely restricted, and I just went along with whatever I was told to do. Years later, when I was a post-doc at Purdue, I picked up Rohinton Mistry’s A FINE BALANCE. I avoided reading it. But when I was finally ready, I could not stop reading and remembering and putting pieces of the puzzle together. I still think about those characters and their lives … and so it was very natural for me to turn to this period to ask the questions I am still struggling to answer.

What genre does your book fall under?

Historical Fiction.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

I see all my stories as movies in my head, so I have definite ideas. I don’t watch many Bollywood films, nor do I know the names of various actors and actresses, but I’d love an Indian Kate Winslet, someone like Madhubala and Gopi Krishna (in their prime). I looked up some current leads and I’m leaning towards Kareena Kapoor and Shahrukh Khan. And if you’ve never watched Bollywood movies, go check some out. They are almost all musicals with tried and true plots.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

More than anything, Reshma wants to become independent, but the political climate in India forces her to endure toxic relationships until she finds the courage to not only escape, but take her family with her.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

Traditional route.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

Ahem, I don’t rightly know. This is a book that I wrote in fits and starts, because I was doing lots of magazine work and work-for-hire. I also scrapped the original draft midway because it had everything in it – political unrest, industrial accidents, prime ministerial assassination, along with love and betrayal, and religious conflicts. Did I mention time travel? It had that too. Thud! When I finally ironed out the plot, it took me a couple of years (yes, still sporadically) to write it. By the way, any writers out there looking for advice, this is how-not-to-write-a-novel.

May we see an intro?

Of course!

I left my childhood dolls behind and became a woman the year Faisal thundered into our lives on his blood-red Honda.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

Hmmm, the only fiction set in this time period I know of is Rohinton Mistry’s book and it’s an adult book, not YA. The closest would be Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. However, if you like the books of these other authors as well – Arundhati Roy, Jodi Piccoult, Sara Zarr, and Khaled Hosseini – you will like my book.

Who or what inspired you to write this book?

Rohinton Mistry! I didn’t even know I was going to be a writer until I had my babies, but he (along with AJ Cronin) planted the seeds. Shortly after I bought his book, I took out a half-used biochemistry notebook and started writing random thoughts.

What else about your book might pique the reader's interest?

Aspects of Hinduism, Islam and Christianity. Oh, and food. I have lots of food in my book. In fact, I am incapable of writing a book without food in it. Bring on the samosas, the jilebees, the naan, and curries.

I am tagging these five writers to have a peek into their books:

Marcia Hoehne

Bish Denham

Molly Blaisdell

Mystery Robin

Nelsa Roberto

Please play! And let us know when you do. Thank you. 

Conference tidbits coming soon! I promise.

***

Rules of The Next Big Thing:

*Use this format for your post
*Answer the ten questions about your current WIP (work in progress)
*Tag five other writers/bloggers and add their links so we can hop over and meet them.

Ten Interview Questions for the Next Big Thing:

What is your working title of your book?
Where did the idea come from for the book?
What genre does your book fall under?
Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
May we see an intro?
What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
Who or what inspired you to write this book?
What else about your book might pique the reader's interest?

***

Carolinas SCBWI Conference

Below are some pictures from the Carolinas conference. I had such a good time meeting some old friends, Blueboard friends, and making some new ones. I love discovering the works of authors I did not know and talking shop with other writers. Here's Donna with her new books! Right beside them are Kelly's books. She gave a fantastic talk on the history of multicultural fiction in the US. It made me realize how different the reading experience of African Americans are, compared to other people of color. I grew up in India and read plenty of Hindi stories featuring families like mine, folktales, etc. I also read a ton of British literature and tended to gravitate towards it -- Enid Blyton was my favorite author growing up. Sadly, African American children do not get to experience the depth and breadth of their own culture. Only 4% of all children's books feature a black child. Better than before, but still ... we have much work to do.

 



Below, Donna, Deana and I goof off for a minute at the agent panel. My room-mate Samatha Bell stayed up well past her bedtime, no doubt goofing off as well. We had early morning chats while I drank minty tea. She's got energy! She's a homeschooling mom of four who writes as well as illustrates. Check out her gorgeous drawings!
 



Stephanie Green talks about revision and she used Pat Schmatz's Bluefish as an example of a perfect first page. 

 

Joan Holub is one of my favorite authors (my kids' too) so it was wonderful to hear her speak about series. If you click on her website, you'll be astounded at all the covers! Which one to choose? You can't just pick one ...

Do I look as though I have a halo? Thanks to J. Ro for snapping this picture. Josh Adams presented the awards in the novel category. And I finally feel as though I'm breaking out of my non-fiction pigeon-hole with one complete YA and another nearly done.

Deana and I went to Mass at St. Vincent's Catholic Church. It really was lovely to have this respite on a busy Saturday.

Conference tidbits will follow this week as I catch up. Thank you to all the organizers for putting on a terrific 20th anniversary party! I'll be back ...

*

Where is Kali?

I love letters in the mail and boxes of books ... but nothing beats getting complimentary copies ...

My rebus: Where is Kali? beautifully illustrated by Kristin Kwan is in the October issue of Ladybug. Of course, it is based upon the real Kali (who is a tortie) but the illustrator chose to depict her as a tuxedo cat (like our kitten Finn) so it is doubly sweet.

I love the rebuses in Ladybug because the surprise comes after the page turn. It never fails to bring a little "ah" of satisfaction.

My magazine work has dwindled considerably, but still those ideas keep popping into my head. Kali alone has inspired several stories and we have two homemade books with photographs and text by yours truly. These were my kids' favorite books, right along with those by Rosemary Wells and Leo Lionni!

