Rockin' the Drop Today!

Oh no, I'm way behind in spreading the word about this year's Operation Teen Book Drop (please click over to get details about this phenomenal annual literacy-boosting event), but I have not forgotten!

Today — April 15 — is the day to participate. All you have to do is "drop" a YA book in a spot where kids tend to gather. (In past years I've dropped at a coffee shop and a library.) Pick a book you love, or a book you wrote (loving that one is, of course, a given). Think of it as your gift to a young reader, your gift to literacy. And be sure to print and insert the special TBD bookplate so anyone finding your surprise knows about the event — and that the book is his/hers to keep and enjoy.

Later today I'm dropping a few copies of my own books at Echo Lake Elementary School in Shoreline, WA. I'm Writer in Residence in the Grade 6 classrooms this spring, and I know there are lots of readers at the school who would LOVE to come across a little surprise. Plus, the school starts its Spring Break this weekend, so surely kids are looking for something to do! (Right?)

New Picture Book Series Coming Soon!

Early last year I wrote (and blogged about doing so) a six-title picture book series for Magic Wagon Books based on the theme of community. Finally, the series has a ballpark release date of September 2010!

Funny thing is, I only know this because I saw that the books had been added to Amazon. That means they have ISBNs and everything. Oh, and final-final titles, too, all under the series name Let's Be Social:

• Make Friends
• Family Gatherings
• Go to School
• Go Worship
• Join a Team
• Meet Your Neighborhood

Wish I had covers or other illustration samples to share, but right now I'm just excited to know that the books are, in fact, coming soon. This was a challenging project for me — six books in six weeks — but I had lots of fun working on it.

More later, of course!

Mining the Shamrock Shake Incident for Emotionally Authentic Gold

Now that I know I'm Irish (or partly so), I feel obligated to observe Saint Patrick's Day in some small way. So before I shut down my computer for the night, I thought I'd record a holiday-themed memory that I could easily mine to help with characterization. In other words, I might someday use the personal memory as fodder for crafting some unknown future story character's attitude or behavior or something. I think of it as sneaking my life into my writing.

The following scenario — or something like it — played out when I was around 8 or 9, or 10:

Eating at McDonald's was kind of a big deal. We'd go there (rarely!) either for a quick lunch or spontaneous treat. Often, my visits happened while alone with one or the other parent — with my mom on my way back to school after, say, a dental appointment, or with my dad while riding shotgun during his weekend errands. For lunch, I'd order a hamburger with everything but onion, fries, and a small drink. Probably orange soda, sometimes milk. If on a treat stop, I'd score some ice cream or a careful-it's-HOT cherry pie (although I'm not sure they warned as such in the 1970s). Never a shake. Milkshakes gave me the heebie-jeebies back then. I didn't like it when the straw clogged or, when you were almost finished, the dregs became so watery.

But then the Shamrock Shake came onto the scene. It was green and endorsed by leprechauns; I was repulsed yet so very intrigued. Friends who'd had one couldn't describe its flavor to me, but man, did they love it, and apparently they could have as many as they wanted.

Every Shamrock Shake season for a few years in a row, I begged my dad (never my mom) to let me try this thing. Clearly, the incessant radio and TV spots had done their jobs, and I had to have it. Just one shake, for life experience's sake, and I promised never to ask again.

Dad's answer was always no. He said I wouldn't like it. That he had no interest in having to finish it for me — or in throwing it away uneaten. And no way was McDonald's going to sucker him into paying extra for what amounted to a regular shake doctored with green dye offered for a limited time only.

Meanwhile, I was sure he was wrong, frustrated that I had no say, and unable to belieeeeeeve the unfairness of it all.

Well, sometime around year three of my campaign, the two of us were hitting up the drive-thru. We were having such a nice time that, as we slowly rolled ahead in line, I risked stating my case again, but without the begging. I said that it wasn't possible for him to judge whether I'd like it. For one thing, he'd never had one himself, so he technically had no valid opinion. For two things, neither of us even knew what flavor to expect. And what if it turned out to be my favorite treat ever?

