Cynthia Lord's Blog, page 81

Getting Ready!

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Eat cake first! 


Happy Birthday, Hamster  is less than two weeks away now, and I have some book signings and events in Maine coming up in August.  All of these events are free and open to the public. Here's where I'll be!


August Events

Wednesday, August 3, Storytime and book signing, Kennebooks, Kennebunk, Maine, 10:30-11:30 am.

Saturday, August 6, Story time with Bess the Book Bus,  Peabody Library, Jonesport, Maine, 11 am.  (I won't be selling books at this event. Bess the Book Bus is a literacy program, bringing books to kids in rural and less advantaged areas. Participating kids each get to choose a free book off the bus).  



Where I'll be reading in Camden!  The other authors coming are:  Jennifer Berne, Jeannie Brett, Steve Costanza, Melissa Sweet, Chris Van Dusen, Toni Buzzeo, and Peter and Connie Roop.

Saturday, August 20, Children's Book Festival By the Sea, Camden Public Library, Camden, Maine. 1-4 pm.

Saturday, August 27, Book signing, Children's Book Cellar, Waterville, Maine. 10 am-12 pm.  

Wordless Wednesday

Valcour Conference Center, Plattsburgh, NY

It's a Book Baby!

 Congratulations! It's a bouncing book-baby!

Name: Pearl

Date of Birth: July 19, 2011

Weight: 224 pages

Proud Parent: Jo Knowles ( jbknowles )

Godparents: Henry Holt and Company

Research

One of the fun things about writing novels is that they often require strange research.  I remember one day while working on Touch Blue, I stood on a hill, pitching different types of pinecones to find which variety of pinecone Libby could throw at Tess that could travel far enough to hit her.



For this new book, I needed to skip stones. I grew up on a lake, and I used to be really good at it.  But I haven't done it in a long time.  So at 6 am this morning I was down by the lake by myself, camera in one hand, a flat stone in the other. 



Researching.

Hello from Lake Champlain!

Every year I spend a few summer days with a group of writers at a retreat center in New York.  It's a good chance to see friends and also get work done.  So until Wednesday, I'm looking out over the lake, hammering out my plot. 

Kids often ask me at school visits if I ever get "stuck" in my writing.  The answer is yes. I will start a novel and it always goes well until around Page 40.  That's when I run out of steam because I don't know what's going to happen next. I have to stop writing awhile and plot out the rest of the story. 

I felt that familiar, unsatisfying, stuck feeling at the end of last week.  So I looked to see what page I was on. . .

38. 

So I'm using my retreat to plot my book past that sticking point. 

Mount Washington

Yesterday, Julia had the day off from work, and I had promised her last spring that we'd pick a beautiful day this summer and go to the top of Mt. Washington in New Hampshire, since she'd never been.  So yesterday was the day! 

No, I did not drive up.  Many people do, but this is what the road looks like:



And it's a two-way street, so you meet people coming the other way.  However, for a fee, you can ride up in a van with an experienced, not-terrified driver, and that's what we did!  "If you get scared, just do what I do," he joked. "Close your eyes!"



This sign says, "No Hitch-hiking."



Mt. Washington is often in the clouds at the summit, but yesterday we could see all the way to New York in one direction and across Maine to Sebago Lake and onward to the Atlantic Ocean in the other.



We had a great day! 

Maine Literary Awards

   Last night was the award ceremony for the Maine Literary Awards, given by the Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance.  Touch Blue was nominated in the YA category, along with two wonderful books:  The Accidental Adventures of India McAllister by Charlotte Agell and Mary Mae and the Gospel Truth by Sandra Dutton.

It was a great event--lots of people, laughter, and good food.  At this ceremony, I love that there are book prizes, but also awards for student writing.  So there were high school students and their parents and teachers there, too.  It's an affirmation of the whole journey and of the wide circle of the writing community in Maine.

My critique partner, Terry Farish, had suggested I put a piece of blue seaglass in my pocket for luck for Touch Blue.  That felt like a fun way to honor the book. So right before I left for Portland, I looked through my jar of seaglass at home and chose a beautiful triangle of bright blue and slipped it into my pocket.

At the ceremony, I sat with Charlotte. When Joshua Bodwell, the director of MWPA, called our category, I grabbed her hand and squeezed it! 

He read our names and titles. Then he said, "And the winner is. . . . "


I texted my family "I won!" from the event and when I got home, there were cookies! My lucky blue seaglass is on the plate with the cookie.

That lucky blue seaglass in my pocket worked. 

I loved the whole evening, but one of my favorite moments came at the end.  I walked over to thank Barbara from the USM Bookstore for coming to the event to sell our books, and the Adult Fiction winner, Lily King, came up to me. I admire her books greatly, and she told me that she has two daughters who are fans of my books and they were rooting for me to win. What a generous and lovely person she is to take the time to come tell me that.

Maine is the most special place in the world to me--its outline is the shape of my heart. So to have Touch Blue receive both the Lupine Award from the Maine Library Association and now a Maine Literary Award by a committee of Maine writers is truly my wish come true. 

Thank you to Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance for all you do. 

And the winner is. . . ?

 

Entertainment Tonight:  "Cynthia Lord, who are you wearing?"
Me:  "L.L. Bean."

Tonight is the first time I've ever had a book nominated for an award where I had to go to the announcement ceremony not knowing if it had won.  There is a certain torture having to write acceptance remarks without knowing if you'll give them. 

Touch Blue is a finalist in the Maine Literary Awards, given by the Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance. To qualify, the writer must be a Maine resident (at least part of the year) or be published by a Maine publisher.  Rules won this award back in 2007, but I knew ahead of time.

There are awards in many categories (including awards for student writing--which is one of my favorite categories). Here are the children's book nominees. 

Children’s Book Nominees: Robert F. Baldwin, Dahlov Ipcar, Reza Jalali
Young Adult: Charlotte Agell, Sandra Dutton, Cynthia Lord

Charlotte, Sandy, and I have done lots of events together, so I will be delighted no matter whose name is called tonight.  And I hope Dahlov Ipcar can come. I've loved her artwork for years and it would be very special to meet her. 

My critique partner, Terry Farish, suggested I put a piece of blue seaglass in my pocket for luck tonight.  :-)  I think I'll do that.

And in the meantime, "I'd like to thank the committee. . . maybe!"

Wordless Wednesday

It's a Couple of Book Babies!

In the busy-ness of ALA, I'm sorry that I missed a book birthday, so let's celebrate it today!

 Congratulations! It's a bouncing book-baby!

Name: The Day Before

Date of Birth: June 28, 2011

Weight: 320 pages

Proud Parent: Lisa Schroeder ( lisa_schroeder )

Godparents: Simon Pulse


 Congratulations! It's a bouncing book-baby!

Name: Starstruck

Date of Birth: July 12, 2011

Weight: 256 pages

Proud Parent: Cyn Balog ( cyn2write )

Godparents: Delacorte Press Books for Young Readers