Introducing Jenny Meyerhoff

I am so excited because one of my critique partners is celebrating the release of her first book this week! I'm talking about the one and only Jenny Meyerhoff and her fabulous chapter book Third Grade Baby! 

Want to know what the book's about? Check out this book trailer Jenny made:

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Jenny is going to pop over to my blog for an interview as soon as she finds an opening in her calendar. (I'll have my assistant call her assistant!) But for now, I bring you a very special treat... an up close and personal view of Jenny Meyerhoff by those who know her best... her critique group.

Our critique group meets every other Wednesday morning, and we share our writing, our angst, and even our beauty tips (if time permits). We've grown so close over the years that we call each other "writing sisters." There are four of us. You already know me, so allow me to introduce you to Ellen and Carol.

Ellen Reagan is working on a mammoth young adult historical fiction fantasy novel that will knock your socks off. If I ever write half as beautifully as Ellen does, I'll feel I've accomplished something big. Carol Grannick writes lyrical picture books and heartfelt realistic fiction. She is also a licensed clinical social worker, which comes in handy for delving deep into feelings - both characters' and our own.

Clockwise from top left: Jenny, Carol, Ellen, Me

So, without further ado, here is a critique group take on Jenny Meyerhoff:

What makes Jenny such an amazing writing sister/critique partner?

Brenda: Jenny's comments on our manuscripts are always spot on and delivered with sensitivity. Also, she is a huge producer. I'm always inspired by how quickly and well she writes and revises. 

Ellen: She is a consummate professional who takes her craft, and her partners' efforts, seriously, and keeps us all believing that we can meet the incredible demands of the creative life.

Carol: Jenny's perpetual gifts as a critique partner/writing sister are a unique perspective on a manuscript and an ever-giving spirit to challenge, encourage and support. Her capacity to view a manuscript as a "whole" often seems to me to be the intellectual version of walking into a chaotic, messy room (speaking for myself, here) and reordering it so that everything has a place (and of course one of those places is the garbage can or as Jenny calls it, her "clip file"). But this is not Jenny's only area of brilliancy. Her incredible talent with word choice, voice and plotting, and her breadth and depth of literary understanding, are invaluable for revision work. Her generous and loving heart make her a priceless critique partner and writing sister. I am beyond lucky to know her.

If you could have one of Jenny's strengths (or superpowers as I like to call them), which would you choose?

Brenda: I'm convinced Jenny has a time turner... the kind Hermione uses in Harry Potter. How else can you explain how Jenny reads five books a week, whips out first drafts faster than I can write a chapter, comes up with amazing marketing plans (check out her online contest for third grade classes!), all while taking care of three cute kids? So yeah, that's the superpower I'm after... Time Travel.

Ellen: Jenny is always saying that there are two types of writers -- egg layers and egg polishers -- and identifies herself as the former. Sometimes I wish I were an egg layer instead of a meticulous egg polisher.

Carol: I would choose the ability to view the overall "whole" of the story, then sort out what's right, what's not right, what's misplaced, and in what order it all goes. Oh, and the ability to plot the way she can...Oh, and...

How does Jenny take care of her curls?

Brenda: She almost never washes her hair and instead uses conditioner, and she towels dry with a t-shirt, not a towel.

Ellen: She never touches them with sodium lauryl sulfate, combs or terry-cloth towels. (A husband's T-shirt is a curl's best friend).

Carol: I know the secret...

Why does Jenny's skin always look so flawless?

Brenda: Jenny introduced me to Bare Minerals. Fantastic light make up. You can't even see you're wearing it, but it smooths your skin beautifully.

Ellen: Clean, healthy living? A pure soul? (It doesn't have anything to do with sodium lauryl sulfate, does it?? Or a cotton T-shirt instead of a towel?)

Carol: Gotta be her genes. Can I borrow a few?

Write a blurb for Third Grade Baby:

Brenda: Move over, Clementine and Junie B. Jones! Make room on the bookshelf for Polly Peterson, a third grader who will capture your heart and tickle your funny bone. Debut novelist Jenny Meyerhoff is a fresh new voice to watch!

Ellen: Readers will lose their hearts to Polly Peterson, a third-grader with gumption . . . and a long-awaited hole in her gums.

Carol: First novelist Meyerhoff gives readers a great new heroine with a unique voice, and a funny and important story about being as big as your heart and mind can make you, even if you haven't lost your first baby tooth yet!

Labor Day Update

Happy Labor Day Everyone!

This post comes in three parts...

1. Labor around the house: I'm cooking and cleaning to get ready to host a family bbq. Have I mentioned how lucky I am to have my family all nearby? My parents live in the house I grew up in, ten minutes from me now. My brother lives in my neighborhood, just a short walk away. My sister lives in the same town as me, seven minutes by car. And my other sister lives in Chicago, which seems far in comparison, but is really only a half hour away without traffic. Pretty amazing! Today, everyone is coming over with their kids for a bbq and also to celebrate Jacob and Faith's birthday. They are turning 14 on Wednesday!

2. Labor as a writer: My latest Book Look column (featuring The Nature of Jade by Deb Caletti) is online here. Check out the whole Prairie Wind newsletter for great articles. Two of my critique partners have terrific columns you won't want to miss: Revise Yourself by Carol Grannick and Tales from the Front by Jenny Meyerhoff.

3. Labor in terms of birth: Jordan, the wheaten terrier is going to have her Mini Whoodle puppies any moment now! That means we will soon get to choose our puppy. In eight short weeks we will be a dog family. Holy Moly!

Jordan

One of Jordan's puppies from her last litter

When People Talk Behind My Back...

...It's not always a bad thing. Today I was at the grocery store, and I ran into one of my favorite high school English teachers, Mrs. Benjamin. (Isn't it fun to see your teacher at the grocery store?!) She told me that the other day she was at her health club, taking a shower, when she heard some women talking about me.

Now, I have to interrupt this story to tell you that over the last year, there have been a handful of nasty women in my town gossiping about me and my family in a very obnoxious way. Not that gossip is ever NOT obnoxious, but when grown women gossip about a thirteen-year-old girl, I find it particularly pitiful.

So, when Mrs. Benjamin said she overheard people talking about me, I feared the worst. Did my beloved teacher hear a rumor about me? Did these women stoop so low as to talk about me in a locker room? And was Mrs. Benjamin trying to find out the true story right here at the deli counter?

No. No. And no. Phew!

Instead, Mrs. Benjamin told me that the women were talking about my book, JULIA'S KITCHEN, and that one of the women said, "I could never have gotten through my mother's death without that book." Mrs. Benjamin almost jumped out of the shower to say, "I know Brenda Ferber! I was her teacher!" But she decided to finish shampooing instead.

It's weird how the world works. Here I am, struggling with emotions and dramas I haven't experienced since high school--being gossiped about... being judged... feeling misunderstood. And who do I see? A teacher who was like a lifeboat my senior year. Mrs. Benjamin always believed in me. And because of that, I believed in me, too. And because of that, I wrote a novel and didn't stop revising until it was good enough. And because of that, it got published. And because of that, a random woman read it and found something within it to help her deal with a horrible time in her life.

Makes you think, doesn't it? Even when you are in the middle of tough times, there are good people out there rooting for you. The positive energy in life will find its way to you whether it's in a parent, a friend, a teacher, or even a book. You just have to keep your head up and let it in.

