Marcia Thornton Jones's Blog, page 39

Challenge Accepted

 

The question posed for this discussion is what “unobtainable gift” would you hope to receive? I’ve talked about my writing process as a writer of historical fiction for young readers. There are a few additional factors I need to keep track of that goes beyond having authentic artifacts and noting the correct years. It means that I need to integrate appropriate social constructs, and psychological authenticity that dominated the era, and illustrate the emotional connection between youth from 200 years ago to today (because being human doesn’t change, even if times change). And then translate this into experiences that young readers can connect to. It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the details. It’s also easy to get frustrated when I can’t seem to “get it right” – whatever that means. And sometimes, my brain just quits working altogether.  Especially during finals week.

As William Kenower, in his book Fearless Writing (Writers Digest Books, 2017), reminds us, self-doubt runs rampant in creative work because of the nature of the creative. The reality is, if one has any aspirations to be a published writer, they need the validation of others. This validation comes in the form of good reviews, awards, contracts. Not only this, writers need to write for the reader, taking into account how the reader approaches the text. Which means, by implication, writers need to write for others, not themselves. But writing, as a process, often stems from a very personal, even emotional understanding of the narrative.  It's the oxymoron of writing.

And when it doesn't work, when a writer doesn't get the validation, it becomes an exercise in self-flagellation. The rejection feels personal. 

The reality is, the business of writing is the most impersonal place, more so that other businesses. It's exceptionally transitory: editors are constantly leaving, publishing houses are merging and collapsing. New houses rise up out of the ashes. The internet, and the popularity of self-publishing, complicates the business all the more.

Working in the creative makes it more challenging because, unlike science and other industries, there are no rules to follow.  One plus one always equals two, but writers dwell in the abstract.  Market analysis reveals some things that work effectively: understanding tropes that define each genre, understanding the audience, and so on. But even then, there are exceptions. And trends are always shifting. Some writers do everything right, and never get published. Others break every rule and get a six-figure deal.

Ultimately, it becomes a matter of faith. Sometimes you can't predict the outcome, but you need to have faith in your story. Sometimes you need to be reminded to keep the faith.

One of my favorite writers and bloggers – Yvonne Ventresca – belongs to the Insecure Writer’s Support Group.  According to their mission statement: The Insecure Writer’s Support Group is a website media business, a home for writers in all stages, from unpublished to bestsellers. The IWSG offers support for writers overcome their insecurities, and by offering encouragement, they are creating a community of support.

 

Founder Alex J. Cavanaugh noticed a lot of blog posts from writers mentioning their doubts, concerns, and lack of confidence. He also saw the positive replies they received and realized that the writing community offered an abundance of support. Alex launched the monthly blog posting in 2011, and has been hosting monthly blog tours ever since, with participants often numbering over 100.

So the question becomes: what unobtainable gift do you hope to receive? Perhaps it’s not so much unobtainable, as it is a magnificent challenge. Or perhaps it’s just plain madness.

 

“It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger they were. And sometimes you didn't want to know the end… because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it’s only a passing thing… this shadow. Even darkness must pass.” -- J.R.R. Tolkien, The Two Towers (The Lord of the Rings, #2)

 -- Bobbi Miller

An impossible-to-receive gift -- by Jennifer Mitchell

 

I dream of a place where my students all accept each other

Not based on anything more than being kind to one another

Differences are celebrated and encouraged

Hate and judgment are discouraged

I want all of my students to feel care

With the willingness to continue to share

They are the future of progression

With this hopefully the world would gain a great lesson 

I dream of a place where my students all accept each other

Not based on anything more than being kind to one another

Jennifer Mitchell -- 3rd grade teacher in the Kansas City Area

An Impossible Gift by Darlene Beck Jacobson

 As I thought about this month's theme and those gifts that we take for granted or dismiss as impossible to achieve, I offer you all my own impossible gift.

