Month: April 2010

I am working on a new project right now — one that is shiny and full of the kind of promise that makes me both excited…and scared. Fear and I  are old friends when it comes to writing; we meet every book, right about now…as I hit Chapter 3 and wonder if this new idea is really is good as I hope it is, and if I’m really a good enough writer to pull it off.

So I was already thinking about that when I got an email this week from a middle school writer whose school I visited a while ago. I wrote back, of course, and also asked for his permission to share it here, with you, because I know many of you reading this are writers, too, and I thought you might have some interesting thoughts to share as well.

I’ve been meaning to write you for a while. I just have a few question I really need answered. You see, I am going to be a writer. I’ve known it since I was nine. I’m writing a book right now, but I keep running into the same problem: I’m scared. I know that I’m talented- everyone has told me. My mom says I have nothing to worry about. I worry anyway. Sometimes all I want is a glimpse of the future- just a reassurance that this isn’t all for nothing. I just want to know that I am going to succeed. I want so badly to get published. I want people to read my books- to love them. But I lose hope all the time. I’m so scared of failure and rejection, that sometimes I can’t bring myself to write. And it makes me miserable. When I am writing, I go into a sort of state. Even after I leave the computer, I’m living in this world I’ve created. I just can’t help smiling and thinking: this is real, this is within grasp.

So, I just want to know… Did you ever feel this way? Were you ever discouraged, or unsure? Afraid of failure? I just don’t know what to do. I want this so badly.

I don’t know if you’ll be able to respond… you’re probably very busy. But if you do, I will appreciate it so much. I have been dying to speak to a real author, who might understand and be able to offer advice where others cannot.

Thank you,
MS Writer (whose name I promised not to use here)

So there it is. I read this email three times before I sat down to answer, first because it is an amazing letter and second, because this young writer faces so many of the same struggles that I do.  I think perhaps there’s a myth this all goes away once you’re published.  It doesn’t, at least for me.  What gets better is knowing that if I do my job, if I sit down and write, Fear will eventually get bored just sitting at my heels and sulk away after a while. It’s the sitting down that’s important. The commitment to write anyway.  I’ll share my full response to MS Writer in another blog post later on, but right now, we’d both love to hear your thoughts. 

Do you ever feel this way?
Are you ever discouraged or unsure? Afraid of failure?
What do you do about it?
And whether you are published, or unpublished so far, how do you remind yourself…

"This is real. This is within reach."

For those who were at my IRA talk on Skype author visits in Chicago this week (and those who weren’t!)  here is my presentation via SlideShare. You’ll need to imagine me talking about most of the slides, but the links on the "Resources" pages are all live and should be helpful to teachers, librarians, and authors interested in Skype visits!

Just as I was about to leave school today, I checked my email, and author Katie Davis had forwarded an announcement from the Association of Booksellers for Children.  Her only additional note: "OMG!! Kate!!!"  

I scrolled down and discovered that THE BRILLIANT FALL OF GIANNA Z. was one of four books for middle grade readers chosen for the E.B. White Read Aloud shortlist!  The E.B. White Read Aloud Award is a project of the Association of Booksellers for Children, to honor books that are terrific to share aloud and has long been a source of inspiration for our Messner family read-alouds.

So I stared at Katie’s email for a few minutes.  Then I checked the ABC website, you know, to see if she’d just made the whole thing up.  She hadn’t.  You can check out the E.B. White finalists for picture books and books for older readers here.

Whatever happens, I’m so, so honored to have GIANNA Z. included and recommended as a book to share out loud with families and classrooms.  And as one of my Twitter friends so wisely observed, "Any time your name is even used in the same sentence as E.B. White’s, it’s a very good day."    

GIANNA Z.  is in some amazing company on the list, along with Kristen Clark Venuti’s LEAVING THE BELLWEATHERS, Emily Bearn’s TUMTUM AND NUTMEG: ADVENTURES BEYOND NUTMOUSE HALL, and Grace Lin’s WHERE THE MOUNTAIN MEETS THE MOON, which I’ve been reading with my daughter as our bedtime read-aloud. 

In fact, I blogged about it this morning…a full eight hours before I knew that either Grace’s book or mine was on the shortlist.  Weird, huh? 

Somewhere, I suspect E.B. White is smiling.

There have already been many, many amazing reviews of this book, and there’s that shiny Newbery Honor seal on the cover, too, so I’ll just say this. 

WHERE THE MOUNTAIN MEETS THE MOON may be the most perfect bedtime read-aloud ever.   The characters, the rich, beautiful language, the magical and quiet moments…it is just a treasure.  My daughter and I have been enjoying it so, so much, and every time we close the book, I find myself glancing at how much is left, sorry that it will be over one of these nights.  

Thanks, Grace Lin… this is one of those shared stories she will remember forever.