Dropped

Have you ever been "dropped" by a group of friends? Have you ever done the "dropping"? I am doing research for my new novel, and I would love to interview by phone or e-mail girls or women who have experienced this unfortunate rite of passage. It doesn't matter if the "dropping" happened last week or fifty years ago. It's one of those incidents that is not easily forgotten. So please, if you or someone you know has a story to share, leave me a comment or shoot me an e-mail at BrendaAFerber at comcast.net.
Thanks!

Back to Basics

My husband and kids went to the Sox game today, so I had a nice chunk of time to work on my current manuscript. I decided to read what I had written so far, just to see where to go next. And you know what? It stinks. I mean really Stinks. Not in a way where I can revise it to make it better. But in a way where I feel absolutely no heart connection to the material anymore. The thought of spending another year on this novel makes me shudder.

Meanwhile, I've had a whole other story tugging at my heartstrings for the last couple of months. A real life yuckiness that is begging to be turned into fiction. So although I may have just wasted half a year of writing, I'm filing away this unfinished novel and starting something new.

Deep cleansing breath.

I am now opening up my old Institute of Children's Literature material, the program I followed when I wrote Julia's Kitchen. And I'm starting at the very beginning.

Wish me luck!

Just Keep Writing

Thank God I'm a Taurus. I honestly don't know what I'd do without my stubborn streak... or when looked at kindly... my persistence.

How else can you explain this insanity? I am on about page 85 of the first draft of this new novel. And it is terrible! I get to this point with every one of my manuscripts. Where I have absolutely no idea what the story is about, where every character seems flat, every plot line seems stupid, and the whole project seems like a big fat waste of time.

I would very much like to quit.

Yet I persist. I know that I have to just keep writing. I'm like Dori in Finding Nemo. "Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming..."
I know that eventually I'll get to the end. And I'll revise and revise and revise. And out of all this work, something worthwhile will emerge.

I always tell kids that Real Life + Imagination = Story. But I've got a new equation to pass along: Stubbornness + Optimism = Dreams Coming True

Books That Make You Go "Oh!"

I completely forgot to link to my latest Book Look column in the Prairie Wind, so here it is! For the summer issue, I wrote about how National Book Award finalist Sara Zarr used secrets to help create tension in her powerful young adult novel, Sweethearts. Check it out, and try to put a few secrets into your work-in-progress.

I've already found my next book for my column. In fact, I have a total author crush/book envy thing going on. (More on that later.) But if you've read a book that made you go, "Oh!" please let me know about it in the comments.

Thanks!

The Psychology of First Drafts

I have always wanted to be one of those authors who can whip out a first draft in no time. Every time I start a new novel, I say I'm going to do just that. Write without stopping. Get the story down. Don't look back. But my inner critic never lets me speed through this process. I'm slow and careful and analytical. You would think all that slow and careful writing would result in amazing first drafts. But nope! It doesn't work that way. I still end up revising like crazy. I change just about everything. I write many drafts over a couple of years before I even get close to the story I envisioned when I started.

So when I told my sister and husband that I was going to make the most of these last eight days I have with no kids home by writing as fast as possible, maybe even ten pages a day, they were supportive but doubtful. They've heard it all before.

Yesterday, though, I was able to do it! Here's how it worked. Instead of telling myself I have to write something good, something worthwhile, something I'll love and something my critique group won't shred to pieces, I told myself I have to write the worst ten pages ever! Not mediocre... Terrible! No stopping. No showing it to anyone. No feeling good about it. Just 10 pages of story unfolding.

Let me tell you... It was seriously bad. Some pages were only dialogue. Some pages were only thoughts. And I'm sure some pages were plain gobbly gook. But aha! The story unfolded. And that's the whole point!

Do you play tricks with your mind to help you with the writing process? If so, I'd love to hear about them.

Writing/Love

Libba Bray wrote the funniest post ever about how writing a novel is like falling in love. I'm so glad I'm not alone in my craziness.

Check it out: http://libba-bray.livejournal.com/36896.html

Meanwhile, I've got to get back to my first draft... I'm supposed to be madly in love with the story at this point. Hmm....

Five Things I Love

A random sample of things I'm loving lately...

1. My MacBook. This computer is so amazing!!! I watched a video tutorial for iMovie, and within minutes I was making movies. Seriously! It is so easy. I am having a blast. (I am also totally procrastinating. I only wrote three pages of my w-i-p today, which is not a lot considering I have no kids at home.)

2. The Horn Book Magazine. I just read the July/August issue, my favorite each year because it contains the Newbery and Caldecott acceptance speeches. When I read the speech by Laura Amy Schlitz, I was in tears. No, not because I wish it were my speech! But because she is such a fabulous writer! I loved A Drowned Maiden's Hair, but I haven't had a chance yet to read Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Must add to my to-be-read list (which keeps growing thanks to the enticing reviews in The Horn Book).

3. My critique group. We meet tomorrow, and I'm so looking forward to it. I love my writing sisters!

4. Weeds. Did you see it last night? Nancy is crazy! They are all crazy. I love them.

5. Swingtown. Have you started watching? This is my favorite new show. Great characters. Great tension. Fun.

What about you? What are you loving this summer?

Urgh!!!!!

I bought a camcorder.
I drove seven hours to Camp Birch Knoll.
I shot tons of footage and interviewed a whole bunch of campers so I can make some fun book trailers and other videos for Jemma Hartman, Camper Extraordinaire.
I drove seven hours home.
I uploaded the video onto my computer.
I watched the video.
I saw feet.
I saw grass.
I saw sky.
I realized I should pay more attention to that stupid little button, you know the one. You press it once and it starts recording. You press it again, and it stops. And if you're like me, you reverse it and record when you think you're stopped, and you stop when you think you're recording. And you miss about half of your interviews!

Ack!

My "Process"

The truth about my writing process is that it is constantly changing. What worked for Julia's Kitchen (detailed outlining) didn't work for Jemma Hartman. And what worked for Jemma Hartman (starting with a setting and a climax) isn't working for my current work-in-progress.

Someone wise once told me that each book has something new to teach you. Just because you've written one novel doesn't mean you know what you're doing. And I am pretty sure I don't know what I'm doing.

Yet I persist. It's the journey that I love anyway, so here I am, learning again how to write a novel.

This novel started with a character and a voice. The pages flew out of me. I wrote in vignettes, not thinking about plot or structure or anything. I wrote because I had to understand this character. I wrote thinking I would never be brave enough to try to publish this novel. It was too edgy. Too hard to believe. Too close to reality. So I wrote with utter freedom.

Then I started to show some of the pages to my critique group. And they loved it. Still, I didn't think I would ever really finish this story or attempt to publish it. I was just playing around. I went to a workshop where more people told me they loved my main character's voice. And Richard Peck himself told me I would finish this book and that it would open new doors for me.

So that's when I got serious. I decided I needed more than a character and a situation. I needed an actual plot. So I wrote a one-page synopsis. And I froze up. For months I procrastinated and found other projects to work on.

But I'm feeling braver now. And I've been back at work on this novel for the last week or so. I started over. Kind of. I've got about 40 pages written, and the story is surprising me. I'm determined to finish a first draft before I show any more pages to my critique group. In my dream writing life, I whip out a first draft in a couple of weeks. But I know myself. I'm slow. I will write a few pages every day. I can't give myself a deadline. I've got to just keep taking baby steps until I get to the end.

