Yes, I have gone public. In my NCTE talk, I announced that I am writing a fantasy, working title Song of the Wise Woman’s Daughter. I trepidatiously read a few passages aloud and no rotten fruit was thrown so I am encouraged. My fantasy has no vampires or zombies. No one dies. The world is not destroyed or even in much danger because the kind of book I like is the kind that celebrates love, embraces compassion, honors intelligence, and ends with hope. G.K.Chesterton said that fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten. And, may I add, even without magic.
Karen Cushman
Character inspiration
In Will Sparrow’s Road, I found inspiration for the character of Grace Wyse while reading this book, The Marvelous Hairy Girls: The Gonzales Sisters and Their Worlds. Read more about the book at Yale University Press. Learn about the author, Merry Wiesner-Hanks, and her research. You might enjoy reading it, too.
Vashon Island October
It’s autumn at my house. The colors are splendid.
But here’s the bad news …
It’s much too lovely a day for raking leaves. Think I’ll go in and read…
Except someone is in my chair. Sigh.
I’m ba-a-a-ck.
After a long, sometimes difficult summer, the rains are back and so am I.
When it starts to rain, Otis spends a long time looking out at the backyard, trying to decide whether or not to lick the dirty water off the paving stones instead of drinking fresh, clean water from his bowl.
The dirty water always wins. Go try and figure out a cat.
Southern Oregon
We just returned from visiting my brother and his wife who live near Ashland, Oregon. They drove us to see magnificent vineyards ringed by mountains.
And we went to the animal shelter where he volunteers (a lot) to see the dogs waiting and waiting for someone to take them home.
If you can have a dog, please consider adopting one from a shelter. They need us and are so grateful.
This is how my lovely brother closes every email:
“It came to me that every time I lose a dog; they take a piece of my heart with them. And every new dog that comes into my life gifts me with a piece of their heart. If I live long enough, all the components of my heart will be dog, and maybe I will become as generous and loving as they are.”
—Unknown
I’m no Ansel Adams
Here’s a crummy picture of an amazing group of writers at the Oregon SCBWI conference in Portland last weekend. All 201 of them were full of questions, ideas, and enthusiasm, and they welcomed me most warmly. I hope their passion is contagious as I once again dig into the draft of my new book.
Late Bloomers!
Not yet traditionally published? Over 50? SCBWI members can apply next year for a Work-in-Progress grant and have your manuscript considered for the Karen and Philip Cushman Late Bloomer Award, $500 and a scholarship to one SCBWI conference. This award was established to encourage and celebrate late bloomers like me, who didn’t start to write until age fifty. But then I bloomed, and I’d love to see others do so as well.
What’s Gnu?
Philip and I were just in Minnesota where I spoke at the Spotlight on Books Conference. Here’s a view out our window of April in northern Minnesota. The conference was fun and the snow was lovely.
Afterwards we were driven to Minneapolis where the splendid Margi Preus (Heart of a Samurai and Shadow on the Mountain) invited us to sit at her table with Steve and Vicki Palmquist of the Children’s Literature Network for the Minnesota Book Awards gala. Here we are, looking a little weary after a loooong day but having a great time.
Bug Off!
We were just in Portland with our daughter, Leah. My science-nerd daughter took us to see a presentation on insects to celebrate her birthday. Here are some of the beauties. Makes me glad I don’t live in the tropics.
It does not make me want to write about bugs. I’ll leave that to Jane Yolen and Jason Stemple. I hear their Bug Off! Creepy, Crawly Poems is delightful.
Reviewed in the NYTimes
What a lovely treat to find this review of Will Sparrow’s Road in The New York Times on December 14th.
Thank you, Michael Sims, for your perceptions about Will and the world in which he lives.