He listened to me, shaking his head just a little. And when we stopped at the intercom, he ordered a chocolate cone for himself and then paused to shoot me a wink. To my surprise and with a smile in his voice, he requested the world-famous Shamrock Shake "for my daughter, who's worn me down — and it had better be good."

Sweet victory for me!


As we pulled away from the receiving window, I took two sips of that prized green liquid. One to learn that, whatever the flavor was, it tasted truly awful, and another to confirm that swallowing even a tiny bit more of the stuff made me want to vomit.

Dad noted my reaction, stopped the car, and tasted the shake. Blechh!! (Artificial and undrinkable!) He circled back to buy me a vanilla cone and stuffed the shake into a garbage can. (Wasteful! And previously unthinkable!)

Of course the two of us laughed and laughed. This experience would be our secret for at least the length of the car ride home.

I was just a youngster, but that day — within maybe a 30-minute span — I experienced a slew of very real emotions. Just think: I was indignant about my right to try the shake and find out what I thought, incredulous that Dad thought he knew best about this, and impressed that he'd accurately predicted the situation's outcome. I was also touched that he'd bought me a consolation treat and happy that it had turned into something so fun and funny.

A child character can feel all those things, too, with equal force and in the space of a short story, passage, or even scene. It's sometimes easy as adults who write for kids to get stuck thinking too hard about what young characters and young readers can, or mostly can't, handle. But when we take a moment to step back and consider the children we know and the children we were, we can let go of some of the fear of writing "too old" and get back to telling the story, revealing the character as the action happens. The main objective has to be creating a believable situation. And even though young people are still developing and will get wiser with age and experience, I like to remind myself that they absolutely feel and react to — often with stunning sophistication — real, deep, specific emotions.

For me, staying connected to strong memories from childhood, especially those bound to such distinct emotions, is a huge help when I'm trying to write authentic-sounding kid characters. I grab bits and pieces from the youth I remember every single time I write a new story. And I assume it's only a matter of time before I'll have reason call up those Shamrock Shake emotions to help me convey a character's feelings . . . or a personality trait . . . or one of her relationships. That one memorable incident could even inform the characteristics and actions of several characters in multiple stories.

After all, most of what we write comes from our lives and is rarely crafted out of whole cloth.

What about you — how do you sneak your life into your writing?

Blogging Workshop in Seattle THIS Saturday!

I'd like to extend a not-quite-but-almost-last-minute invitation for any Seattle-area folks to register for a blogging workshop I'm hosting for the Editorial Freelancers Association this Saturday, March 20.

Here's the description from EFA's Spring 2010 course catalog:

Blogging Basics

Saturday, March 20, from 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Seattle Public Library, 1000 4th Ave, Level 4 - PACCAR Room 6

Is your creative spark threatening to go out? Is your freelance business slow? A blog can help you revive them both. Blogging is a free, fun way to get your name out there to a potential audience of millions, and in this 4-hour class you’ll learn everything you need to know to start your own blog in 5 minutes or less. First we’ll look at the “big picture” of blogging, including how it fits into the context of other social networking media like Facebook and Twitter. Then we’ll proceed to the nuts and bolts of how to set one up, how to promote it, and yes — even how to make a little money from it. Laptops are welcome but not required.

Instructor Rebecca Agiewich is the author of BreakupBabe: A Novel (Ballantine Books, 2006), which sprang from her dating blog “Breakup Babe” and was a finalist for the 2007 Lulu Blooker prize — a literary prize for books based on blogs. She is also a writing coach, freelance editor, and journalist, whose travel writing can be found in places like the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and Alaska Airlines Magazine. You can find out more about Rebecca at RebeccaAgiewich.com.

Advance registration is required. The fee for EFA members is $99, and it's $124 for nonmembers. Feel free to pass along this notice — and let me know if you have any questions.

Hope to see you there. I'll be the one with the cookies!