So what am I learning about this process? That I need to be free. I need to let the voice shine through. I need to write as if I am only writing for myself.

Here I go.

Truth is Stranger Than Fiction - Or... What You Won't Find in Jemma Hartman, Camper Extraordinaire

Dear Mom and Dad,
A cabinmate ate my sock that I wore for three straight days.
Love, Jacob

Vacation All I Ever Wanted

You know that overwhelming feeling you get when you arrive home from a vacation and you think about all the stuff you have to catch up on? Well, joy of joys! I don't have that feeling at all. Alan and I just got back from a fantastic week in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and here's the fun part... our kids are away at summer camp for the next five weeks, so the "vacation" continues!

Wondering what there is to do in Jackson Hole?

Well, you can meet a moose:



You can hike up into the Grand Tetons and play in the snow:



You can drive to Yellowstone and see Old Faithful and other cool geysers:





You can be take in gorgeous sites like this one of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone Park:



And this one of the Grand Tetons:



You can even pretend to be a cowgirl and buy the right hat:



You can't really get away with wearing a cowboy hat in Deerfield, Illinois. But one of my critique partners, Carol Grannick, is writing a fabulous novel called Cowgirl. And when she sells it and has a launch party, I'll have just the thing to wear!

Off to write!

Fake Book Trailer

What do you think about book trailers? They seem to be the next big thing in promotion, and I'm considering doing one for Jemma Hartman, Camper Extraordinaire. So I talked to my 12-year-old son, Sammy about it. He thought it would be fun to do, and today he made up a fake book trailer to sort of practice. It's awesome. Check it out here:

Reader's Shock

I know I swore in a prior post not to read any more books until I finished the first draft of my work-in-progress, but I have never been good at diets, and that kind of silly rule was bound to be broken. So, just like when I used to cheat on my diets in high school, I have been reading on the sly. 

Tonight I read Shooting the Moon by Frances O'Roark Dowell. And I gotta say, it's a masterpiece. Seriously. Everyone should read this beautiful book. As for me, I am now in Reader's Shock -- wrapped up in the emotions of the book and feeling that I might as well give up being an author anyway because I can't possibly write something as lovely and meaningful and perfect as Ms. Dowell did. 

Cover Art!!!

I have a cover!! And not just any cover, but a beautiful cover that I love, love, love! My hat is off to the amazing artist, Greg Swearingen, and to all the folks at FSG who helped create such an inviting package. (There is even a map of Camp Star Lake at the beginning of the book!)

Authors have just about no say in their cover art, so when you end up with the cover of your dreams, it is really exciting!!! 

Some people have asked me who that girl is, but it's not a photograph of a real girl. I guess the best way to answer that question is to say, "It's Jemma."

I am now officially a Greg Swearingen fan. He captured Jemma's heart and soul in this illustration, and the setting is exactly right, too. 

Yippee! 

Now I only have to wait until spring 2009 to see this beautiful baby in book stores!

Braeside School Visit

I had a terrific afternoon at Braeside School in Highland Park. I was the keynote speaker at their wonderful annual Writer's Conference. This program is outstanding! Librarian Anne Shimojima runs the whole thing. All the fourth and fifth graders wrote and revised stories in their classes. Anne read every story and divided the kids up into groups of eight. Then she sent those manuscripts to professional writers who volunteered to read and critique the stories ahead of time. There was a Newsweek reporter, Chicago Tribune sportswriter, fiction writers, non-fiction writers, etc. 

Today, we all had lunch together, I did a little presentation, and then we broke off into our critique groups. Lucky me... I got the best of the best manuscripts. I honestly was blown away by how talented the kids were. It was such a privilege to read their stories. I am 100% sure we will be seeing some of these kids in print someday. And besides all that, these were the nicest bunch of kids I think I've ever met. I had each child comment on the first page of everyone else's story. I didn't have to give them any kind of guidance. They simply heaped on the praise (commenting astutely on all the things I felt deserved complimenting!), and when they had something constructive to say, they worded their comments as gentle questions. I think the kids gained so much from the experience! And so did I!

Meanwhile... I'm guilty of no progress at all on my first draft of Novel #3. Today I was busy with karate and the school visit. Yesterday was just crazy. But tomorrow I have critique group. Hopefully that will help me get back on track.

Dream Job

I often tell people how lucky and blessed I am to be a children's book author. It is definitely a dream job. But I have a secret. I'm dreaming of a different job. I'm dreaming of becoming a professional reader. 

Can you imagine if that job really existed? If someone paid you to read?? How fun and easy would that be?! 

I just finished reading through the May/June issue of The Horn Book Magazine, and I circled all the books I want to read: 6 picture books and 15 novels. 

I would love to take the summer off and just read! But alas, I have a novel to write. And the truth is, I want to finish a first draft this summer. I hate first drafts!!! I am the world's slowest writer. And I can't read while I'm writing a first draft. I need to totally focus on my characters and their stories, even in my down time. Also, I am the Queen of Procrastination when it comes to first drafts. There's no better time to clean out your closets, rearrange your office, or surf the net than when you have a huge, scary first draft to write. Right?

So here's the plan: I will make a list of all the books I want to read. And as soon as I finish that draft, I will gorge myself on every single one of those books! And to keep me honest, I will post my writing progress here. Wish me luck!

Countdown to Summer

Some people think of Memorial Day as the beginning of summer. I think it's more complicated than that.

There are eight more mornings to get my kids off to school.

There are twelve days (counting weekends) until school is officially over.

There are eighteen days until Jacob and Faith leave for overnight camp.

There are twenty-four days until Sammy leaves for camp.

But today I happen to have a day with just about nothing on my calendar. The kids are at school. I have a few errands to run. But mostly, I plan to write all day. 

Deep sigh of gratitude!

I've been tagged.

I've been tagged by Jill Esbaum!

What were you doing 10 years ago?

Best guess... changing a diaper.

What are 5 things you need to do today?

1. Go to karate.

2. Babysit niece.

3. Get estimate to fence backyard for future dog.

4. Take son to doctor for check-up.

5. Write? Oh yes... write!

What are some snacks you enjoy?

Anything chocolate

What would you do if you were a billionaire?

Spend a year sitting on a beach reading. Then I'd figure out how to make the world a better place with all that cash!

What are 3 bad habits?

1. I hardly ever make my bed.

2. I check my e-mail way too often.

3. I constantly play with the edges of the pages of whatever I'm reading.

Name 5 places you have lived:

1. Highland Park, Illinois

2. Ann Arbor, Michigan

3. Chicago, Illinois

4. Austin, Texas

5. Deerfield, Illinois

What are 5 jobs you've had?

1. French-fry maker at Boardwalk Fries (best fries ever)

2. Ice cream scooper at Stucchi's (best ice cream ever)

3. Script typist and proofreader at Leo Burnett (first job out of college)

4. Production assistant (my job was to pick up dog poop for the dog in the commercial)

5. Children's book author (by far the best job ever, not counting being a mom!)

Who do you want to tag?

Linda Urban

Jenny Meyerhoff

Cynthia Lord

Kym Brunner

Kristina Springer

Bucket List

Eve, over at the Disco Mermaids, posted about her "Bucket List," or the things she wants to do before she "kicks the bucket." She's quite an adventurous gal! I'm not so much. 

