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| Friday, July 10th, 2009 | | 6:53 am |
Five Things on a Friday
My writing supervisor
1. It's sunny! According to our news, we had 23 days of rain out of 26 recently. I just want to stand in the sunshine today, throw my arms out, and twirl in it!
2. Julia and I were watching "So You Think You Can Dance?" this week and when Tyce said that thing about orange juice, I said, "He and Lil' C should get together."
"Yeah," she said. "They could have a 'Metaphor-Off.' The first one who reaches the point where the audience has no idea what they're talking about, wins!"
I love that show for so many reasons.
3. Today, John and I are painting the bathroom! It's the last step of our renovation. Our bathroom floor has a pretty, light purply-blue as one of the squares, and we decided to pick up that color on the walls. So I brought home lots of paint sample strips and laid them all out on the floor to check against those squares. "Sapphire Number One" seemed the closest. I'll post a photo when it's all done.
4. I received the nicest letter this week from a media specialist at a school where I had spoken last spring. She told me about some wonderful things that happened after I had left--including one sweet story about a boy who came to tell her he was enjoying RULES.
We chatted for a while and he mentioned that he had taken his Nintendo DS into bed with him, under the covers, the night before. I thought we were now going to launch into a conversation about video games--until he explained, "I used the light from the DS to read."
I don't even have words for how much that story warms my heart.
5. To those of you going or at ALA--have a blast! And a special, "wicked proud " cheer for my Maine Silver Sister, Caldecott Honoree Melissa Sweet! Current Mood:  painting! | | Thursday, July 9th, 2009 | | 6:27 am |
Down to Details
Portland, Maine. Photo by my husband, John
I'm going through my last checklist for my novel revision before sending it back to my editor by the 15th. She's on vacation until then. So though I'm anxious to have it off my desk, I also know there no point to sending it earlier.
I've dealt with all the big things for this particular pass--I'm down to details.
Here's my checklist for the next few days:
Character names. I have two older ladies with "Mrs. C--" names and two mothers with "K" names. I think that's too confusing, and it's time to find a new name for one of each pair. For the last names, I use phonebooks of the area where I've set the book, gravestones, mailboxes, road names, etc.
For first names, I use lists of common names for the decade in which the person was born. So I'll be hunting through those references today.
I have a bigger cast of characters in TOUCH BLUE than RULES, so it's been harder to find names that aren't close to other names. But for the younger end of middle-grade, reading is often still "work," and I try not to make that work any harder than it has to be.
Character gestures and physical characteristics. Dad strokes his beard when he's thinking, Mom traces things with her finger when she's trying to talk someone into something, my main character's bangs are growing out, etc. I want to be sure I haven't overused or underused these telling gestures and descriptions.
Character expressions: I need to check to be sure the expressions my character uses are consistent--always "gonna" never "going to," always "near" and not "nearly," etc.
Setting: Have I described each unique setting in the book well enough for the reader to imagine it? Do those descriptions matter to the plot or subtly tell the reader more about the characters, as well as the place? If not, can they?
In RULES, Catherine was an artist, so even smell was once described with color. In TOUCH BLUE, Tess is a fisherman with her dad, so she'd be very clued into even subtle changes of weather, tide, season.
Time: Is each chapter transitioned with time? Same day, two weeks later, etc. Have the descritptions moved along with that time? Correct plants in bloom, temperature, are the tides correct for having moved along that amount of time?
Theme: look at each chapter and see if my themes are running through my other elements.
I remember a wonderful letter from a child I received about RULES that said something like: "I liked the funny parts of the book, and in other parts, I could tell it really means something."
Does this chapter "really mean something?"
Overused words: Do a find for "that," "just," "only," "then," etc. and see if I really need each one.
Extra spaces: I learned to type with two spaces after a period, and you can't teach this old typist new tricks. Search and replace.
Spellcheck and SEND. Current Mood:  busy | | Wednesday, July 8th, 2009 | | 5:23 am |
The Nutmeg State
 I'll be in Western Connecticut in two weeks doing a couple of library visits. I'm driving to these events, so I'm doing up my maps/directions/etc.