I am declaring today Good News Tuesday.  (Blogs are lovely that way, aren’t they? You can just decide on such things late in the day, and even if no one’s reading, it feels official.)  Here’s my thought…

Good news comes in all kinds of shapes and sizes, and sometimes, we forget to celebrate the small stuff.  So this is an invitation to do that. If you have some good news to share -any kind of good news – post it in the comments, okay?  Here’s my contribution:

Good News Item #1. The tulips waited.

I was afraid they’d bloom while we were away last week and we’d miss them, but here they are.

Good News Item #2. Donalyn Miller is working on a new book about reading for teachers!  If you don’t know her name yet and you work with kids and care about reading, you might want to grab a pen…   Her first book, THE BOOK WHISPERER, is an incredible resource for teachers and librarians (parents, too) who want to help kids become lifelong readers.  Happy news came via the Twitterverse today that she’s working on a new book called FOREVER READERS, due out in Spring 2011. 

Good News Item #3. Bonnie Shimko’s new middle grade novel THE PRIVATE THOUGHTS OF AMELIA E. RYE just got a starred review from Booklist!  And it’s out now – I loved this ARC so much that I shared my thoughts here right after I finished reading.  You can have your very own copy now.  It’s amazing, so that’s good news indeed.

Good News Item #4.  I’m getting ready to go to the International Reading Association Conference in Chicago, and I couldn’t be more excited. I’m talking about Skype author visits as part of a panel, along with Shannon Hale, Kathy Erskine, Kate Klimo, and members of the IRA Teachers’ Choice Committee.  I’ll be signing THE BRILLIANT FALL OF GIANNA Z. and ARCs of SUGAR AND ICE at the Walker/Bloomsbury booth from 2-3 on Monday, attending a couple publisher dinners (where I finally get to meet fellow Walker author Danette Haworth!), and visiting with middle school kids before my flight home on Tuesday.  If you’ll be at IRA, too, would you include that in your comment?  I’d love to find time to say hi!

What else can we celebrate along with the tulips today?  Good news of all shapes & sizes welcome!

On the last day of our Florida trip, my daughter and I did something we’ve been talking about for a while — took a guided kayak tour in the Everglades.  My friend Loree Griffin Burns ( ) had recommended the guides her family used this winter, and we drove to Everglades City to meet them.

We launched the kayaks in the Turner River and set out paddling.  As a rule, we tried to stay fifteen feet away from the alligators sunning on the banks so we wouldn’t disturb them. 

Sometimes, though, that wasn’t possible when the river was only a few feet wide. 

We were warned to give this next gator a little extra space… The guides know him as "One-Eyed Willie" because he’s blind in one eye, and they keep a close eye on him because he’s unusually aggressive toward paddlers sometimes.  He is also enormous (and a little grumpy-looking…but maybe that’s just me.)

Thankfully, Willie was off in the weeds when we paddled by and didn’t seem at all interested in visiting.

The guides took us to a cypress dome…a spot in the swamp where the cypress trees grow tall and create an open area among the reeds. 

It’s full of Bromeliads, cypress knees, and nursery logs like this one…

A  nursery log is a fallen tree that provides a perfect ecological setting for seedlings as it decays. It looks like a big window-box in the swamp, doesn’t it?

We got out of our kayaks and hiked through the water a bit here to get a closer look at the nursery log and some orchids.  The mud and debris at the bottom almost sucked off one of my shoes.  Back on the broader part of the river, one of our guides pushed our kayak closer to shore. "Look on that log," he said.

These little guys were only a little over a foot long. Our guide said they’re about a year and a half old and completely on their own.

As we headed toward salt water, the river began to narrow, and we entered a mangrove tunnel that required us first to break our paddles in half, then put them away all together, duck down, and pull ourselves from branch to branch.

The mangrove tunnel was full of Bromeliads – the biggest I’d ever seen.

There were fewer alligators here, but we did meet a couple green water snakes along the way.

This osprey was "yelling" at us a little as we paddled back to the boat ramp – I think he was ready to have his river back.  We were just thankful to have shared it for a few hours.

Out on the river, it was easy to see not only how special but also how fragile this ecosystem is.  We left with a new appreciation for efforts to keep it the magical place that it is.

Visiting family in Southwest Florida last week gave me some much-needed quiet time outside.  There are so many special places in this part of the world…so different from the ecosystems here at home, and I love the way Florida nature feels so quiet and so loud all at once.

Want to wander in the swamp with me a little?  Come on…I’ll bring the sunscreen & bug spray…

This great blue heron was wading in Myakka River State Park. I loved his reflection.

Turtles sunbathing just off the Big Cypress Bend Boardwalk in the Fakahatchee Strand.  Note the second one in line with his arms and legs stretched out.  I think he looks like he is playing Superman…or doing yoga.

Later, we took a walk on the Naples Fishing Pier and saw this brown blob coming our way…

Can you tell what it is?  How about now?

Now?

Stingrays.  There must have been more than a hundred in this school.  They swam right up under the pier, turning and swirling as if they were in a ballet.  Or a poem,maybe.  At any rate, they were magnificent.