Here's mine:

Get married X

Have children X (times three!)

Write a novel X

Get it published X

Visit Europe

Go on an African safari

Visit Australia

Meet Judy Blume X (she's amazing!)

Earn my black belt in karate (I got my purple today!)

River raft through the Grand Canyon

Go rock climbing X

Train a puppy (coming soon!)

Own a second home on a beach somewhere

Have drinks with Brad Pitt and George Clooney

Celebrate my 60th wedding anniversary (coming in 2050!)

And here are some things that are on lots of people's Bucket Lists that don't interest me in the slightest:

Go skydiving (Jacob and Faith are planning to do this when they turn 18 and I can no longer say no.)

Run a marathon (The most I ever ran at one time was two miles. That was plenty.)

Bungee jump (Does this need an explanation?)

Learn to fly a plane (There seems to be a theme here... I guess I'm not a fan of heights+motion)

What about you?

Doggie Decisions

I'm going to get a mini whoodle!! We've chosen a breeder, and now we just have to wait. This feels like I'm going through infertility again... but without the stress and anxiety. I should know in the next month whether or not Jordan (the mommy dog - I don't think I can say the b-word on my blog!) is pregnant. 

Here's a picture of Jordan:

Doesn't she kind of look like a small polar bear?

And here's Oliver, the dad:

Not so manly, but super cute! Barbara, the breeder, says he has the best disposition.

And here's what one of their puppies looks like at around 3 months old:

Have you ever seen anything cuter in your life?

Doggie Developments

(standard whoodle)

So now I think we're going to get a standard whoodle instead of the mini. But it all still depends on me meeting a whoodle and falling for her. That won't happen until June when we can get to the breeder. Then we may have to wait a long time for an available puppy. For now, I'm reading tons of books about dogs. I feel like I'm pregnant again. Today the kids and I started thinking about names. Jacob wants to name the dog Slagathor. Any Scrubs fans out there? You would get the reference. Sammy, Faith, and I are thinking about Lola. Or maybe Angel. Or Honey. Or Sugar. But today Lola is the front runner. I suppose we won't really be able to pick a name until we pick a puppy! Any suggestions for a shaggy cutie pie?

I've Gone Dog Crazy

I think I want a dog. I mean, I really think I want a dog! I'm trying so hard to convince myself I don't want a dog. But I do. I want a dog! I've never had a dog, and for some reason, it seems like I should have one. The dog I'm thinking about is a Mini Whoodle. Have any of you heard of that? It's a cross between a mini poodle and a soft coated wheaten terrier. It's so cute! It doesn't shed. And it's supposed to have a great temperament and be good with kids. I'd love to meet one in real life. If anyone knows of a mini whoodle in the Chicago area, please let me know.

So what do you think? Have I gone crazy, or should I get a dog? Can anyone talk me out of this?

A Tribute to My Grandmother

My wonderful grandmother, "Mommy Flo," passed away on Saturday. This beautiful picture is of Mommy Flo at my book launch party for Julia's Kitchen two years ago. Can't you just tell by those eyes and that smile that she was something special? Mommy Flo was 93 years young, and she taught me so much about how to live life right. For example...

1. Always tell the people you love that you love them.
2. Never speak badly about someone else.
3. Always give the benefit of the doubt.
4. If something is free, take it.
5. If something is on sale, buy two and give one away.
6. After you have children, don't forget to keep loving your husband.
7. Remember birthdays and anniversaries.
8. Don't complain about your aches and pains.
9. Get on a plane and be there to celebrate your family's milestones.
10. Be generous.
11. Make someone laugh.
12. Listen to beautiful music.
13. Sing and dance.
14. Be yourself.

15. Don't judge others.

16. Believe in love.

17. Create something beautiful

18. No matter how old you get, you can always learn something new.

19. Teach what you know.

20. Smile.

I am so lucky to have had Mommy Flo in my life for so long, and although her memory will live in my heart forevermore, I will truly miss her.

Recent Reading

I've been much pickier lately about the books I'll actually finish. Seems very little is giving me that can't-stop-reading feeling. I love getting carried away by a book, but if a book is just not for me, or not for me at this particular time, I will put it down and walk away, no matter how great the book is supposed to be. 

But... I did just read two terrific books:

SWEETHEARTS by Sara Zarr. I loved how she used a secret to create tension in this story. In fact, I'm going to write about it for my next Book Look column.

SOMEDAY THIS PAIN WILL BE USEFUL TO YOU by Peter Cameron. What a great coming-of-age novel. I read this in the car on the way to Florida, and I kept laughing out loud and reading excerpts to Alan. It's the story of James, a boy/man on the cusp of adulthood during the summer between high school and college. It made me laugh and cry and think about life... for me that's the mark of a great book. I hope it will be read by tons of teens as well as adults! 

So what are you reading? Do you have any recommendations for me?

Fan Mail Excerpt...

After I received a really cute letter from a 10-year-old fan, I wrote her back, and then she wrote this: 

Everyone wanted to read your letter when it arrived! Thanks so much for saying that I'm a good writer!!! You don't know how much this means to me, I mean, it's like writing to Hannah Montana!

How cute and funny is that??

Life Stuff (as opposed to writing stuff)

Passover is coming. And although I enjoy the seders (big, long family dinners with yummy food and the story of the Exodus), keeping Passover for eight days is not so much fun! We are not that observant in our family, but we don't eat any bread or flour products. And let me tell you... flour seems to be in everything... especially birthday cakes! 

This year, Sammy's and my birthdays both fall during Passover. So to shake things up a bit, we had a surprise birthday party for Sammy last night (one week early). While Sammy was at Hebrew school, Jacob decorated the house with streamers. I baked a chocolate chip cookie cake. My parents and siblings and all their kids came over. We ordered pizza, and I made lasagna and a salad. I love that my family lives so close!

Sammy was totally surprised. And then when he saw that his grandparents and we had bought him the guitar he'd been wanting, he was one happy twelve year old kid!

Speaking of instruments, Faith and I saw her clarinet teacher play in a concert over the weekend, and now Faith is totally inspired to be a musician when she grows up. 

And Jacob quit his drum lessons because he never liked to practice. But now we have that Rock Band video game, and he is playing the drums constantly for that. If only we could turn French and Language Arts into a video game...

My Workspace

I share my office with my whole family, but I have my own desk. It's almost always a mess. But I've been nesting! I bought desk accessories (never had them before), so now there's a place for everything. Yay! And check out my new awesome MacBook. Woo hoo!

I look out onto my street, so I get to see joggers and dog walkers all day long. I love seeing the different seasons out my window. And the kids walking to school. And the moms with their strollers. And the mail carrier. I love my mail carrier! Though, I have to admit, when I get too distracted by outside, I sometimes close my shades and focus, focus, focus.

Right above my window is this...

It's a quote that starts off JEMMA HARTMAN. One of my critique partners found this wall sticker and gave it to me for my birthday last year. Isn't that great?

Time to get to work at my very organized desk. Have a great weekend!