My daughter is coming with me, and since each visit is only a few hours long, we'll have some time to do things while I'm there.
Those of you who are. . .
Connecticutters?
Connecti-cuties?
Connecticutians?
(I can't believe I don't know this, but what's the name for residents of Connecticut?)
Do you have a suggestion for something we might like doing/seeing? My library visits are in Ridgefield (the green star on the map) and Wilton.
Current Mood:  good | | Tuesday, July 7th, 2009 | | 6:44 am |
| | Sunday, July 5th, 2009 | | 8:37 am |
Taking the Ferry
One of my first teaching jobs was in a tiny school on a Maine island. When I talk about that teaching experience, I know it sounds romantic to take a ferry to work everyday.
And it was: September to November and May to June. Not many people have a commute where the view out of the window might include seals, porpoises, and jet-black cormorants flying just above the waves.
And yet, between those glorious fall and late spring months, it was often wind-wild and rough. The spray would freeze on the gangplank, making low-tide something to be dreaded. In fact, I was the only teacher in the whole district who had a column next to her name in the teacher attendance log for "Act of God." If the ferry couldn't run, I couldn't go to work.
I based the setting for TOUCH BLUE, my next novel, loosely on that island (and a few others). I was looking at Maine island videos this morning as I'm revising that book, and this is the ferry I took (though not the same captain).
I remember many, many days when the weather was just like this. Waiting for the boat on that wharf, there'd be an icy wet wind off the water, I'd stand with my back to it, so my eyes wouldn't tear up. Those days, the boat pitched and rolled harder than a ride at the fair. Still, I only remember having to call in my "Act of God" excuse once to the superintendent's office.
"Didn't know if you was coming," the bus driver would say, as I climbed onto the school bus, waiting for me on the island.
"Didn't know myself," I'd reply. Current Mood:  nostalgic | | Saturday, July 4th, 2009 | | 7:47 am |
Happy Fourth of July!
Rockland, Maine. Photo by my husband, John
Ah, sit back in your lawn chair, look up at the sky, and enjoy! Current Mood: good | | Friday, July 3rd, 2009 | | 6:16 am |
July Events
Monday, July 20, Afternoon library visit, Ridgefield Library, Ridgefield, Connecticut.
Tuesday, July 21, Afternoon library visit, Wilton Public Library, Wilton, Connecticut.
I also need to write a letter to the "Readers of Minnesota," which is the first state that's asked me to do that as part of having a book on their state list. I think it's a wonderful idea. They compile the letters from the authors and send it out as a booklet to all the participating Minnesota schools and libraries.
It's time for me to start doing one big thing a month to get ready for HOT ROD HAMSTER, too. I did that for RULES and it was a great way to get the book ready and not be overwhelmed at release time. I think my July task will be to create a page on my website for it.
And I need to get my novel back to my editor on the 15th.
It'll be very nice to have a quieter month for a change. My daughter is even coming with me on my trip to Connecticut. It'll be extra fun to have her company. :-) Current Mood: cheerful | | Thursday, July 2nd, 2009 | | 7:32 am |
Summer 2009: Chance of Thunderstorms
Clouds rolling in (at my retreat)
On my way home from my retreat, I stopped to spend the night at a friend's cabin on a lake in New Hampshire. I had met Holly a year and a half ago when I did a school visit at her middle school in Texas. She's a fantastic librarian and a lovely person, and we've stayed in touch.
A couple weeks ago, Holly sent me an email and said she was off to New Hampshire for the summer. Since I was driving through the state on my way home from New York, I asked Holly if she wanted to meet again, and she invited me to stay overnight with her.
I wanted to take a couple photos, but we had mostly rain, which is par for the course this summer in New England. What a wet summer it's been! Though I have to admit the sound of the rain on the roof of the cabin during the night was very beautiful--and the loons who woke me up at dawn with their musical trilling to each other.
