Cynthia Lord's Blog, page 69

Wordless Wednesday

"Thank you for calling the North Pole. Your call is very important to us."  Photo by my husband, John

Off to Wells!

Some of the rocks I sent to my publisher for the cover of Touch Blue.

Today, I'm off to speak to an elementary school book group in Wells, Maine.  Karen, the librarian at the school, was on the Lupine Committee that awarded Touch Blue the Lupine Award last year.  She wrote to me recently that her girls' book group had just finished and loved Touch Blue so much that they voted to read Rules next.  That touched me, and I offered to come to their next meeting. I told Karen we could surprise the girls, if she wanted.  We tried to do that, but a few days ago, she sent me an email:

The girls in our Book Group have guessed that you are coming next Tuesday, and they are practically bouncing off the walls with excitement!

It's hard to keep a secret from kids!  I'm bringing a bunch of props with me: my lobstering tools (so the kids can try banding and measuring), my foreign editions for Rules and Touch Blue, and my Lupine Plate. 

  It was made by a potter in Portland, and it hangs on the wall in my writing shed.  

A lot of the coast of Maine is rocky, but Wells has miles of beautiful sandy beaches.  I love the winter ocean, and I had planned to spend some time walking the beach before I came home, but it's raining.   So maybe I'll just go shopping!  :-)

When Worlds Collide

This worksheet page uses PECs symbols (like Jason uses in Rules), but this worksheet is for kids who would like to talk about Hot Rod Hamster.  Teachers can download it on the Boardmaker website. I know quite a few families with children and young adults who use PECs, so I love that someone created this.

As Jason would say, Awesome!

Backstage

Photo by my husband, John

Yesterday, my husband drove up to Boothbay Harbor for their Harbor Festival of Lights. In this photo, some lobstermen are getting ready for the boat parade by testing their lights. 

I stayed home and worked on my novel. My main character is a photographer, and I've been reading books about photography and thinking about photography. In one book recently, the photographer discussed how when shooting an event, the unguarded backstage or prep time for that event often gives you an opportunity for better photos than the event itself.   

I thought of that immediately when I saw this photo.  

Lighthouse Christmas

My friend and critique partner, Toni Buzzeo, has a wonderful review for her new book in the New York Times: Picture Books About Christmas. And this morning, I drew the name for the winner of the free copy of Lighthouse Christmas from LiveJournal and Facebook, and the winner is Denice Ryan Martin. 

In Toni's story, the lighthouse family receives presents from The Flying Santa, which began flying in 1929, bringing presents to lighthouse families.  A little history of the program can be found on the official website.  




And yet, even with this good news, I feel sad. Because this beautiful, special book sold out its first printing on the second week of November.  So if you see a copy in your local bookstore and it's a book you'd like to buy for someone, don't wait! 

From My Mail

No Toys in the Fish Tank by Curren

Here are a few of my favorite lines from the mail I've answered in the past week.

I hope you keep writing such great books like Rules and Touch Blue. We are going to read Rules in the sixth grade, but I read Touch Blue, and I didn't want to wait! --Leah

The way you took real life and mashed it together with imagination was amazing. I think you had the perfect balance of real and fake. --Garrett

I am a boy who’s from Japan, lives in Bangkok and dreams to be author like you! --Gou

I hope soon you should make a book about a family who is poor and has very little money but then one of the kids becomes famous for his or her drawings and this book could be a historical fiction because the background is in the old days. I would read it. --Luci

My friend was reading your book, too, and when she was on Page 5, I was on Page 132. --Sierra

My dream is to be published. Is there anything you, as an accomplished author, could tell me about the process. I would love it so, so, so, so, so much.-- Ahmari


Photo from Ms. Hanna's Fourth Grade in Massachusetts, where they are reading RULES

------------------------------

A couple weeks ago, I got a message from one of my author friends from Florida. She told me that her fourth-grade son said they were reading a good book in his class called Touch Blue. She asked if I had bookmarks I could send to the class as a surprise.  I said, "Sure!" and personally signed one to each child in his class. Then this week I got a follow up, explaining that the kids had loved them. . .  however. . .  the teacher also has an afternoon class who are reading Touch Blue, as well, and. . .

Well, there is a twin in the afternoon class that was so upset that her brother got a bookmark and not her. You would not believe how much the kids loved them, parents are still coming up to me and thanking me. [Her son] said, "People were as excited as if Dwyane Wade gave them a signed jersey!"

It's moving to see how important even a small message back from an author can be. I find it hard to keep up with the mail at times.  But I do eventually answer it all.  I can appreciate there are authors for whom that is impossible, and I hope I don't ever reach that place. I do occasionally get overwhelmed by it, but it also brings me a lot of joy.

And needless to say, I'm sending signed bookmarks to the afternoon class, too.  :-)

Writing Again

My daughter at "Dismal Pool" in the White Mountains.

This photo is a strange choice for the first day of December, isn't it?  But it's perfect for the new novel I'm working on, which is set in the summer in New Hampshire. So I've been looking at summer photos and thinking summer thoughts this week. There's a surrealness to describing my main character's flip-flops while I'm wearing boots, though. :-)

It's wonderful to be working on my new novel again--everything feels different when I step into my little writing house. It's like being someone new. I breathe different air.

Still, a novel is a complicated experience, full of joys and worries. As I end every novel, I think, "I don't think I'll be able to do this again." But I started this morning with a nice reminder that I have done this twice before.  I found out that Touch Blue made next year's Arizona Grand Canyon Readers Award list. What a nice way to start December.



Maybe I *can* do this again.

Wordless Wednesday

Harpswell, Maine. Photo by my husband, John

A Contest!

   My critique partner and good friend, Toni Buzzeo, has a brand-new, beautiful Christmas book, Lighthouse Christmas.  On Saturday she was the guest of honor at the Damariscotta Holiday Parade. She did a signing with Maine Coast Bookshop and a reading at the library. . . but they also asked her if she'd be in the parade with SANTA!

I've had lots of great events, but I've never driven to an event with Santa!  So I went to take some photos for Toni. 

  Here comes the parade, but where is Toni?

  There she is! 

This is the lobby of the library with all the kids waiting to talk to Santa. 



I took a few photos of the children from the back. My kids are 21 and 19, so it's been a long time since they were this size. 

  

Some of the children were shy, but not the little girl in pink. She threw her arms right around him, nearly knocking Santa's hat off! 

  

This little girl came prepared with a LIST.

Toni read her beautiful story and every time the one-eared cat appeared in the story, Toni and the entire audience meowed along with the puppet. 

   It was a lovely little touch that allowed even the smallest children to participate with the story. 

I bought a signed copy of Lighthouse Christmas to use a contest prize. 

  To enter, all you need to do is leave a comment to this post or on Facebook before midnight Friday, December 2nd, and I will enter you in the contest.  I'll draw a name randomly on Saturday, December 3rd.

Waiting for Santa

Milo says, "But where are the presents?"