                                                        MY GIFT TO YOU

                        Joy and laughter to keep and to share

                        Someone to wipe your tears when sadness and grief pay a visit

                        A hand to hold 

                        A hug when you need it and when it needs to be given

                        Time to slow down and listen to the voices that cry out in need

                        Kindness given and received

                        Gratitude for home, food, love, family

                        Enough to share

                        Companionship so you ever feel alone

                        Peace of mind and heart that spreads, reaching out

to touch those who long for a peace of their own

                        Health in abundance

                        To be a light that shines in the darkness

 

 

                   As Tiny Tim said in A CHRISTMAS CAROL: "God bless us, everyone."

                         

        Darlene Beck Jacobson believes that the best gifts are the ones that can't be wrapped and feels grateful to have those gifts in abundance.                

                        

The Gift Which Could Keep Giving by Jody Feldman

We’ve been asked what unobtainable gift would you want to receive. So far, you may have read about some wonderfully lofty and beautifully altruistic ideas. There’s also peace on earth. Universal acceptance of and support for libraries and librarians. To be ruler of the Milky Way. (Nah. Too much trouble.) All are perfectly perfect. 

And yet there's another way to answer this, to wish for obtainable things that require more money than I can comprehend. Everything has a price, they say. 

No, it's not ballooning. Just blue-skying it.
So, that's the road I'm taking today. But as I sit here, blue skying it, I'm debating between two things. *tick tick tick* Still deciding. *tick tick--

Solution!
Owning one thing might give me so much more.
Ready for it?

An NFL team. Yes, as in football. 

I’ve loved the game ever since that hot September day when I was three years old and our air conditioning went out. I lay spread eagle on my parents’ bed to cool off, their small TV tuned to a bunch of people running around on wide expanse of grass. Many of them had these towers on the sides of their strange hats, whatever they were. I didn’t know. But I did know I was drawn to the criss-cross design which turned out to be oil derricks on the side of the Houston Oilers helmets. I’ve followed football ever since.

So, I want an NFL team. But why that instead of my second choice, one or two of my favorite Renoir paintings? Simple.

If I owned an NFL team, a guaranteed mega moneymaker, I could afford nearly anything I wanted. Maybe not peace on earth but, ah, those libraries...

Jody Feldman covets many of the Renoir painting she's seen in Paris, Chicago, New York, and where she lives in St. Louis. She needs to get herself to The Barnes in Philadelphia which, she understands, has a sizable collection, including works by other favorite artists. She's pictured here, at the Musee de Montmartre, in a set of gardens dedicated to Renoir.

A GIFT NO ONE CAN GIVE ME -- by Jane Kelley

What gift do I want this holiday season? I can’t answer that question. I never can. I’m no help at all to those who draw my name in the family gift exchange. Unless maybe another pair of socks?

But I do know what I want that no one can give me.

A sense of purpose.

As Mark Twain said, “The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.”

Why is that why so important? It's reassuring to know what direction we should take. It's even more reassuring to know that there is a direction. That what we do matters.

I didn’t find my purpose until I was in my 40s. I wasn’t exactly aimlessly wandering through those earlier decades. But I was spending a lot of time focusing on what other people wanted me to be. Or what I thought other people wanted me to be. I wasn't thinking about what I should do. What I did well. What would be a contribution to the world.

I wish I could say that the insight came to me in this firelight ceremony on the shores of Lake Michigan. Like a bolt from the heavens.

 

A sense of purpose cannot be bestowed. Many people would benefit from having one. I can't give it to them. They must find it for themselves. As I did. Eventually I realized I had stories to tell about persistence and kindness and feeling connected to the web of life. More importantly I decided to tell those stories to someone––instead of for myself.

So if I have a purpose, why would I like this gift?

Well, sadly, life takes a toll. Purpose isn’t a shield. I'm not immune to doubts, to despair, to dismay. They creep inside and bruise my inner core. So yes please, I would very much like to get my purpose replenished.

Hey – just writing this blog reminded me of what I need and what I have! Thanks!

“That is happiness; to be dissolved into something complete and great.” -Willa Cather

 

Jane Kelley is inspired by long walks on the shore of Lake Michigan -- and the opportunity to keep writing humorous adventures for kids.