When I first arrived, I was lucky that we had a break in the rain for a few hours. Because I got to try something I've always wanted to do but never had before. Holly took me kayaking on the lake. What fun!
Holly also told me a funny story. She said she had been to the small town library that morning to get some videos and books. She mentioned to the librarian that she had company coming and hoped the weather would allow us to go kayaking.
"Well, be careful," the librarian said kindly. "We're supposed to have thunderstorms."
Holly then mentioned I was her company.
The librarian blurted out, "For GOD SAKES! Don't kill Cynthia Lord!"
"She didn't care about me anymore," Holly said, laughing. "Just that I didn't kill YOU."
:-) Thank you to the Washington, New Hampshire library for making me feel like a rock star.
Current Mood:  wet | | Tuesday, June 30th, 2009 | | 9:20 am |
Letting It Go
Our retreat center
I've had a wonderful, very productive time away on my writing retreat. I even read my first chapter of TOUCH BLUE aloud last night to the group. You might think I wouldn't be nervous at this point reading work aloud to 20 or so other authors, but you'd be very wrong. It's always scary! And yet, I did it anyway.
I'm at the end of my novel process, and there's a lot of "letting go" at this stage:
- Letting go of the idea the book can be every possibility I started out with, everything I ever wanted for it. Accepting what it is, is enough.
- Letting go of some research and truths that are beautiful and meaningful and real, but yet, don't belong.
- And letting go of the book as "mine" to allow readers enough space in the book to make it "theirs."
I did let go, over and over, piece by piece, these past few days. As my main character says in TOUCH BLUE:
Watching our boat’s bubbly wake as we pull away, loss sweeps me—but not a sad loss. More like giving up something I’ve held onto, and finding it’s okay to let it go.
Safe Travels, Champy.
Me, too. It's okay to let it go. Current Mood:  refreshed | | Sunday, June 28th, 2009 | | 9:12 pm |
| | Friday, June 26th, 2009 | | 5:21 am |
Five Things on a Friday
Harpswell, Maine. Photo by my husband, John
1. We have indoor plumbing again. Thank you, Scooby the Plumber!!!
2. Losing both Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett yesterday felt like leaving behind a piece of my high school and college years.
3. This week, I received a beautiful series of photos from a school in Massachusetts that had done RULES as a play. So awesome to see kids acting on stage as Catherine and David and Jason, and even Dad wearing his white lab coat. Thank you for the photos, Holten Richmond Middle School.
4. Yesterday, the sun finally came out. We have had sheeting rain for nearly a whole week here in Maine. "What's that?" people joked with me as we looked up at the sun together.
5. Tomorrow I'm heading way out west, , , ,to New York!
Really, when you live in Maine, just about everything is west! I'm going on a writing retreat on the shores of Lake Champlain. So today, I'm printing off my book to do a whole-book read-through and looking up directions, etc. I'll be home Wednesday. The retreat ends Tuesday, but I'm going to stop on my way home to see Holly, a Texas librarian friend who summers in New Hampshire. Current Mood: hanging in there | | Wednesday, June 24th, 2009 | | 6:05 am |
Getting Through and Getting By
photo by my husband, John
The floor is being laid in our bathroom today. We have probably 3-4 more days of work before everything will be done. My family has made it through this, but it will be soooo nice to have this all finished and our lives feeling more normal again.
Yesterday, I did a phone call with a middle school in Dover, NY. They had chosen RULES for a "One Book/One School" program, so the entire school was in the auditorium on the other end of the line. The had planned a full day of activities centered around the book, and my call was one of the events of the day.
It was a little surreal to be answering the students' thoughtful questions while the carpenters were walking around me and behind me and passing me notes, etc.
 Current Mood:  worn | | Monday, June 22nd, 2009 | | 2:12 pm |
From My Mail. . .
Here are some funny and thoughtful lines from some of the kids' letters I answered today.
