Cynthia Lord's Blog, page 35

Five Flags Speedway!

Here's another photo from the state-wide read of Hot Rod Hamster in Florida. 



It was a chance to read the same book that was being read to young children throughout Florida this past week. Hot Rod Hamster wanted to race, but didn’t have a car, or tires or helmet. Sound familiar?

Well as all childhood stories go, he got his hot rod, and won. Hot Rod was portrayed by track General Manager Tim "Hot Rod" Bryant and the narrator was track infield announcer Dave Pavlock.

Our reading was at the Roger Scott Athletic Center in Pensacola while public officials, radio personalities and others read to kids at other centers in the community.

Hot Rod Hamster Coming Through. . . Florida!

At 9:30 yesterday, I read Hot Rod Hamster along with Pre-K classrooms across Florida. Milo is the only 5-year-old at my house so I read it to him!



And later, I was charmed to see these photos of a councilman in Pensacola, Florida reading Hot Rod Hamster to a classroom of four-year-olds.



Pensacola City Councilman Andy Terhaar reads the book "Hot Rod Hamster" to a group of children in Rosie Luxich's 4-year-olds class at Big Lagoon Learning Center Wednesday morning Jan. 16, 2012.

Wordless Wednesday

Swift River, Conway, New Hampshire. Photo by my husband, John

Hot Rod Hamster Coming Through. . . Florida!

All across Florida tomorrow, Pre-K classrooms will be doing a simultaneous reading of Hot Rod Hamster as part of "Celebrate Literacy Week, Florida!"

I'm going to do something special at 9:30 am tomorrow when that reading starts to celebrate the moment, too. I'm not sure what that will be yet, but as an author you can't let these moments slip away. It's a joy to think of all those voices reading my words and looking at Derek Anderson's art and making choices in unison in all those different places.

The photo is the first page of guide they created to go with the program. And the full program is here

Writing Away

I spent last weekend with a group of my writer friends in a house we rented together near Ogunquit, Maine. We had a fun and productive time in a beautiful place. It was warm for January and foggy, but also, very quiet and beautiful.

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On Sunday morning, my friends Val and Mona and I walked down to Perkin's Cove. Val wanted to find some seaglass, so we hunted with her. Do you see the little white seaglass heart in the middle?

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There's a walkway in Ogunquit called "Marginal Way" that goes along the ocean. It was icy, but we went anyway.



We watched the birds diving and floating on the waves and some lobstermen bringing in their catch (and I laughed at the shark painted on the boat behind them).



I love the ocean in winter.



Writing-wise, I finished my whole first draft of the chapter book I had started. I read the first chapter aloud in the evening when we were sharing. The reading level is perfect, but I could hear that my writing voice sounded a little too old. So that's what I'll work on now. 

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It was just what I needed.

Five Things on a Friday

Fryeburg, Maine. Photo by my husband, John

1.  I'm off to spend the weekend with some writer friends today. It'll be so nice to see them and have work time and fun time together.

2.  I'm almost done my first draft of my chapter book. I've found that I really like writing for that age. There's a sweetness to the child and a lightness to the writing that really appeals to me.

3.  My two contracted books are speeding along toward their early 2014 publication dates. My novel editor said she line-edited my draft and didn't think it would take very long for me to address her concerns. And I've seen most of the art for our next Hamster book and it's adorable. 

So yesterday, I felt the switch flip inside me for both of these books. They're changing from being something I'm working on to preparing them to go out into the world. There's still a year between now and publication for both of them, but it's starting now and I know from having done this before how fast that year goes.

4.  Thank you to the librarians of Iowa for putting Touch Blue on the 2013-14 Iowa Children's Choice Award list. It made me smile to think of kids in Iowa reading about lobster fishing, but I also think that fishing families and farming families probably have many things in common.

5.   Happy Birthday to my husband!  We celebrated yesterday with Chinese food and birthday cake, but today is his actual birthday. I'm so grateful that he was born. :-)

It arrived!

About a month ago, a delightful class in Inverness Scotland did some projects involving Hot Rod Hamster, and I mailed them a poster for their classroom. The lady at the Post Office said she thought it would take about 2 weeks, but it took about a month. It finally arrived!



I love this class!  One of the surreal parts of being an author is seeing your books travel to places you've never been.

Wordless Wednesday

Popham Beach, Maine. Photo by my husband, John

From My Mail

I'm caught up on my mail!  Here are some of the lines from my last batch that made me smile or touched me. 

If you wrote back to me, it wouldn't just make my day, it would make my life! --Auryana

Before I read your book every time I had a book project, I did it at the last minute and got a bad grade. When I did a project on Rules, I finished it early and got a 100! --Angel

My mom bought me a goldfish and it took me about an hour to name him, but I decided on Ringo Starr from the Beatles. --Rachel

Sometimes people need a little help in their lives. --Ashley

Earlier today I was looking at your website. Your dog, Milo, and your guinea pig, Cookie, are so cute! --Anna

My siblings always come into my room when I don't want them to. I totally know how Catherine feels about that. --Ellen

You might get this a lot, but I'm not kidding: this was one of my favorite books I've ever read. --Annie

I feel like that Catherine is like a third parent to David. Her parents should focus on her sometimes, too. --Mike

How long does it take you to write a book, including brainstorming? --Carmel

Cookie

He makes me smile.