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You Can Write Your Story (Guest Post by Anne Peters, Author of The Dragon Who Would Be King)

Imagine there is a magical world where a dragon is raised by an owl. Now, imagine that the dragon spends most of his childhood thinking that he is an owl, only to find out that he is a dragon. Not only that, but the dragon learns the he is apart of an ancient prophecy that states that he, with the help of a human, must rise up and save his beloved world from the clutches of an evil sorcerer. Intrigued? If so, read on.

 

This is a part of the basis of my fanciful story, “The Dragon Who Would Be King.” Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Anne Peters. And I’m visually impaired. Although, I prefer the term alternately enabled. You are probably wondering, “how can someone with a visual impairment, who has a full time job, write a book?” Well, let me shed some light on that subject. First of all, writing a book is hard work. But anyone can do it. It doesn’t matter whether you have a disability or not. The trick is not to give up. You have to be dedicated. Think of writing a book as your second job. This book took me two years to write and eight months to edit, format, and publish. I would brainstorm during the week. Then I would write on the weekends. My message to all the would-be writers out there is this: if you have a story to tell, start writing now. Don’t let anything, or anyone, hold you back.

 

Now, let’s get back to this wonderful tale. The “human” that I referred to earlier eventually becomes visually impaired and must find a way to adapt and fulfill, with the assistance of the dragon, the prophecy. I did this to illustrate that people with disabilities can do amazing things if only given the chance. Also, I value teamwork. I have always wanted to write a fantasy book for kids. Furthermore, I think it’s important to keep teaching our children about issues such as Disability Rights. I could go on, but I do not want to deprive anyone of the pleasure of reading my book. You can find it on Amazon and Apple Books. Happy reading!

Anne Peters

 

Amazon

Paperback and Hardback:

The Dragon Who Would Be King https://www.amazon.com/dp/1955901058/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_3ZTZNK5G99K5P1MJZEYX

 

Kindle and Audiobook:

Amazon.com https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BKFS174B?ref_=cm_sw_r_apin_ts_KG95HBKN44JYGHNF6JA3

 

Apple Books:

https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAudiobook?id=1651465859

 

A Wish for the World by Irene Latham

 This month we've been invited to answer the question:

What impossible-to-receive gift do you wish you could be bestowed on you?

My first thought: free books forever!

But then I remembered: LIBRARIES already make this possible!

My next thought was of a poem I wrote a few years back. It's an "impossible to receive gift," because it can't just happen; we—all of us—must do the work to make it happen.

Mending

And this is how

we shall remake

the world:

like a seamstress

with pins in her mouth,

steady fingers

coaxing thread,

a hum forever

in her throat

as stitch by stitch,

the fabric is fitted,

                   gathered—

until what was once tattered

now dances across the floor.

- Irene Latham

...and here's a middle grade novel you simply must read, because it's beautiful, and because it provides a way to do this work, through the process of restorative justice. And it was just awarded the NCTE Charlotte Huck Award for Outstanding Fiction! WAYWARD CREATURES by Dayna Lorentz.

Thank you for reading this post. Wishing you the happiest of holidays! ❤️

Time and Time Again

 

Time and Time Again

 

If I could choose an impossible-to-receive gift for myself during the holiday season, it would be the gift of an extra hour in each day. More time to get my work done, attend to my various family members, and focus on my writing.

 

Let’s say I’m sitting here at my desk, trying to write something—about time. So I Google famous quotes about time, and come up with one by John F. Kennedy: “We must use time as a tool, not as a crutch.” Which kind of makes sense. Manage your time, don’t procrastinate. Or something like that. But, oddly, some of the references to this quote say, “We must use time as a tool, not as a couch.” And then I do more Googling to find out which one is correct, and fail to figure it out, and then I spend time thinking about why a couch? Is the idea to use time wisely rather than spend it sleeping on a couch? And then I think that “crutch” makes more sense than “couch.” But by that point, I’ve wasted huge amounts of time.