I thought Melissa would have come home in the end, but it turns out that she didn't. If there was a sequel, would Melissa ever come home? --Bethany
What is your favorite animal? Mine is a monkey. --Molly
I have RULES right here next to me, just waiting to be opened again. --April
I like to read but I am also picky about the books I do read. --Gianna
Catherine taught Jason many things, but he taught her a lot of things, too. --Carson
I'm really looking foward to your new book "Hot Red Master!" --Sarah (I think this is a case of spellchecker "correcting" words for her :-) Hot Red Master would be a verrrrry different kind of book!)
Your book RULES gave me a happy, good feeling inside. --Sophie
Have you ever thought about writing another book? --Emma
Do you remember writing the book RULES? Well, I remember reading it, and that’s why I’m writing to you. Read on, if you want to read about my experience with RULES. --Nathaniel
I have only one, only ONE, friend that is actually interested in my brother and is not just another person who stares at him. --Jessica (who has a brother with autism)
Current Mood:  hopeful | | Sunday, June 21st, 2009 | | 9:17 am |
Happy Father's Day
It is admirable for a man to take his son fishing, but there is a special place in heaven for the father who takes his daughter shopping. -- John Sinor
This quote reminds me of all those times my dad drove my mom, sister, and me to the mall when I was growing up. He would give us a time to meet (then we would bargain with him until he gave in, adding an hour to it). He'd go to Radio Shack and then sit in the car and wait for us--for hours.
Thank you, Daddy. For showing us how much we mattered to you through a lifetime of little and big moments at home, in the world, and even at the mall.
Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there. Current Mood: good | | Saturday, June 20th, 2009 | | 5:55 am |
Six Things on a Saturday
Milo meets The King (in 2007)
1. My son's room is done. Thank you for your kind comments.That ripping-away and tearing-down stage of renovation was incredibly stressful. John said to me last night, "Oh, yeah. This is why we haven't done this before now." It was such a help to read your comments.
My husband and daughter did a beautiful job on my son's room--the deep blue paint that my son picked looks less childish than the powder blue he had before, and the new rug and floor are lovely. But when I brought my son home, I held my breath. He's never subtle, and I sooo wanted him to like it.
When he stepped into the room, he smiled. My son has a nutcracker collection, and my daughter had taken "The King"--the biggest and ugliest of his collection (and my son's favorite!)--and set him on the bureau to be the first thing my son saw as he stepped into the room. The King held a sign that said, "Welcome Home."
I don't know if my son saw the deep love in that gesture from his sister. But I did.
Julia laying down the floor
2. The bathroom, on the other hand, has a whole week left of renovation. The tub unit is installed, and we do have a ceiling and most of the walls. It'll look better with each step now--which is a happy corner to turn.
3. The other night when Julia and I were watching "So You Think You Can Dance?" she said, "I think Lil' C is the Nietzsche of the dance world." So true. We heard that comment about birth twice, and I still don't know what he was talking about.
4. I was very inspired by this Pennsylvania newspaper article about Megan Bone, a teen who won a Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest award bestowed on Girl Scouts between the ages of 14 and 18. Megan created curriculum to be used in her local elementary schools to teach about special needs. RULES was one of the two books that she based her lessons around.
5. It's my birthday!
6. A huge thank you to ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) kporterbooks. Kaelyn agreed to read and comment on my next novel, TOUCH BLUE, because it has foster care as one element of the story. Her comments not only strengthened the book-- they strengthened me.
Thank you also to anom3. Mona asked her daughter's fiance, a lobsterman, to read it for me for those details. I'm getting it ready for him, Mona.
The Internet, for all its imperfections, has been such a blessing to me. It has brought so many talented and good-hearted people into my life. That's the best birthday present I could ever have, right there. Current Mood: working | | Thursday, June 18th, 2009 | | 6:09 am |
Day Two Down
 One of the many diagnostic markers for autism is needing "sameness and routine" to a greater degree than most people. My son has come far, but that aspect of him is more than just a behavior--it's part of who he is.
We've put off doing this bathroom renovation for years, but there comes a point of knowing it may never be easier. So there's that line: either do it or don't, but stop waiting.
