Sharon Creech's Blog, page 15

So:it looks like we aremovingtoMaine!xx

So:
it looks like we aremovingtoMaine
!
xx

Judy Blume

A pause todayto salutethe one and only
Judy Blume
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Step Into My Garden . . .

Step into the gardenof the bookand see what lies within . . .
I really love looking at the beginnings of books (and this is not the first time on this blog), fascinated by the variety of styles and tones that greet you there. Some entice, some frighten, some bore, some beckon, some puzzle . . .
Here are a few beginnings pulled from books at hand, chosen randomly:
"I thought I'd been to Africa. Told all my class I had."     --Small Island, Andrea Levy
"Our house is old, and noisy, and full."     --Life Among the Savages, Shirley Jackson
"When the MS Irish Oak sailed from Cork in October 1949, we expected to be in New York City in a week."     --'Tis, Frank McCourt
"On a time there lived a king and a queen in Erin, and they had an only son."     --Myths and Folk Tales of Ireland, Jeremiah Curtin
"The candleflame and the image of the candleflame caught in the pierglass twisted and righted when he entered the hall and again when he shut the door."    --All the Pretty Horses, Cormac McCarthy
"The old bus is a city reject. After shaking in it for twelve hours on the potholed highway since early morning, you arrive in this mountain county town in the South."     --Soul Mountain, Gao Xingjian
Would any of these entice you in? Are you able to choose a favorite and a least-favorite among them?
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Other Writers Websites

On this Thursday late in August, I offer you the inspiration of two other writers.  (Clicking on their names takes you to their websites.) 

Lois Lowry:
Her newest book, Son, extends The Giver trilogy to a quartet.

Eoin Colfer:
Colfer's latest book is Artemis Fowl and the Last Guardian. Although I have not yet read Colfer's books, I've been on two panels with him and am completely charmed by his wit.

Any author websites you particularly enjoy?

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Connections

I am fascinated by connectionsby seeming coincidencesby intricate designand serendipity

You pass a window and seetwo silhouetted figures
You don't know that they grew up inthe house you now live in


You watch a young girl climb a towerand admire her dexterity
You don't know that she is the daughterof the woman who will be your boss


In a diner you see four men on stools
You don't know thatone was  your high school math teacherwho advised you to hang out witha better crowd

You see boats bobbing in a harbor
You don't know that one of thembelongs to the boy (or girl)you had a crush on in third grade

You stop and photograph a jewel box of a house
You don't know that the owner isthe grandson of a famous painterand that one dayhe will marry your granddaughter

As the narrator of The Great Unexpected asks:
"Did a delicate cobweb link us all, silky lines trailing through the air?"
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Real or Not Real?

Usually a book begs to be written when several ideas clump together. Yes, I wanted to write a story about how the unexpected could be great (see earlier post), but also I'd been thinking a lot about the importance of story and imagination and the beautiful wildness and freedom of children's imaginations.
I thought about two conversations I'd overheard between my grandchildren and their parents (these are also reprinted in the preface to The Great Unexpected):
Father:  Did you brush your teeth?Son:  Yes.Father:  Really?Son:  Yes.Father: Tell me the truth.Son:  What is 'truth'?
-and -
Daughter:  I'm going to be a dolphin.Mother:  Is that so?Daughter:  Yes. I will live in the ocean.Mother:  For real?Daughter:  What is 'real'?

I loved those conversations. I loved being reminded that 'truth' and 'reality' are learned labels.  When we are young – or when we are writing a story – characters are as vivid as 'real' people. Reality and fantasy, past and present and future all dwell easily together. 


I wanted to explore those blurred regions.  Maybe I dance around the edges of these regions in many of my books (Fishing in the Air and  Replay come first to mind here), but in The Great Unexpected, I took these notions up (or down?) one more level.

(One young reader diving in . . .)
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Something Great and Unexpected

In a school a few years ago, when I was introducing The Unfinished Angel, I asked the students to imagine discovering "something unexpected."  I was going to refer to the character in that book who discovers an angel living in a tower.

But as soon as I said the word unexpected, the audience collectively shrank back in their seats. They looked fearful and anxious. That surprised and bothered me.  When had the unexpected become something to be feared?

I thought about this for some time. I wanted to write a story in which the unexpected was something great, something that might alter someone's feelings about the unexpected. Perhaps, then, that person's whole view of the future might also be altered.

That was the central impetus for this newest book, The Great Unexpected:


I've had my own great and unexpected event:  a call one cold, gray February day in 1995 when I was home alone in England, ready to throw a manuscript-in-progress out the window.

The phone rang.  "Walk Two Moons has received the Newbery Medal."

"Cut it out, Tom,"  I said. (I thought it was my brother playing a joke.)

Shortly thereafter, my publisher phoned. I asked her how many of these medals were awarded each year?  "500? 300? 100?"

There was a long pause while she, no doubt, considered my ignorance.  At last, she said, "One, Sharon. One."


I can assure you that this was completely unexpected–and very, very great. . . and it took me a long, long while to believe that it was okay to accept this good fortune.

Other Writers' Blogs and Websites

I love to hear what other writers have to say on their blogs and websites.  Every now and then I'll highlight some here.

For today, here are three writers whose works I admire and who offer thoughtful, interesting, insightful posts on writing and life. (Click on their names for links.)

Karen Hesse
Karen Hesse's blog is new. She and I both like to offer you photos with our words . . . or words with our photos. . .  Safekeeping is her newest book, due out mid-September, and it's another Hesse gem.
Kate DiCamillo
Clicking on her name above leads you to Kate's official Facebook page, containing touching bloggish posts. She has another lively Bink & Golly book out, Two for One. Try her website, too.
Karen Cushman
Clicking on her name (above) leads you to her website, but also check out her Facebook page, with its nice bloggish posts. Her newest book, Will Sparrow's Road, will be published in November.
Love these writers!
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Drafts

Above:three years of worksix draftsof one book:The Great Unexpected
(due out 4 September)
By the timeI reach this phaseit's a bit like having been pregnantfor ten monthsmaybe eleven
and I am thinkingI did the best I could doI love itbutGET IT OUTTA HERE!
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Still Got It

Purging bookshelvesI came across a keeper:
Honey, I Love and other love poemsby Eloise Greenfield(HarperCollins, 1978)
In it is one of my favorite poems:
Things
Went to the cornerWalked in the storeBought me some candyAin't got it no moreAin't got it no more
Went to the beachPlayed on the shoreBuilt me a sandhouseAin't got it no moreAin't got it no more
Went to the kitchenLay down on the floorMade me a poemStill got itStill got it
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