On quiet afternoons, I love to sit curled up in a chair and read books about writing (really!). I’m a writing book nerd. Mary Kole, literary manager at Movable Type Management who blogs at kidlit.com, just sent me a copy of her new book, Writing Irresistible Kidlit: The Ultimate Guide to Crafting Fiction for Young Adult and Middle Grade Readers. And ultimate is right. I can’t think of a topic Mary doesn’t cover. The book is lively and helpful—my only quibble is the term kidlit in the title. It’s my pet peeve, but a pretty minor quibble for what is a terrific book. If you want to write for children or are a writing book nerd like me, take a look at Writing Irresistible Kidlit. I recommend it.
Karen Cushman
It’s Wordstock!
All you Pacific Northwesterners out there (you know who you are)—come join me at the Wordstock Festival (now the Portland Literary Festival) in Portland. I’ll be speaking at two events on Saturday afternoon, October 13. Both times I have the pleasure of sharing the stage with Katherine Schlick Noe, the author of the remarkable Something to Hold, winner of the 2012 Washington State Book Award. Come and ask us lots of questions. No rotten tomatoes, please.
On the road with Will Sparrow
Katy Kellgren, who was so magnificent as the narrator of the award-winning audio book of Meggy Swann, has agreed to work her magic on an audio book for Will Sparrow’s Road. Thank you to Katy, and to May Wuthrich and Orli Moscowitz of Random House Listening Library. How did I get so lucky? Look for an excerpt on this website in November.
Sheepdog Trials
The sheepdog trials returned again to Vashon Island. We had a lovely day watching border collies try to herd sheep. I know now why there is no metaphor saying “smart as a sheep.” They do not make it easy for the poor dogs. For those of you who think it rains here all the time, note the dry grass on the field. I am going outside to do a rain dance (not a pretty sight).
Expect the Unexpected
Finally, Sharon Creech’s new book The Great Unexpected is available.
“In the little town of Blackbird Tree live two orphan girls: one Naomi Deane, brimming with curiosity, and her best friend, Lizzie Scatterding, who could talk the ears off a cornfield. Naomi has a knack for being around when trouble happens. For she knows all the peculiar people in town—like Crazy Cora and Witch Wiggins and Mr. Farley. But then, one day, a boy drops out of a tree.”
Doesn’t that make you want to read more? I sure do and plan to dive in as soon as I can get my hands on a copy. Brava, Sharon.
What if …
… every day you were someone else. No, actually still you, but in someone else’s mind and body. I have just finished an advanced reader’s copy of David Levithan’s new book, Every Day. At first I doubted he could pull it off. I thought he could not make me care for the narrator who was different every day. Or for the bodies and lives he inhabited for a day. I wouldn’t spend enough time with any of them to care about them, would I? Wrong. Every Day is a lovely, thought-provoking book about truth, identity, and love. I highly recommend it.
This is what I came home with …
I just spent five glorious days at the Society for Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators Conference in LA. I took my trusty cell phone, determined to get a plethora of splendid photos of all my favorite folk. Due, however, to my poor memory and even poorer photographic skills, this is all I came back with. Not even one photo of the Hippie Hop!
Ah well, at least I have captured Matthew Kirby, who is charming, and Jim Averbeck and Linda Sue Park, who are ditto.
Thank you, Lin Oliver and Steve Mooser, for a great time.
Mr. Ed and Friend
So I was driving home from the Thriftway and there on the road ahead of me were two very big dogs. Not an unusual sight. Then I got closer. Seems the big dogs were actually small—very small—horses, just eating their way along the highway. Even for Vashon that’s an unusual sight. This is what passes for excitement on our island.
Great Book, Great Dragons
Being of a somewhat oppositional temperament, I tend to dislike what everyone else likes. Here is a rare exception: I am neck deep in Seraphina and loving it. Rachel Hartman offers us a meticulously-built, rich and complex world peopled (if I may use that word to include dragons) with distinctive, engaging characters. I am absorbed, intrigued, and fascinated. Now farewell, I have a book to finish.
Rain, Rain, Come Again
We just spent several days at my good friend Jane’s incredible house among the aspens in Colorado. Yesterday I heard she was packing up essentials in case they were called upon to evacuate. What a tragedy it would be if the fire took her house and the trees and the ponds and the bees. I think we should all do a rain dance for Colorado.