Cynthia Lord's Blog, page 79

Summer

Brunswick, Maine

Summer seemed so much longer when I was a kid!  My daughter goes back to college in a little over a week, and I saw a few red leaves yesterday. 

*sigh*

My writing days feel numbered now.  However, there are things I'm looking forward to in the fall. I love the foliage and apples and pumpkins. My school visits start up again.  September-November, I have trips to Tennessee, Vermont, Ontario, California, Alabama, New York, Connecticut, and several parts of Maine scheduled. 

And my husband sold a photo of Wells Beach to DownEast magazine yesterday.  It'll be in the October issue!

Next Saturday

Camden. Photo from www.exploremaine.com

Next Saturday August 20th,  I'll be in beautiful Camden, Maine at the 6th Annual Children's Book Fair by the Sea.  Participating Maine children's book authors and illustrators  are:

Jennifer Berne  
Jeannie Brett 
Toni Buzzeo
Steve Costanza
Peter and Connie Roop
Melissa Sweet
Chris Van Dusen
and me!

The event runs from 1:00 to 4:00 pm.

I'm excited to see the library. It has a beautiful view of the ocean, but it's also unique.  When the library wanted to expand, they didn't want to change the character of the old library, so they created the expansion underground.


The back entrance to the Camden Library, Camden, Maine

Aaaaa...chooo!

  I hate to wish for a killing frost, but I'd like one just for this!  

Island Readers and Writers

The view from the tent

Yesterday I was the keynote speaker for the Island Readers and Writers
Annual Meeting up in Seal Cove on Mount Desert Island, Maine. 

Jan Coates of IRW had asked Rebekah Raye, Ashley Bryan, and me to represent the authors and illustrators who are part of IRW. I've done several events with Rebekah, and I just love her.  I'd never met Ashley, but he could not have been nicer or warmer. 

It was held on the grounds of a beautiful salt-water farm.  We didn't have sparkling weather, but the atmosphere in the big tent was very sunny--even if the skies were not.  We spoke to over a hundred supporters of the program.

After brunch, Ashley Bryan (who lives on an island in Maine) led us in several poems.  He has such dynamic energy and a big heart.


Ashley Bryan

Then he took the children down by the water for a program and the adults held the business part of the meeting, followed by my keynote.  Jan had told me to speak for 5-7 minutes, but I wanted to say something quickly about all six visits I'd done with the program, so I knew it would be more like 10-12 minutes.  I cried writing the speech, so I knew it would be a powerful one.  "They'll forgive you those extra few minutes," my husband reassured me. 

Sure enough, there were many tears in the audience by the end.  I had lots of funny, sweet, inspiring stories, but Maine is also a place where some children live in great poverty. There are times when that is really brought home to me--including on one of these six visits.  Island Readers and Writers gives each child a signed copy of the visiting author's book, and I love that the program is sensitive to the fact not all parents can give their children $15.99 for a book--even if they really want to. 


Rebekah Raye

Illustrator Rebekah Raye did a wonderful demonstration of what she does with the kids on her island visits, and Ashley Bryan led the island kids in a final poem.  My camera can't handle taking a video in a tent so this is very dark, but the audio is good.  



Ashely Bryan gave me a big bear hug when we were done and lots of people came up to talk to me.  It was a beautiful morning spent in a gorgeous place with a group of people who care passionately about Maine islands, literacy, and most of all, kids.

 

Wordless Wednesday

Pffft!   Stop writing and play ball with me!

Duckies!

Just when I thought I had the tiniest rubber ducky possible, Debbi Michiko Florence sent me an even smaller one!



It's in the bottle on the left, and it's truly the size of a freckle!  Here's a close-up of the smallest duckies.



I have an incredible rubber ducky collection.  As I tell the kids at my Rules' school visits, "I stopped counting at 200!"

Thank you, Debbi!

Blueberry Land

On my home from Jonesport, I enjoyed the scenery.  You know when you're traveling through Maine towns called "TWP 22" and "TWP 28" that you are really in the woods! 