Deadline to Act on Google Book Settlement Is 1/28/10

Authors, publishers, and organizations:

A reminder that Thursday, January 28, is the deadline for you to act regarding the Google Books Settlement. The court needs to have your individual position on the record TOMORROW (a 1/28 postmark works) so it can be represented in the February 18 fairness hearing on the whole deal.

Your options are to (1) opt in and make a claim, possibly getting some money; (2) opt out of the settlement (of course that means no settlement money) in an effort to preserve your rights; or (3) do nothing, which will result in your receiving no settlement money and implicitly giving Google irrevocable rights to use your works in certain ways.

I hope you find this resources roundup helpful:

• Official settlement page.
• Recent webcast/workshop on the settlement, featuring a moderated panel representing various entities and viewpoints.
• Authors Guild resources page.
• National Writers Union FAQs on the issue.
• Statement opposing the settlement from Richard Wright's estate.
• Support for the settlement from the families of John Steinbeck and Woody Guthrie.
• Open Book Alliance's third-party analysis of the settlement. (OBA is calling for the settlement to be scrapped.)
• U.S. Copyright Office opposition to the settlement, as presented to Congress.
• Ursula K. Le Guin's call to exempt the United States from the settlement.
• Informative article in New York Review of Books.
  

This is a complicated issue, and I know people that are opting in, opting out (my choice), formally objecting, and doing nothing.

What are you doing? Care to share?

Tomorrow may be your last chance to act on your opinion.

Want Book Covers to Accurately Reflect Content?

A quickie post to point you toward a petition created by Multiculturalism Rocks blogger Natalie Mvondo, in which supporters let publishers know they want a book cover to accurately depict the actual main character featured in the story.

I recommend cruising to Natalie's January 19 post and following her embedded links to get a good sense of the issue and recent happenings.

Deleting = Revising, Right?

I've been working on a nonfiction book revision all day. So far, all I've really done is delete text. Extra words, sentences, and paragraphs must go.

I'll know more tomorrow (and then even more over the weekend when I read the thing fresh and do another pass to make sure I've covered everything I need to cover). But I'm actually thinking that in this case, the paring of the manuscript may in fact be the revision.

I say deleting counts.

A Thanksgiving Meme

Saw this meme today on Market My Words and decided to play.

(I know, this doesn't really count as a blog post in the traditional sense of blogging about the topic your blog supposedly features. Of course I mention this because I'm feeling a tad guilty about ignoring the blogosphere lately. Then again, as guilt is such THE timelessly classic holiday-time emotion — not to mention very common among writers — I think the meme fits right in! Besides, I will get back to blogging about children's writing and freelancing and freelancing and children's writing soon enough for my two readers.)

1. How will you spend Thanksgiving this year?
I'll be home with my (not-so-)fresh-from-a-biz-trip husband and happy-to-be-in-the-three-pack greyhound. No traveling, no guests. It will be low key and involve little else besides food prep, background jazz, a long neighborhood walk, some quiet conversation, family phone calls, and eating.

2. Will you be cooking, or are you just an eater?
Cooking, always cooking. Then eating.

3. Do you watch the parade or football?
We try to watch some of the parade.

4. What's your favorite float?
I can't think of one that I need to see, but I can do without any floats featuring singing Disney kids. (Is that Scroogey?)

5. Dark meat or white meat?
Yes.

6. What is your favorite dish besides the turkey?
Everything else, and I'm not kidding.

7. Homemade cranberry sauce or sauce from the can?
Homemade. I make either a jalapeno cranberry sauce, a chipotle cranberry sauce, or a citrusy cranberry sauce.

8. Do you decorate for Christmas on Thanksgiving Day?
We do celebrate Christmas at our house, and it's the only holiday for which we decorate. After Thanksgiving dinner (and during cleanup), we begin the process of trying to power through our out-of-control collection of holiday music. Sometimes we'll have enough time to start fetching decorations from the basement closet. If not, though, we'll haul them to the living room on Friday and attempt to distribute all during the coming weekend(s). We regularly fail to carry out the original plan.