 

Then there’s this quote from Jean-Paul Sartre: “Three o’clock is always too late or too early for anything you want to do.” And I look at the list of things I still need to do today. Fortunately, it’s not three o’clock, it’s almost ten o’clock. In the morning. And I wonder if it’s possible to get everything on the list done before it’s already tomorrow.

 

Perhaps I need a stern talking-to, from none other than Benjamin Franklin: “You may delay, but time will not.” Thank you, Ben. I will keep this in mind as I doom-scroll through various websites, reading about terrible things going on all over the world. I can spend hours doing this, before realizing that time does not delay and if I want to go to bed before midnight, I need to stop delaying. At once.

 

December can be a productive month! So I will plunge in, count my blessings, and enjoy the moment!

 

--Deborah Kalb

 

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Back in My Day... A Vet's Stories

 By Charlotte Bennardo

My dad was a Navy vet, but while I admired his military service, it was his years of working in Grumman's, an aerospace firm, that inspired me. He worked on the Lunar Module, that part of the Apollo spacecraft that took the astronauts to the surface of the moon and then back to the Command Module that flew them back to Earth. 

I listened to stories of the people he met- all the astronauts from the beginning of the space program- the Gemini, Mercury, and Apollo programs like John Glenn, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Gus Grissom among others; stories about late nights trying to fix or finish the space craft because of launch dates, and hopes of where the space program would go. This fueled my imagination about What's Out There... And is the basis for why I write speculative fiction (sci fi, fantasy, paranormal, horror). I've written magazine articles interviewing Dr. Edgar Mitchell (Apollo 14) and about the space junk orbiting our planet. I have the start of a sci fi series, and am an avid follower of NASA to follow not only the Mars, Artemis, and other missions, but to glean ideas for my stories. 

So thanks for the "back in my day" stories, Dad. I'm putting them to good use. 

Charlotte writes MG, YA, NA, and adult novels in sci fi, fantasy, contemporary, and paranormal genres. She is the author of the award-winning middle grade Evolution Revolution trilogy, Simple Machines, Simple Plans, and Simple Lessons. She co-authored the YA novels Blonde OPS, Sirenz, and Sirenz Back in Fashion. She has two short stories in the Beware the Little White Rabbit (Alice through the Wormhole) and Scare Me to Sleep (Faces in the Wood) anthologies. Currently she is working on several novels for both children and adults, and her MFA. She lives in NJ with her family and her floofy cat. When they trimmed the backyard tree, the crazy squirrel couple had to move out.

The First Publishing Vet (Holly Schindler)

 

Not the first vet ever, but the first I bumped into. 

Here's how it all started:

I needed a blurb.

In early 2009, my first book, a YA, was acquired by a pub house. (Finally! After 7 years of submitting! A real contract! A book!) I knew no one, really. And now I needed to get out there and ask a bunch of strangers for a quote for the cover?

Sure. 

I waded out into the request waters, getting in touch with some of my favorite YA authors working in the same subgenre (contemporary). They'd all been in similar places, and they were certainly all gracious. But one pretty much made my year.

Catherine Ryan Hyde agreed to read A Blue So Dark, with the expected stipulations (might not get to it, might not finish in time, might not want to blurb). I agreed to all of it--all I could ask for was a shot. 

When she'd finished, she sent me an email that basically said, I read it. It's really good. And said she was working on the blurb. 

At the time, I thought: That's perfect for me: "I read it. It's really good."--Catherine Ryan Hyde.

But it didn't stop there. We've been in touch ever since. I've always been able to shoot her questions--I talked to her when I felt I needed to leave an agent but wasn't sure how to approach it. I talked to her about the ins and outs of indie publishing. I've always known I can reach out and she'll have sharp insight. 

It stuck with me, how kind and open she'd always been to me. Now, more than a decade later, I'm always sure to share my own experience, if it can be of help to a newer author. 

Hopefully, a decade down the road, that author will be providing the same kind of help...

~

Holly Schindler is the author of  books for readers of all ages. Her MG, The Junction of Sunshine and Lucy, was the Master List Finalist for her home state of Missouri's Mark Twain Award.