getting new yorkers to laugh

Image from Improv Everywhere - Digital Photography: Agent Dippold

Am I the last person to know about this!? I found this site, Improv Everywhere, while checking out another blog I like called Black Eiffel, and haven't been able to stop looking at it - yeah, I've been procrastinating a little too much today. What it is though, is a group of people called Agents who "cause scenes of chaos and joy in public places." Their latest stunt had them posing as yearbook photographers on a subway train in New York City, snapping pictures of riders. I really laughed at some of their other stunts too like The Human Mirror, and The Circle Line Tour. It's hard to get a New Yorker to crack a smile sometimes, but these guys are managing to do it!

sendak slivers

This is interesting, did you know that the original concept for the book Where The Wild Things Are was supposed to feature horses instead of monsters? Good thing for Mr. Sendak's publisher who thought that he couldn't really draw horses, and suggested that he try something else instead. The horses were eventually replaced by caricatures of various family members who would visit him in his Brooklyn home as a child, and thank goodness, because in my opinion the things are what really makes this book!

read it out loud!

On Monday night I went to a seminar sponsored by SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators) where I listened to children's book author, Marsha Diane Arnold , give a lecture on The 7 Magical Ways to Bring out the Storyteller in You. But before she started, she had everyone in the room go around and introduce themselves. Normally I hate doing that kind of thing, writers are usually shy people and don't like the spotlight on them, but in this case I didn't mind, because it was really nice to hear what other like-minded people were working on. Most folks there were beginning writers, and almost everybody was interested in writing picture books which is what the seminar was geared towards. Then Marsha, whose written several successful picture books including, Roar of A Snore, and The Pumpkin Runner, went on to list the seven things she believes can bring out the storyteller in you.





I won't go through all of them here, but the two that really hit a note with me were: Cause Trouble, and Listen - meaning read your words out loud!

It's important to Cause Trouble in a book, she said, either with yourself, nature or society.

Listen! Shout your words out loud. Make the language sing!

My hat is off to these two seemingly simple tasks. They should be easy, right? But causing trouble is harder than you think. Nobody likes watching people or the environment get abused, but that's what made us cry when George shoots Lennie in Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, or when Professor Dumbledore dies in Rowling's Harry Potter - putting a character that you care for in a bad situation can be hard, but the lesson is, it forces you to push yourself and the story.

And this last one, reading your own words out loud, can be cringe worthy. I have to force myself to do this, I don't know why it's so hard for me - maybe it brings the book's flaws to light, or perhaps it's just too time consuming - but in order to make sure it flows correctly, it's absolutely necessary to hear your book read out loud. I mean, can you imagine reading an adventure scene that is too wordy to a group of kids, you'll lose them and you'll lose them fast. So read and rewrite, read and rewrite! I'm saying this more to myself than to you dear reader, because having just finished writing my third novel, Trevelyn's Shimmer, the other day, I'm now forcing myself to read it out loud, and I mean really loud!

newbery finds

Newbery Honor and Newbery Medal books - is there anything better for a middle-grade writer to read?

The View from Saturday by E.L. Konigsburg

Holes by Louis Sachar

A Gathering of Days by Joan W. Blos

Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater

I picked up these great books, and many others, for a dollar each at the Sonoma County Book Festival this past weekend. It was a bright, hot, sunny day and I had a blast digging through boxes finding great reads, listening to writer's read from their stories, and I even stopped by the SCBWI booth to say hello to some fellow members.

I started reading Holes by Louis Sachar last night which I've already fallen in love with 5 chapters in. Have you read this book? Stanley Yelnats - notice anything funny about that name (the last is a reverse of the first) - clever, right - is a kid who is sent to a juvenile delinquent camp out in the middle of nowhere to dig holes in the heat. I remember back a few years ago when I was taking a children's writing course, where a wonderful teacher/ author Lisa Ann Sandell had us read an excerpt from this book. The saying is true you know- if you want to be a better writer, become a better reader. That said, my new goal is to try and read one Newbery Medal or Honor book every other week! I'll keep you posted ~

my dad the photographer

Have I mentioned what a great photographer my dad Rick is? Well he is! There was a lightning storm near his home in southern Colorado the other week and he managed to snap some photos of it.




Have you ever tried to take pictures of a lightning storm? I have, and they've come out a blurry mess, it takes a lot of patience and skill.

Last summer, when I was visiting my dad, a storm hit while we were on a walk. It was pretty, and really cool from a distance, but when the thunder kept getting louder and louder, let me tell ya...I picked up the pace.

I'd like to start sharing more of his photography here, so I'll be posting from time-to-time, but wouldn't it be cool if he started a blog on his photography!?

my new roomate - the grasshopper

Two days ago I went into town with my friend to run errands, and a bright green grasshopper decided to go along with us. We first discovered him at the Post-Office hanging out on the driver's side-mirror, then he took a trip with us to the dry cleaners and he stuck around all around town and back home. When we pulled into the garage he had moved up to the roof and was hanging out. I guess he was looking for a new home, but the garage didn't seem like a good place to leave him, so I took a piece of Tupperware and scooted him out until he was in the yard.

this isn't him, but what he looked like

Well, last night he decided that the yard wasn't good enough and that the house would be better, because while making dinner we spotted him in the kitchen! He flew around the kitchen (which freaked me out a bit, even though he was cute, I don't like bugs that can fly!) until once again he found himself covered with a bowl and scooted back outside.

My roommate swears she saw him fly back in, but at this point we don't know where he is! Hopefully he found a nice place in the backyard. Anyway, this all reminds me that I left The Cricket in Times Square, by George Selden, at my folk's house when I was visiting a couple months ago. It's a cute book - I'd like to finish it - but that story, combined with my new grasshopper friend has got me thinking of new book ideas...you never know where the next one will pop up - or the grasshopper.

9.19.09 UPDATE: I know, it's the news of the century, the grasshopper...is back! Last night my roommate found him crawling on the wall next to the stairs. Okay, she was right, he did jump back in the house, but he wasn't looking so good, let's just say his greenness wasn't as brilliant and he may have lost an appendage - I know, I feel terrible about that! So needless to say, he wasn't moving too fast which helped in really getting him outside this time - I saw it with my own two eyes. And, so that he wouldn't have to go stumbling around in the dark, weak and thirsty, we placed two spinach leaves next to him so he'd have something to nibble on. Well guess what! this morning when I went to check the lettuce there were holes bitten into it! My roommate says that they're probably from some other bug, but I like to think that the grasshopper had something to do with it, and that he'll make it in the big, bad backyard, even with just one leg...

the evidence! nibbled spinach leaves

stinky fromage...oui, oui!

I wish I was going to be in New York for this foodie event on Sept. 25th and 26th! Say cheese - yes please!

Once I went to a fromage factory somewhere in the north-east of France that produced a particularly stinky cheese. I was embarrassed to do so, since nobody else seemed to be having a problem (native French), but at one point I had to step outside to get some fresh air.

Since then I've worked my senses up to become immune to the smell (I kind of like it now since it reminds me of France), but I'm sure there's a cheese out there that's still too stinky for me.

(images from lefooding.com)