9. What are some special holiday traditions?
The whole day I've described is traditional, and special, to us.

10. Pumpkin pie or pecan?
Pumpkin or sweet potato if I'm making it (although this year I'm doing a pumpkin-banana mousse tart); I'll always choose pecan if my mom's hosting.

11. What's your favorite thing to do with the leftovers?
If we've cooked for just us, we'll have two more full dinners (my favorite thing) before using the remaining fixins (my other favorite thing) in sandwiches, "bubble and squeak," soups, and so on.

12. How long do you spend eating your Thanksgiving meal?
A long time. We'll eat and then linger over the wine to stall on the cleanup. Coffee and dessert are served after everything has been put away.

13. Are you worried about putting on weight this Thanksgiving?
No.

14. What do you normally eat at Thanksgiving?
A light, healthy, breakfast. Easy appetizers (antipasto-type stuff) and a cocktail at 2 o'clock or so. The main meal, which we serve in the early evening, includes turkey, gravy, garlic mashed potatoes, a sweet-and-savory sweet potato dish (no marshmallows here), cranberry sauce, roasted brussels sprouts w/garlic and capers, sausage stuffing, dinner rolls, ice water w/lemon, and wine. Pie and coffee a few hours later. Too much?

15. What will you be thankful for this Thanksgiving?
Health and hope.

16. What is your favorite Thanksgiving memory?
I fondly remember our extended family gatherings on both sides of the family. On my dad's side, we celebrated Christmas on Thanksgiving because his parents fled Iowa for their Florida digs as soon as possible after turkey sandwiches. My favorite memory — as it relates to an experience I can draw upon when creating child characters (see how I'm making this "count" just a little?) — is the Thanksgiving-Christmas gift exchange circa 1976. My dearly loved grandmother gave me a Quick Curl Barbie . . . and it took ALL my concentration to both offer a sincere-sounding thank-you during the family show-and-tell and to keep myself from bursting into tears. You see, I fancied myself All Grown Up (I was E.LEV.IN, for cryin' out loud!), and I just about couldn't bear thinking that anyone saw me as childish enough to play with Barbie. It's one of those long-ago scenes I can recall with exacting, slow-mo detail. And I love it!

17 & 18. Will you be waking up early to hit the sales?/Are you planning on going shopping the day after Thanksgiving?
No way. No shopping that day.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Ah, Hemingway Always Has Something to Say

"It's none of their business that you have to learn how to write.
Let them think you were born that way."
—Ernest Hemingway

I have mixed feelings about this one.

On the one hand, I think I was born to write. (Not that I was born a great writer, mind you, just that writing is something I was born needing to do.) Then again, I feel like I'm always fighting that perception that writing doesn't take practice . . . or continued study . . . or work.

Can't argue with Hemingway's sentiment, though. Makes me laugh.

Any thoughts out there?

Writer, Write for Yourself. Or, Trick for Treat?

I'm never not writing, you know. Even when I breeze past this blog every day for weeks without giving it so much as a sidelong glance. Even when I let my pet-project manuscripts languish on my desktop — or worse, in the depths of my iMac's complicated e-filing system.

I'm always writing lists, notes, business emails, personal emails, personal blogs, journal entries, Facebook/Twitter/LinkedIn updates, rough story ideas, and — of course — large word collections (aka articles, texts, and books) commissioned by outside entities (aka paying clients).

The whole writing various things for those outside entities is a good thing. In fact, it's THE thing, isn't it? I can say quite definitively that I do not wish to go without that.

But. I struggle with wanting to make more real time for the writing I want to do just because I want to do it. So today I did something I haven't in a very long time: I signed up for a writing class. A 12-weeker, besides! (Basically, it's an instructor-led critique group, so I'll get to really move on one of my YA novels.) I decided it's worth the investment because it sets me up to succeed in something done purely for myself. Because you'd better believe I will meet goals I've paid to declare.

And that, dear blog readers, is both trick AND treat for me.