I thought I might see a moose, but the biggest wildlife I saw was sunning himself on this rock:

 
Do you see the big ole snapping turtle?

This is blueberry country, and it's harvest time.  Local workers and migrant workers come to Maine to rake the bushes.   



The workers live in their own campers or in these blue cabins.  The blueberries are raked and threshed and loaded into these colorful bins on the trucks.



There were lots of local families selling blueberries in roadside stands and even this funny gift shop (complete with a blueberry-themed miniature golf course!).



Wild Blueberry Land!



How could I resist?  I bought some maple-blueberry taffy (which tastes a bit like blueberry pancakes) and a blueberry dog biscuit for Milo. 



If it's blueberry, they have it!  Blueberry coffee, blueberry pies, blueberry sweatshirts, blueberry candles, blueberry mugs. . . .

In the summer, the blueberry barrens are green, but last fall, I did a school visit in Machias, and the  barrens turn this gorgeous shade of red.




While I was having fun in Downeast Maine, the national SCBWI conference was going on.  There's a great blog here that talks about some of the sessions and keynotes with good advice and things to think about. 

A Great Day in Jonesport

I really enjoyed my day at the Peabody Library in Jonesport, Maine.  We had a great turnout, and I met lots of wonderful people who are involved in various literacy programs in Maine, including "The Pajama Program" that gives pajamas and books to children in homeless shelters. 



And "Bess the Book Bus," a literacy organization that travels around the country to less advantaged areas in terms of income or access to books.  Jennifer Frances, the founder, parks the bus in various places and the kids come.



Any child who comes to the bus gets a "boarding pass" that allows him/her to choose three free books and a reading blanket to take home.  The kids were so happy with their choices!  Libraries are so important, but there is also something special in owning books.  I saw such joy on those kids' faces as they showed me what books they were taking home "for good." 
 
This photo Jennifer took of one of the moms and children says it all.



I had lots of nice moments, including one adult library volunteer who told me she enjoyed Rules and Touch Blue and that her 92-year-old mom is also a fan of my books. 

A grandmother who talked to me about her grandson with autism.

And a delightful little boy who picked Happy Birthday, Hamster off the bus. As I was signing it, he shyly told me he wants to be an illustrator and is already working on his own books.

So much quiet good work goes on in the world.  People kept saying how grateful they were I'd come, but honestly, it was an honor and a joy to be there.

The library's photos of the day are here.
 

Downeast

I had a restful and uneventful night at the Lucerne Inn in Maine.  The inn is supposedly haunted and the most common guest experience is that the ghosts whisper and have conversations outside your room. I was pretty tired, so if there were any ghosts chatting last night, they didn't wake me up!

 

Yesterday when I checked in, I discovered the inn is hosting a wedding today. From my window, I could see the wedding party practicing.



I drove to Jonesport to find the library, so I'd know how to get there.  It's a beautiful place.



By the sea, the sea.

Five Things on a Friday

1. Tomorrow I'll be at the Peabody Library in Jonesport, Maine.  I'm reading Hot Rod Hamster and then kids can go onto "Bess the Book Bus" and choose a new book for free.  Isn't that a wonderful program? 

2.  I haven't even left home yet, and I already feel welcomed.  Thank you to librarian Heidi Hinkley and her daughter, Kylie, for this great sign!

3.  Jonesport is about 5 hours downeast from me, so I'm spending tonight at a historic hotel outside of Bangor. The hotel is an old mountain inn on the National Register of Historic Places.  I thought it would be fun and good for the novel I'm working on now for me to stay there.

But when I Googled the hotel last night to get directions, the first link that popped up was. . . .Haunted Hotels of Maine.  Well, that's just great. I think I'm signing up for Heidi and I get The Shining.  :-) 

4.  My daughter is in Chicago with two of her friends.  I'm excited for her to be off having a cool adventure, but as her mom, I was relieved to read her text message last night that read, "Safe and sound. Goodnight."

5.  I'm very pleased with the four finalists in "So You Think You Can Dance?"  It's a going to be a great finale!