Sharon Creech's Blog, page 37

A Walk in England

One of my daily walks here in England is a circuit of the TASIS school's campus.  Here's a little commentary with it:

Spooky Cupboard/Chalice (6) is back. . .

Oh boy, the spookiness is back at Casa Creech. . .
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Taking a Break . . .

I saw signs like this one, "Sono in giardino" ("I'm in the garden"), in a village in southern Switzerland. Hung on an outside door, it directed visitors around the back to the garden, where the owner was puttering or reclining. I found this sign in the local Migros there and brought it home to use, most often, on my office door.

When I use it, it usually means I am taking a break--maybe in the giardino, maybe elsewhere.  Oddly, though, I also use it to mean the opposite:  'I'm working; don't ...

Fine, Fine Young Readers

I rarely have the chance to catch readers in the act of reading one of my books, so these two photographs are treasures. The girls are triplets.

Spooky Cupboard 5x

Aye yie yie. The tiny silver chalice, first discovered in a spooky cupboard in England, has now reappeared in North Carolina. . .

Simple Complexity: Inspiration

Objects or scenes that appear simple often reveal hidden complexity. I think this is what first draws me into a story--not a complex idea, but something so pure and simple that it haunts and engages the mind.

The above scene, for instance, is merely a hallway with afternoon light flirting with the wall and door. I'm drawn to this sight. I like that contrast of light and shadow, and I'm intrigued by the fleeting nature of that particular pattern of light. Can I capture an instant, can I underst...

The Colors of a Draft

I use pastel colored paper for manuscript drafts; it feels more tentative and fluid than white. It also gives me a visual record of when parts of a draft were done.

In the above stack, the gold pages (approximately 100) were written between May-July, 2009. The blue were written between August-December, 2009 (only about 30 pages because I was on book tour and in England during that time.) The green pages are the most recent (about 100), written in my recent immersion in North Carolina.

I'm not ...

Moss and the Brain

I'm in North Carolina right now, immersed in writing the newest book. The photo above is from nearby Orton Plantation, and I've chosen it today because it reflects the state of my mind as I trek through this first draft. I can only see a little way ahead each day; I wish I knew what was at the end of the path, but I don't. All around is a sea of mossy strands, threatening to overtake. Enticing red flowers tempt me off the path. Do I go there?  Or stay on the path?

Or lie down and take a nap?  Mm?

The Unfinished Angel scene: The Nature of Signora Divino

Today, one more reading from The Unfinished Angel.  Sometimes the Angel throws pine cones at Signora Divino and her grandson Vinny.  Sometimes the Angel pinches them a little. In this scene, the Angel explains why.

This is the last scene I'll read from this book.  Probably.

Video clip

THE UNFINISHED ANGEL: dedication

Sometimes I know early on in the writing process to whom the final book will be dedicated; sometimes I don't know until the book is ready to be printed.  I had thought that I would dedicate The Unfinished Angel to my granddaughter Pearl, who inspired this book when she told me her first story: "Once upon a time in Spain there was an angel, and the angel was me."

But then, in January, 2009, when I was about to finalize the dedication page, four people dear to me died within a span of three week...