Dear Birch Knoll/A Writer's Doubt

Today I was listening to some music when the beautiful Joni Mitchell song, "Both Sides Now," came on. All of a sudden I was transported back to my summers at Camp Birch Knoll. It's weird because I've mined those camp memories for the last couple of years while I wrote JEMMA HARTMAN, but for some reason I hadn't remembered that song. And all of a sudden... there it was.

We didn't sing "Both Sides Now" at camp, but we sang a song to that tune. 

The opening went like this:

Dear Birch Knoll it's hard to find

the words and music which combined

express the feelings in our mind

and thoughts we have of you.

I just sang the whole song for my daughter - a Birch Knoll girl herself, and even though she laughed at how badly I sang, she loved the sentiment. 

The thing is... this opening totally addresses my fear about JEMMA HARTMAN. What if I haven't found the right "words and music" to express my true feelings about camp? I hope I've captured the magic of camp. But I have no idea if I was successful or not. 

Doubt. 

Yuck! 

I remember being similarly anxious about JULIA'S KITCHEN. After the copy editing and before the book comes out, you've got this long period of time in limbo. You're not working on the book to make it better. But you have no idea if it will be well-received or not. How could you not worry just a bit? Perhaps this doubt is part of the creative process. What do you think?

The Next Chapter of My Life

These days I'm feeling like a pregnant Mom. Not that I'm having another baby! But I'm nesting. I want to clean out my closets, organize my office, get rid of every pile of cutter in my house. These are not normal urges for me. But in the last three weeks, my cat died, my house was robbed, and my beloved editor left FSG. I also finished the copy-edits on JEMMA HARTMAN and started working with Kathy Dawson at Harcourt on YUCKIEST DROOLIEST. I have a brand new laptop, a blank diary, and I've just picked out a new front door. 

Life is changing!

And I'm okay with that. 

Stolen Diaries!

If you've read my website, you know I'm a huge fan of writing in a diary. I've been doing it since I was ten years old, and it's helped me in countless ways. A while back, I bought a safe to protect my diaries from fire -- and from curious children.

Last week while I was on vacation with my family, burglars broke into our home. Among other things, they stole my computer, my jewelry, and the safe with all my diaries!

The computer was backed up. The jewelry was insured. But my diaries!!! They're gone!

I am not sure if the burglars will be able to open the safe. It won't be easy. I picture them working for days and days on it, finally prying it open expecting to see jewels and cash, but instead finding a bunch of diaries! Ha! I'd love to see their faces then.

Actually, I'd love to see their faces in court. I am putting my faith in our police department. I hope they catch these thieves.

As for my diaries, I am sorry they are gone. But the act of creating them was more important than actually possessing them. I didn't go back and read them all that often. Still, it was comforting knowing my whole life was documented. I guess this is a lesson in letting go... a theme I write about quite often.

I Love Copy Editors

I've been carrying around my JEMMA HARTMAN manuscript for the last four days, pulling it out of its padded envelope and working on it in very odd places including a doctor's waiting room, the library, my daughter's basketball game, my son's volleyball game, and even while getting a pedicure. I could never do that if I was writing or revising. That takes way too much brain power and--for me anyway--silence. But I'm working on the copy editing, and that is fun, fun, fun!


You see, copy editing is really done by the copy editor. All I have to do is go through all the changes and ok them or alter them. That's easy work. But there are those pesky little questions the copy editor asks. For example: Why do the girls go to breakfast in their pajamas? (Answer: I don't know. They just do.) And...Is it really possible for Jemma to wake up to birds in late summer when birdsong is rarer? (Answer: Um, good question. Let me look that up on the web.) And... Wouldn't the girls come watch their friends in the sailing race? (Answer: Not if that means I have to rewrite an entire scene!)


But seriously, the copy editor is an amazing creature. She catches everything! Like calling a girl Tracey on one page and Tracy (no E) about a hundred pages later. Or in JULIA'S KITCHEN, the copy editor noticed I had Thunder the kitten eating from a can of tuna on one page and out of a bowl on another. Little mistakes like these are really hard for me to find because I am way too close to the story. If a copy editor hadn't called them to my attention, they'd be in my book forever. Ack!


Have you had a copy editor save you from making a dumb mistake? Or did something get by the editing process, and now you have to look at that glaring misstep every time you open your book? If so, leave me a comment. I'd love to hear your stories.

Cheating on my Novel

One of the things Richard Peck said at the best ever writing retreat was that you shouldn't jump to another project if you are having trouble with your current project. That makes a ton of sense, because that other project will always look easier from a distance. You think you can write a quick picture book or short story and you'll come back to the novel. You swear you'll come back! But it is NEVER quick or easy to write a picture book or short story. And now you've lost momentum on your novel. Bad idea!

Another thing he said (after hearing me read from my current work-in-progress and after I confessed to him why I was worried about actually writing it) was this:
"You will finish this book and it will be a whole new chapter in your life."

Wow! When Richard Peck says something like that, it makes an impact. And so I made a commitment to this new baby of mine. I came up with a title that fits, and I figured out how it will end (in a broad sort of sense), and I even wrote a sketchy synopsis to help guide me on my way.

But then I got a call from an editor who happens to also be an author whom I really admire. She asked me if I might want to write a short story for her magazine. With Richard's voice in my head, I told her I'd love to write the story, but I'd have to first finish the draft of my new novel. So far, so good. Tempted, but I didn't stray.

Then she sent me a bunch of her magazines so I could get a feel for the stories they publish. I waited a whole day until I broke down and read them. Then I happened to take a shower, and everyone knows the best ideas come to you in the shower. So there I was, washing my hair, when an idea for a short story popped into my head. I told myself it would wait. I would write the story after the novel. After the novel! But first I would jot down a few sentences... just so I wouldn't forget.

Two pages later, I realized I was totally cheating on my novel with this new short story. I'm a children's lit adulterer! Ack!

What to do? What to do? Richard Peck said something else at the workshop. He told us how his book A Long Way from Chicago started with a request from an editor for a short story. Hmmm... Maybe it's okay to write this short story now. I swear I'll come back to my novel! I swear!

Deconstructing a Picture Book

I believe the best way to learn to write is to read like a writer. So when I find a book to love, I analyze it to see how the author crafted it. The Illinois chapter of SCBWI has a fabulous on-line newsletter called The Prairie Wind. It comes out four times a year, and I write a column for it called Book Look: Books That Make You Go "Oh!" (That "oh" is supposed to be both a light bulb moment, excitement, and awe all rolled into one.)

For this issue, I analyzed the structure of Fancy Nancy, by Jane O'Connor. If you are an aspiring picture book author, you might find my column helpful.

There are many terrific articles in the Prairie Wind. Be sure to read them all! And if you've read a book that made you go oh, please tell me about it in the comments. Thanks!

A Weekend with Richard Peck

Richard Peck is a treasure. I hadn't realized that until this weekend. Sure, I respected him as an author, and I admired his work. Who wouldn't respect a man who created the hilarious character of Grandma Dowdel and won both a Newbery Honor and Medal for her? But the reason I signed up for SCBWI-Illinois' weekend writing retreat facilitated by Richard Peck was not because of Grandma Dowdel. It was because of one of my critique partners, Carol Grannick. Carol is a Richard Peck uber-fan. She reads and re-reads his books all the time. She thinks of Richard the way I think of Judy Blume. And so I had to go. Our whole critique group had to go. And what a weekend we had! Here are just a few of the gems Richard gave us:

On craft...