I don't think I'll even stop writing short stories. They're a great testing ground, and it supports the novel-writing bug. Just think of all the toner, paper, Internet ... 

We went to the aquarium this weekend and the highlight was the exhibit from Madagascar. Here are some lemurs, one of my all-time favorite critters. Did you know they purr, just like cats? I learned quite a bit about their habits while doing research for my cat purring article ...

Here's a plug for magazine writing. Some of my favorite children's magazines: Highlights for Children, Cricket Group, Clubhouse, Pockets, Ranger Rick, National Geographic Kids. Many are tough nuts to crack, but they all provide great content for children.

I'll be speaking about this very topic at the next Write 2 Ignite conference!

Ready? Set ... Write!

Happy writing all. And don't discount those little ideas that pop up in your head. Write!

Finis ... for now

Sometimes novel revisions look like this, especially when you're doing in-depth revisions. Sometimes I shave off too much. There are pieces that seem out of place, the transitions get all messed up when adding new scenes or deleting others. You don't really want to go out in public.

I don't know about you, but it takes time to re-vision and re-write so that the manuscript looks like this ... and of course, the hard work (just do it).

Well, after several years, and with much help from my furry friends, I am finally ready to submit my first novel manuscript!

It is not the first novel I've written ... 

Here's the stash of papers from the various revisions. I tried to save paper, but I guess I'll just have to plant a tree ... a tea bush will be more likely.

Ummm, I am not only the cook, housekeeper, writer, and teacher, but the family hair-cut-giver. This little *accident* happened on my husband's watch ... for which I'm eternally grateful. It came pretty soon after the hack-job I did on my daughter's head, which had to be fixed by a professional hair-dresser.

I am so proud of my son ... he went to school as usual and told the truth. That his parents make mistakes. Nothing that a little time and prayer can't fix.

Tragedy and Grace

It’s strange to think how a tragedy of immense proportions, like that of 9/11 can have anything good come out of it, but my husband confessed years later it was the turning point for him, when he started reading more conservative columnists and began to consider the possibility of God. When our older child began school a few years later and we felt overwhelmed with all the outside influences we didn’t want him to have, I naturally turned towards God. That was my childhood, but I wasn’t sure how open my husband would be. See, I’ve seen marriages fall apart when one spouse wants to talk about God and the other is vehemently opposed, and I loved my husband more than anything and didn’t want to cause a rift in our marriage. I loved him far more than an invisible God.


Imagine my delight and surprise when I bought a beautiful children’s Bible with pictures and historical tidbits, and my husband offered to read it to the children. I didn’t appreciate then what I do now. He held the Word is his hands and began to fall in love with Jesus… “How is it that I do not know this?” he asked. We became hungry for more.

A couple of years later, when the pull towards God became stronger and I could no longer deny my desire to return to church, it was easy to broach the subject to my husband. We didn’t have to debate much which church … there was one at the bottom of our hill, but it had a slogan “No weird stuff” that turned me off. It implied that other churches had weird stuff. I thought about going back to my Anglican roots, but when I looked at all the changes, we thought, no. We must go farther back, before the Reformation, before all the heresies (and there were plenty), and seven years after 9/11 we stepped into the nearest Catholic Church. During football season. The rest is history …

The seeds of our conversion were planted 9/11 in my husband! I see how grace flows from the head of the family to all its members. I might have had the religious background, but without my husband, I would never have stepped into that church. From a tragedy, this one good thing has happened in our family. We turned towards God. We recognized how much we need Him. And He used that crack to burrow Himself into our hearts. And so we pray for those who died; may they rest in the loving arms of our Lord Jesus Christ for all eternity.




We entered the digital age fairly late (in fact, my husband won this camera at some engineering conference) ... so this picture is the closest one I have to 9/11. As you can see, we're preparing for Thanksgiving at Chez Bodach.

My grace is sufficient for thee ~ 2 Cor. 12:9

ICL Writing Contest

ICL is sponsoring a YA short-story contest (any sub-genre: adventure, historical, Sci/Fi). Read the specifications. In brief, it's for 13-14 yr-olds, under 1,500 words, due by Halloween. So put on your thinking cap. Maybe a new story is coming to the surface, or maybe an excerpt of a novel can be reshaped into a short story. Perhaps you already have a story in the works that just needs a polish ... so what are you waiting for? Spit-shine it and send it off.

If you already subscribe to the Children's Writer newsletter you don't need to pay an entry fee. If you don't, the small entry fee is worth it because you will also get a subscription. This is one of the few contests that I feel is worth the fee (they actually give you something for it).

The prize is nice: $500 and publication in CW. You can then re-sell the story to another magazine. Years ago, my short story, Driving Lessons, won first prize in the YA contemporary category. It was such a thrill and the check that arrived in the mail even more so. I was so happy, I wrote about it here.

Contests are a great way to hone your writing skills, and some have excellent prizes. Some unusual ones are your story on a soup can, gift cards to writing supplies shops, kitchenware, etc. If you've not done this before, I encourage you to do so. Even if you do not win, you might get an honorable mention.

I wish I could enter ... but I teach for ICL so I do not have this privilege anymore.

Good luck to all who enter.

September Means School

A little girl inspired me to post this picture. I came across this alligator-turtle on my morning walk. He obviously had to get to the other pond.

We are now in the new school/work routine (doesn't my family look great in their uniforms?), which means I'm writing a whole lot more (in my nightie). Well, revising madly, actually. The last round before I send this puppy out ...  Please tell me I will not turn into a neurotic mess when I enter Queryland.

Here I am reading Faith's manuscript! As I recall, I could not go to bed. It is soooo GOOD!

Here's wishing you all a great September of reading, writing, and arithmetic.