Cynthia Lord's Blog, page 51

Five Things on a Friday

1.  My lilies are in bloom. These beautiful double lilies were here when we bought our house 25+ years ago. Every so often I dig them up and divide them, so we have quite a splash of them now. Sometimes I like to imagine the person who first brought them home.

2.  My daughter's orientation went very well!  Simmons is quite close to Fenway Park. :-) 

3.  I've been working on my schedule for next year.  I have around 25 school visit days scheduled so far, which is ahead of where I was last summer. I generally do about 40-50 school-visit days a year, so I'm glad to be on my way to that number.

4. I had the chance to spend some time with my new picture-book editor this week.  She's in Maine with her family, and we met up for blueberry muffins. Delicious and fun!

5.  I'm off to New Hampshire today!  Lake, loons, and laughter. Can't beat that combination. 

 

Tomorrow!

Julia and I are going here for the weekend to see my friend, Holly. I can't wait!

Holly, we'll be there around 2.  :-)

Pooh Corner

My daughter is off to Boston today for her orientation at Simmons for graduate school. She has a place to live. She's been painting a desk she bought at a yard sale. She bought a bed. And I've been doing my best to keep from admitting this is maybe the last summer she'll ever live at home.

Being a parent is full of contradictions. We celebrate our children's independence at each step, until we suddenly realize that what we're been preparing them for is to leave us. And we want that for them--except in those moments like this morning where the hole of them being gone suddenly opens impossibly wide.

And then we're Pooh watching Christopher Robin leaving for school. Knowing he'll come back changed in ways neither can predict, and this time, this moment that once seemed infinite, is in fact, very finite.

So I'm getting out my mixed feelings before she gets up so I can just be happy for her as she skips out the door on her new adventure.

Ahhh.

Messalonskee Lake, Belgrade, Maine. Photo by my husband, John

Last night I shared the first 50 pages of my revision with my critique partners. I was relieved to hear that they loved it.  And Toni said something that really made me smile. She said, "I would have known this was yours without even seeing your name. It's full of 'Cindy.'"

The Way Life Should Be

Bug Light, South Portland, Maine. Photo by my husband, John

This week in Maine is just about perfect.

Thank you, Bridgton Public Library!

I had a wonderful library visit yesterday in Bridgton, Maine!  Thank you to children's librarian, Annika Black, and all the families and friends who came, especially patty1943 !  It was great to see you, Patty!

Five Things on a Friday

1.  I hope all my American friends had a nice Fourth of July. We had a family cookout, which was fun and delicious.

2.  I love the Audubon Society's puffin webcam from Seal Island, Maine.  In the middle of the day, the puffins are off fishing so the ledge is often empty, but in the morning and evening I love watching the puffins, gulls, terns, and auks. 

3.  The weather in Maine has been glorious this week!  This coming week looks good, too. My picture book editor is coming here on vacation next week, and I'll have the chance to meet her. Also, I'll get to see my critique group and my friend, Holly from Texas, And my daughter has her orientation for graduate school at Simmons in Boston. This is why summer goes by so fast!  :-) 

4.  Julia and I put together the compost bin that came in the mail.  You know you're getting old when you ask for a compost bin for your birthday! And are really excited to get it!

5.  Tomorrow I have a library visit at the Bridgton Public Library right on Main Street in Bridgton, Maine. It's from 1:00-2:00, and open to the public. That morning is also the library's annual booksale, so it'll be a fun book day in Bridgton!   

Word It Out

Word It Out is a fun website where you can copy a selection of text, and it will make a word cloud, highlighting which words you've used most frequently, etc. 

So I plugged in the first chapter of my new novel.



And the last text draft I saved of Hot Rod Hamster #3.

Happy Fourth of July!

Chebeague Island, Maine. Photo by my husband, John

Rules in Turkey

As an author there's something completely magical about seeing your book in another language, half a world away on someone's kitchen tablecloth or bedspread.



Rules was just published in Turkey, and it's received quite a bit of press. My Turkish publisher supplied review copies to bloggers, and I was curious how they reacted to it. Disability rights are still a new idea in Turkey. 

Google translate can only do literal translations, so the translations are sometimes funny, but they also make the words stand out in a new way.

I found this one charming:

"The book was written in the inside so that reading you immerse yourself. Also well known to the author's children and their way of thinking, talking very well know. The brothers living in a challenging and enjoyable aspects of autism also reflected in a very nice book. I recommend this book especially for 12-13 year olds. Bored during the summer vacation, a book can read with pleasure. Announced to the parents :)"



And I loved this one:

"Not just autism and other disabilities, in general, the relationship of brotherhood holds the window. A very impressive book."

Yes, the relationship of brotherhood DOES hold the window.