• If you see an adverb, shoot.


• Delete 'There was' at the beginning of your sentences.


• Remove 'as if' from your manuscript.


• The middle of the novel is either rising of falling. There are no plateaus. Make it high - like a circus tent pole.


• The first page of your book is its table of contents. All the clues and plot elements should be there.

On process...

• Stand up and act out your scenes.


• When you're stuck, go back and retype a page from before. Edit it. Remove the adverbs. Cut twenty more words. Whatever you do, don't leave the desk.


• At the end, throw away the first chapter. Rewrite it.


• Finally, examine your opening line. Is it the best you can do?

On being a writer...

• Writing fiction is the struggle to give life a shape.


• Childhood is a jungle, not a garden.


• We're writers. We can inhabit other people's space.


• Nobody a writer loves is ever dead.

Richard also surprised and honored us by reading a chapter from his work-in-progress, and believe it or not, it is a new book featuring Grandma Dowdel! What a treat!

I will forevermore hear Richard's encouraging, yet discerning, voice in my head as I write. (I can hear him now, but I keep telling myself this is just a blog, it doesn't have to be perfect!)

Here is Carol presenting Richard with a Grandma Dowdel for President campaign button!

And here's our critique group at dinner Saturday night.

Jenny Meyerhoff, Carol Grannick

Me, and Ellen Reagan

Pictures from Prairie Junior High

The reason I couldn't load my pictures from my school visit last week at Prairie Junior High? When I plugged my camera into my computer, I unplugged this little thing that was in the usb port next to it. Turns out, that little thing made the wireless mouse work. :-)

So, without further ado...

This is the display near the entrance to the library.

This is a closeup of the nice offer the kids had...

And here I am with the mastermind behind it all... Camille Hogan, Media Specialist!

School Visit from Heaven

What a fantastic school visit I had yesterday. Camille Hogan, media specialist extraordinaire, planned the perfect day. Props to all the teachers and students at Prairie Junior High School in Alsip, Illinois! Here's how they did everything right:

Before I got there....
1. They talked up JULIA'S KITCHEN and got it circulating.
2. They offered my book for sale.
3. They told the kids that 10 of them would get to have lunch with me. In order to qualify for lunch, they had to purchase my book, read it, and e-mail the media specialist a couple questions they would like to ask me. She chose the kids with the best questions, and she also bought them lunch. How cool is that?
4. They created a lesson plan about character descriptions and worked my presentation about revision into the lesson.
5. They had a display in the library about me, my book, and my upcoming visit.

When I arrived...
1. The administrators in the office greeted me warmly because they were expecting me.
2. The library was set up with enough chairs for all the students and with a digital projector for me.
3. They offered me yummy coffee.

During my presentations...
1. The students paid attention and asked thoughtful questions.
2. The teachers paid attention, took notes, and asked thoughtful questions.
3. They gave me a nice break in between presentations. I even had time to lounge on a sofa and read a bit!

During lunch...
1. They got my lunch order exactly right. (No onions. Yes cucumbers!)
2. The kids and teachers were delightful.

Afterwards...
1. The teachers gave me wonderful feedback about the students' responses to the presentation, and they told me they plan to incorporate some of the revision skills I talked about into their lesson plans.
2. They allowed time for me to sign books for all the students and teachers who had purchased them.
3. Camille gave me specific reverse directions so I wouldn't get lost on my way home. (I am directionally-impaired!)
4. And last but certainly not least, they told me they would love for me to come back next year!

Thank you Camille and Prairie Junior High. I wish Camille could give lessons to other schools on how to organize an author visit. Perhaps she should write an article or something. I'm pretty sure this was her first author visit, but you would never know from how well she ran it!

I took a couple of pictures, but for some reason, I can't get them to load right now, and I have to get ready for my weekend writing workshop with Richard Peck. So I'll try to get the pictures up next week.

Have a great weekend!

Anderson's Children's Literature Breakfast

Saturday morning I was lucky enough to be a guest at Anderson's Bookshops Sixth Annual Children's Literature Breakfast where I got to hear featured speakers The Spatulatta Sisters, Kevin Henkes, and Richard Peck. I love hearing other authors speak because I know I have much to learn, not only about writing, but also about presenting.

The Spatulatta Sisters taught me that you just have to be yourself and have fun when you're presenting. These two young girls were so natural and poised. I was impressed.

Kevin Henkes read from his new novel, Bird Lake Moon. I have never been very good at listening to people read aloud. I'm a visual learner, so unfortunately, I wasn't able to fully appreciate his novel excerpts, but I will definitely read it when it comes out.

Richard Peck was incredibly polished. He had the audience in the palm of his hand. Right away I realized I should be taking notes so I could truly take in all the wisdom he had to offer. But I didn't want to miss even one moment of listening in order to find a pen and paper. One thing I do remember is that he said, "Nobody grows up in a group." How true! I remember doing a lot of growing up myself senior year of high school when I suddenly realized I didn't really like my group of friends anymore. There were so many other bits and pieces of wisdom and inspiration. Now it's all a jumble in my head. Note to self: Be prepared to take notes next time!

Luckily there will be a next time very, very soon! I am heading to Champaign this weekend for a writer's retreat, and guess who is leading it? Richard Peck! Yippee!

A New Interview

Barbara Bietz, author of LIKE A MACCABEE, has a terrific blog about Jewish children's literature. Today she interviewed me about JULIA'S KITCHEN. Check it out!

Finding an Agent

Today's post is the last in the Valentine's Week Extravaganza: Why and How I got an agent.

First, the Why...

Many people ask if they need an agent to get their children's book published. My short answer is no. After all, I sold my first two novels on my own to a well respected New York City publisher. (Yay FSG!) There are a lot of houses that are open to unsolicited submissions, and if you write a fantastic manuscript and do your research in terms of where to submit it, you could be lucky enough to get published.

But (here's the long answer)... there are also a good number of houses that are closed. That means they won't accept unagented submissions. After spending about four years submitting THE YUCKIEST, DROOLIEST, STINKIEST, BEST VALENTINE'S DAY EVER, I had pretty much run out of the open houses. I considered sending my manuscript to the closed houses with the wild hope that they would read my story even though they said they wouldn't. But common sense prevailed, and I saved my postage. Instead, I figured maybe it was time to find an agent. After all, I had sold two books, and one of them had won a pretty terrific award. I wasn't quite a nobody anymore.

And now for the How...

Deciding which agent to pick was not what you might expect. I didn't spend days researching. I took a short cut. One of my critique partners, Jenny Meyerhoff, had recently signed with Michelle Andelman at the Andrea Brown Literary Agency, and she was loving her. (Jenny had done lots of research. Thanks, Jenny!) I looked up Michelle, and she seemed like a good fit for me, too. Best of all, she accepted e-mail submissions!

So the very same day I came up with the idea that maybe I should get an agent, I submitted my manuscript to Michelle. And, believe it or not, that very same afternoon, I received a response from Michelle saying she loved my manuscript and was going to share it with her colleagues at ABLA. And the very next day Michelle said the whole team loved my manuscript, and she scheduled a time to phone me to talk about representation!

In an industry that is notorious for moving painstakingly slowly, this fast paced acceptance blew my mind!

Michelle sold my manuscript to Harcourt about six months later. Yay!