My husband and I thought that it would be easiest all around to rent a hotel room the first several days and simply move my son out of the house with one of us. And since we were doing that, we'd repaint and refloor my son's room at the same time. We figured if he wasn't home to see it, it would be easier on him.
Well, my son heard John and me talking at the beginning of the week about throwing away the old bathroom tub, sink, etc. and somehow he thought that meant everything in his room was also being thrown away. He was so upset yesterday that I finally had to bring him home and show him the baskets of his DVDs and books and his mattress (currently in our kitchen!) to console him.
His room is all painted now, and my husband and daughter are putting in the floor today and then putting back all his things (except his most-special things. I thought maybe he'd like to bring those into his new room himself--and return some power to him in the process).
My son also saw the bathroom while we were home. The room is gutted at the moment--stripped down to the beams. It'll be lovely when it's done, but right now, it looks like the inside of a barn! Me, ever the cheery, don't-worry-I'll-fix-everything mom, said something like, "Oh, it'll be so beautiful when it's finished!" blah, blah, blah.
He didn't say a word until we were quiet together, driving back to the hotel. "The house is sick," he said sadly--not really to me, just as a fact.
I felt guilty. Why can't I let my kids feel badly about things--I have to immediately gloss it over fast with "comfort." I shut my mouth and let him feel his sadness. He needed it.
Two days down and counting. Current Mood:  tired | | Wednesday, June 17th, 2009 | | 5:30 am |
We Survived Day One
of our bathroom remodel! Thank you so much for all your good wishes yesterday. It's just something to get through--that's my attitude. The end result will be worth it, I know. As my main character says in TOUCH BLUE . . . sometimes you have to make things worse in order to make them better.
Our house was built during WWI. When we redid the living room several years ago, we found our local paper had been originally used to insulate the walls. It was both interesting and sobering to read the pages we could salvage. Among the funny ads and low 1910's prices, there were long lists of war dead.
So it shouldn't be surprising that our bathroom held a few pages, too. This time, though, it was the Boston Globe.
New Bungalow: $335. :-) It's fun to get these little peeks at the world our house was "born" into. Current Mood:  curious | | Tuesday, June 16th, 2009 | | 3:24 am |
This Week
We are having our bathroom remodeled. Mathematically, it looks like this:
1 small yappy dog + 1 teenager with autism + Dana the bathroom guy and Scooby the plumber (I kid you not) - running water = Where's the Ibuprofen?
So here's what's going to get me through the week: fuzzy, cute animals.
Current Mood: tired already | | Sunday, June 14th, 2009 | | 9:55 am |
Home from Camp
I spent yesterday with writer friends at Tamra Wight's beautiful campground in Poland Spring, Maine (yes, the bottled water town!). It was wonderful day in a gorgeous place.
My camera is still off being fixed so imagine blue skies, impossibly tall pine trees, funny chipmunks and red squirrels darting across the dirt roads, and baby eagles high in a tree in the middle of the lake.
And the best part: good friends.
(photo stolen from Mona's blog!)
Denise Ortakales, Jo Knowles, Tamra Wight, Cindy Faughnan, Alex Wight, Mona Pease, and me. Current Mood:  content | | Friday, June 12th, 2009 | | 4:01 am |
What the DHL Man Brought
 My F&Gs came for HOT ROD HAMSTER (Scholastic, February 2010) yesterday. So I sat down and read the book to the only two-year-old I have at my house! Milo gave it a paws up.
 "I can't believe I get to have my name on this," I said to Julia. As an author who is not an illustrator, it is both startling and amazing to see words and characters come to visual life like this.
Very, very cool.
Current Mood: cheerful |
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Congratulations! It's a bouncing book-baby!
I showed HOT ROD HAMSTER, both at my retreat and to Holly. Holly said she would buy it for her middle school library, and when I expressed surprise that she had picture books in her library, she told me about a wonderful program she and her co-librarian, Ruth, do at their school. 