Sending love today to Michelle and the whole team at Andrea Brown!!

Rejection Phone Call

I've received plenty of rejections in my writing life. But the best one ever came from Steve Meltzer at Dutton Children's Books.

I sent Mr. Meltzer an early draft of my Valentine's Day manuscript (when the chase still went around the globe, and the Valentine still jumped into a volcano). He responded with a revision request, and in his letter he asked me if I had been trying to do a fractured version of the Gingerbread Man story.

The Gingerbread Man??? That thought had never even crossed my mind!

My initial reaction was that this editor obviously didn't get what I was trying to do. Gingerbread Man stories were sweet and a little boring. I was trying to be edgy and fun. But then I went to the library and read every fractured Gingerbread tale I could find. THE STINKY CHEESE MAN was my favorite. And it inspired me to think I could write a fractured fairy tale and still be edgy.

So I went to work. Thinking in this new Gingerbread Man framework was the key to my success. When I sent Mr. Meltzer the revised manuscript, I had a really good feeling. I knew I had written something saleable. And when the phone rang five weeks later and the caller id said New York Call, my heart practically leaped out of my chest.

Mr. Meltzer has a kind soul, and the first thing he said to me was that he was not calling with good news. But he went on to say that he absolutely loved my revision. And that he had to take a pass on the story only because they had already contracted for a number of fractured Gingerbread Man stories at Dutton. He also said he thought another house would snap my manuscript up right away. (Turns out it was three years later, but who's counting?)

So thanks, Steve Meltzer! Thanks for the Gingerbread Man idea. And thanks for calling!

Have you received any really great rejections? Tell me about them in the comments!!

My True Love

I consider myself to be a disciplined person. Most days I am good about putting my butt in the chair, opening up my work-in-progress, and getting something accomplished. It doesn't matter how little that "something" is. As long as I'm taking baby steps toward my big goal, I'm satisified.

But today was not one of those days. Today I spent my two hours of writing time playing on-line Scrabble with my hubby. (He is beating me, by the way.)

I felt a little guilty about wasting my time like that. But then I questioned why I considered that wasting time. Alan is in Barcelona this week for business, and with the time difference, it's been tough. So this afternoon, when he was supposed to be catching up on e-mails before a late dinner, and I was supposed to be writing before the kids got home from school, we had a chance to reconnect and have fun together.

I am married to my best friend. We started going out when we were 19. (He actually had bottom braces when I first met him!) We were just kids, really. And man, have we been lucky! We grew together. We have a fantastic marriage, better than I ever dreamed possible. Our relationship isn't some kind of perfect fairy tale. It's real, with ups and downs, good days and bad. But truthfully, I fall more in love with him with each passing year.

So I don't care that I didn't write today. I can do that tomorrow.

Happy Valentine's Day, Bud! (It's already V-Day in Barcelona.)

And Happy Valentine's Day to all of you, too. Tell someone you love them!

Necessity Breeds Invention

I mentioned before that I originally wrote THE YUCKIEST, DROOLIEST, STINKIEST, BEST VALENTINE'S DAY EVER for my daughter's second grade class. Well, here's how it happened: I was one of the moms in charge of the class party that year, and since I love books, I volunteered to find the perfect Valentine's Day picture book to read to the class. I figured that was way easier than figuring out the craft, games, or food. I'd zip into the book store and zip out, my job complete.

Alas, it was not that easy!

I went to the library and my local book store, and I spent quite some time reading all the books on the Valentine's Day display. I found a lot of lovey dovey books, a lot of sweet, tender books, and a lot of lesson books (sending a mean valentine is wrong, kids!). But I didn't find any books that would appeal to a class of sophisticated second graders. With a son and daughter in second grade, I knew almost all these kids well. They weren't about to fall for anything lovey dovey or sweet. And they certainly didn't want anything that would teach them a lesson. So I decided to write my own story, filled with adventure and humor, and with no lesson in sight.

The original title was "The Great Valentine Escape," and in it, Leon chases his valentine onto an airplane, over an ocean, and up a mountain, which turns out to be a volcano. In the end, the valentine jumps into the bubbling lava below (I kid you not) and Leon magically returns home.

It was a crazy story. But it was fun. And the kids were captivated all the way though. (More proof that kids enjoying a story is not reason enough to think it should be published.) They laughed and gasped at all the right parts. I knew I was on to something, even if I still had work to do.

And boy, did I have work to do! Over the next four years, every single thing about the story changed (except for Leon and the Valentine). But now I have a book that will someday be on a Valentine's Day display in book stores around the country. And some random parents or teachers might choose it to read to their class on Valentine's Day. How cool is that?

Sending love out to Faith and Mrs. Phillips' second grade class from 2003!!

Characters Inspired by Real People

Lisa Greenwald, over at The Longstockings, blogged about a shirt her grandma gave her. The shirt said, Careful, or I'll put you in my novel. There were some interesting comments about how authors do or don't use real people when they create characters. I definitely get inspired by pieces of real people. But I would never make a character a duplicate of one particular real person. That would be way too weird.

However, I came pretty close to that in THE YUCKIEST, DROOLIEST, STINKIEST, BEST VALENTINE'S DAY EVER. Many years ago, when Jacob was in first grade and Sammy was in kindergarten, I was struck by how different kids can be, especially when it comes to Love. Sammy was so excited for Valentine's Day. He couldn't wait to have a whole day focused on love and hugs and sweetness. Jacob, on the other hand, came home from school on Valentine's Day and promptly began sorting his Valentines into two piles.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Looking for the good ones," he said.

He wasn't even opening the valentines, so I was curious. "How do you know which ones are the good ones?"

"Easy. The ones with candy." And he proceeded to thow away all the valentines that didn't have candy taped to them. "It's awesome!" he said with a huge grin. "It's like Halloween in February."

A story idea started forming in my head. Two views of Valentine's Day: Is it about love? Or is it about candy? What if I turned the typical Valentine on its head? He could be like Jacob: He'd believe that love is yucky, that girls are disgusting, and that Valentine's Day is all about candy. Contrast that with Leon, who, like Sammy, would think that Valentine's Day is all about love. Despite the social reperucussions of admitting you like a girl in elementary school, he would be brave and romantic, true to his heart.

And that's how this story came to be.

So today, I send love to Jacob and Sammy. Thanks for the inspiration, boys!

The Truth About Rejection

I started submitting THE YUCKIEST, DROOLIEST, STINKIEST, BEST VALENTINE'S DAY EVER to publishers in February, 2003. Over the course of 4 1/2 years, I received approximately 70 rejection letters. 70!! (I bet you didn't know there were that many publishers. Truth be told, some of those rejections were from agents, and some were contests I entered and lost.) One of the questions people ask me all the time is, "How do you handle the rejection?"

Here's how I see it:

Rejection is part of the process. You never hear of an author who gets published without first receiving rejection, so you have to just accept it. In fact, you can celebrate it. You are doing exactly what every author does... submitting work!

I give my rejection letters different grades. There's the form letter that comes back without a signature. I give that kind of rejection a C.

There's the form letter with the one line written at the bottom by the editor, something along the lines of: Thanks! or Cute! That rejection gets a B.

There's the personal rejection letter. That's when the editor actually takes the time to write you a whole letter, telling you what he/she did and didn't like about the manuscript. You should seriously celebrate when you get one of those. That means you are getting very close. You just need to get lucky now! That rejection is an A for sure.

A+ rejections come in three varieties:

1) A request to submit another manuscript. Awesome! That means the editor really likes your writing, but there is just something about this particular manuscript that isn't right for their house. Send something new out today!
2) A phone call rejection. Someone liked your manuscript enough to call you??? Holy cow! Good work.
3) A request to revise and resubmit. That's not really a rejection at all! You are so close, you can practically see your name on the spine of the book. Get to work!!!

Of the 70 or so rejections I received for YUCKIEST, close to thirty were personal rejections, half a dozen were requests for revisions, and one editor actually called to reject me after I did a revision for him that he loved. (More on that later.)

I know that rejections hurt. I know it's hard to wait months, sometimes years, to hear back from publishers. But you have to believe in yourself. Dust yourself off. Take another look at your manuscript to see if you can improve it. And send it out again. YUCKIEST changed dramatically over the years I spent submitting it. It got better and better with each revision, and it finally found a home at Harcourt.

Today I am sending love to all the editors who sent me those personal rejection letters. Thank you for taking time out of your busy day to give me your feedback. You helped me improve my story and helped me to keep the faith!

Valentine's Week

One of my husband's co-workers celebrates her Birth Month every year (as opposed to just a Birthday), and I love that idea. So, inspired by her brilliance, I hereby proclaim this week: Valentine's Week! All week long, feel free to show the people in your life how much you love them. Cards, flowers, candy, secret admirer notes... whatever it takes. Have fun!

Speaking of Valentine's Day, I guess now is the perfect time to tell you about my forthcoming picture book. It's called THE YUCKIEST, STINKIEST, DROOLIEST, BEST VALENTINE'S DAY EVER, and Harcourt will be publishing it sometime in the near future. (Near future in children's publishing is not actually "near." But I'm not complaining!)

In this story, lovestruck Leon is determined to give his crush a handmade Valentine, but his cynical, wisecracking Valentine comes to life and runs away. It's pretty silly stuff!

Interesting facts about YUCKIEST:

1. I collected over 70 rejections for this manuscript.

2. Leon is modeled after Sammy, and the Valentine is modeled after Jacob.

3. I originally wrote this story for Faith's class Valentine's Day party when she was in second grade.

4. The first time an editor ever called me was to lovingly reject this manuscript.

5. Less than 24 hours after submitting YUCKIEST to Michelle Andelman at Andrea Brown Literary Agency, I received an e-mail from her expressing interest in representing me. About six months later we had an offer from Harcourt to publish it.

In honor of Valentine's Week, I will post more details about each of these facts during the week.

Meanwhile, today I'm sending love to Stacie, one of my readers who sends me terrific e-mails about anything and everything!

New Baby Books

Last week my sister-in-law had a baby boy! He is such a cutie. Alan and Sammy are driving to Michigan tomorrow so they can be there for the bris. Let's hope this snow lets up, so the drive won't be too bad. Sadly, I'm not going to the bris because we didn't want Jacob and Faith to miss two days of school. (Seventh grade is proving to be quite a challenge.)

I did get to pick out a baby gift for the new baby today. What did I buy? Books, of course! I love getting babies started with their own library. It's never too early to read to your child. In fact, here is Faith, when she was just 5 months old, already showing her love of books:

Here are the board books I bought:

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr., illustrated by Eric Carle
All three Ferber kids loved this book, and it was the first book they "read" on their own.

Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown, illustrated by Clement Hurd

A classic for every nursery. My kids loved to find the mouse on each page.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

It has it all: counting, nature, junk food, and holes for little fingers!

Boynton's Greatest Hits Volume I by Sandra Boynton, including: Blue Hat Green Hat, Doggies, A to Z, and Moo Baa La La La!

There is nothing better than the sound of babies and toddlers cracking up from Sandra Boynton books.

And here are the picture books:

Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

No matter how many times I read this book, I still love it.

Good Dog, Carl by Alexandra Day

My kids loved the pull-tab version of this book, and they were mucho disappointed when I showed them this book without any moving parts. Hopefully the new baby won't mind.

Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! by Mo Willems

Seriously hilarious! This book wasn't around when my kids were little, so today when they came home from school, I sat them down and read it to them. (Peraps a mom reading a picture book to her 6th and 7th grade kids is a little weird?)

The Napping House by Audrey Wood, illustrated by Don Wood

I remember reading this book to my kids with the wild hope that they would actually all three take a nap at the same time.

How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night? by Jane Yolen, illustrated by Mark Teague

Everyone loves a good dinosaur book, and this one is my favorite. If you've ever had a kid fight bedtime, you need to read this book.

Fun! I hope my brother-in-law, sister-in-law, and new cutie nephew enjoy these books for years to come.

Muscle Memory

15 years ago, I worked at the Leo Burnett Advertising Agency. They had a little gym across the street called, "Revisions," where I used to work out. One day, they offered a self-defense class, and on a whim, I signed up. The class was taught by an amazing karate sensei, Jeff Kohn, and everyone loved the class and Jeff so much that he ended up teaching a weekly karate class at Revisions. So that's how I ended up taking up karate at the age of 25!

Karate was the best mind-body-spirit exercise I'd ever experienced. I loved how you had to concentrate so completely on what you were doing, and, in the same moment, you had to stop thinking and let your body just do its thing. At that time, I was struggling with infertility, and let me tell you, I was pretty obsessed about it! Practicing karate was just what I needed for my mental health. In that hour, I couldn't think about infertility. I only stopped training when I was five months pregnant with twins and could no longer tie my gi!

Fast forward to this past summer. My good friend Julie called me up one morning and out of the blue asked me if I wanted to take karate. Without considering cost, or time constraints, or anything, I agreed.

We train twice a week with that same amazing sensei, and I love it just as much as before. This morning, Sensei taught us a new kata - at least I thought it was new. I hadn't remembered learning it, but I must have. Because after just a few reminders from Sensei, my body knew just what to do. Muscle memory.

When I wrote my second novel, I had thought it would be easy. Or at least easier. After all, I'd already written one! But if anything, it was harder. It had its own challenges, its own lessons to teach me. And now I'm writing my third novel. I don't expect it to be easy. But I am finding that I have a bit of muscle memory now when it comes to writing. I'm not planning as much as I used to. I'm just writing. And I'm trusting that my body will know what to do.

Winter in Chicago

I like the seasons. All of them. But winter can last an awfully long time, especially in Chicago. We got about a foot of snow last night, and this morning my kids were thrilled to hear that they would get to enjoy a snow day instead of going to school.

Unfortunately, the Chicago Public School system did not close their schools, and I was scheduled to do an author visit for about 500 fourth-eighth graders at Rosario Castellanos this morning. So I trekked downtown in this lovely weather. It took me two hours to get there, but I have to say, it was worth it! I really love getting to do these presentations. Today's was all about revision. I hope the kids learned something. I hope I inspired them.

My husband ended up working from home so someone could keep an eye on the kids. It was a nice change to be the one to leave the house for work! Jacob shoveled the driveway, and he did an amazing job. He didn't ask for any help, but I helped him anyway. That snow at the end of the driveway is always so heavy! Now I'm beat, and I'm looking forward to ordering pizza for dinner and relaxing.

Happy Weekend!