Cynthia Lord's Blog, page 84

Wordless Wednesday

Friendship, Maine. Photo by my husband, John

It's a Book Baby!

 Congratulations! It's a bouncing book-baby!

Name: All the Things You Are

Date of Birth: June 14, 2011

Weight: 256 pages

Proud Parent: Courtney Sheinmel ( courtneywrites )

Godparents: Simon & Schuster

Happy 20th Anniversary, DDG Booksellers!

One of my favorite Maine booksellers had an anniversary party a couple weeks ago, and I was invited to come sign books.  DDG Booksellers is a wonderful independent bookstore in Farmington, Maine, and it's always a great experience to go there!  This time was extra special, though. 

In honor of their anniversary, the store employees and party planners dressed as book characters!

  Kenny, the owner, greeted people at the door as Jeeves!

  Here's Huck Finn with the food, which was all related to books!

  Kenny handed out contest pages where you could write down everything you recognized--in order to win prizes.

   Fancy Nancy meets the White Rabbit.

  Caps for Sale!

  I knew a few of the books represented by the refreshments.  Butter beer for Harry Potter.

  LIttle pails of blueberries for Blueberries for Sal.

   Miss Havisham's cake from Great Expectations.

  Donuts from Homer Price.

  Little "Eat Me" cakes from Alice in Wonderland.

I saw many librarians and teachers I'd done events with, and I met Becky, one of online friends and her son for the first time. It was a fabulous time in a fantastic bookstore! 



Happy Anniversary, DDG!   Here's to 20 more years!

Summer's Here!

Portland Head Light, Maine. Photo by my husband, John

You know you've been married almost 26 years when you have this conversation:

Me to John:  You bought my birthday present today!

John:  I did?  Oh good!  I got the right thing then.


And we're BOTH happy! 

Hot Rod Hamster Coming Through!

HOORAY!  I reached the finish line with my 2010-11 school visits yesterday with a fun trip to High Plains Elementary School in Andover, Massachusetts.  The first graders had voted Hot Rod Hamster as their favorite book.

All the first graders made little hot-rodding hamsters, and I loved seeing them lined up in the windows!



Here is a close-up of a few.  I love how each hamster and car has its own personality.

   "Hamsters, start your engines!"

 "I'm built for speed."

   "Is your car a toy?"


But hmmm.  Something's still missing. . .
 

  "FLAMES!"
 

To the students in Andover, the Scholastic Book Fairs, and Geri the wonderful librarian and all the teachers and staff at High Plains Elementary School,  "THANK YOU!"

And then there was ONE.

from a child in Stratham, NH

My last school visit for 2010-11 is tomorrow in Andover, MA.  A couple months ago, I got an email from Annmarie of the New England Scholastic Book Fairs telling me that one of her schools had voted for their favorite books in each grade, and Hot Rod Hamster had won in first grade and Rules had won for the fifth grade.

She asked if I'd consider coming to their Reading Day, and I said yes.  So it will be a fun way to end my school year.  And I always appreciate that the New England Scholastic Book Fairs promote my books so much. 

It's been sweet to add Hot Rod Hamster into my visits.  It makes me grin when the kindergartners and first graders call me by my whole name, as if it's all one word.

"Hello, Cynthialord!"
"Cynthialord, sit with me!"

It's funny and always a thrill to hear my name said by children.

This school year, I did 64 book events and about 50 of those were school visits. It'll be nice to put away the name tag tomorrow night and return to my novel. But I'm looking forward to seeing the kids tomorrow, and come August, I'll be very excited and honored to hear kids call me "cynthialord" again.

Wordless Wednesday

Kettle Cove, Maine. Photo taken last night by my husband, John

Vermont

The weather for my trip to Vermont could not have been more beautiful.  Everything was green and glorious.



It was a beautiful drive past mountains and farms and fields.



On the way, I had some extra time so I drove to Cabot!  We buy that cheese so it was fun to see where it comes from.  I stopped at the Visitors' Center.

  

  

It was fun to try some flavored cheeses (sage cheese was my favorite) and I bought some Cheese Shake for popcorn and some cow socks!

That night, I had a fun supper out with these awesome Vermonters:  Jo Knowles, Linda Urban, Leda Schubert and her husband, and Grace Greene and her husband.  Linda gave me an ARC of her new novel, HOUND DOG TRUE, and I read it that night and finished it over breakfast!  It's wonderful--an absolute gem! 


Woodbury Elementary School

Then it was off to school.  The kids in Woodbury were delightful.  I presented Hot Rod Hamster to the K-3 group. At the end, I have a slide with the cover of Happy Birthday, Hamster.  

"If you'd like, I could read it to you. . . ."  I said, pulling the actual book out of my bag.  There was a wonderful gasp and a big, "YES!"

Sometimes being an author is so much fun!

I had a wonderful discussion with the older kids about Touch Blue and what happens when a town's population is declining and a school is closed.  It's not just an island concern--towns in rural Vermont (and Wyoming and Nebraska, etc) are in that situation, too.  It was a wonderful visit.

Susan, the librarian, gave me a lovely surprise.  She said because Touch Blue was about family, she wanted to give me a piece of her own family to remember our visit by. 



This is from her grandmother's forsythia bushes.  I will always remember my visit when this bush blooms. I'm going to plant it next to my writing shed.

Woodbury is a pretty and very friendly place.





  How bitingly funny is this sign on the general store?!

Then I drove home again.  Past fields of lupine.



Cows.



Funny tourist places.



And mountains upon mountains.

Lobstering in Vermont!

The entire sixth grade at Woodbury Elementary School.

A few months ago, when Touch Blue was nominated to Vermont's Dorothy Canfield Fisher Award list, I received a warm and lovely email from the librarian of a very small school in Vermont.  Her school only has about 50 students in K-6th grades, and they could relate to the enrollment challenges of the school in Touch Blue. 

Susan, the librarian, told me about her students and school. Then she said she knew it probably wasn't possible, but if I were ever in Vermont, she and the kids would love me to come.

It always means a lot to me to have a book make a state kids' choice list, and I try to show my appreciation back to that state.  I'm going to Vermont twice in the next year. I'll be at the Burlington Book Festival in September. And tomorrow, I'm visiting Susan's school and the kids of Woodbury, Vermont.  She even invited the parents and the local homeschooling families to join us.  So it'll be a school visit and a community visit.


From my kit instructions:  measuring a lobster. The lower point on the gauge (near my thumb) has to fall on the carapace (the first part of the lobster's back).
This lobster is too small and would have to be thrown back.

All the kids have heard or read Touch Blue--even the little ones!  So I sent my box of lobstering tools, rubber bands, plastic lobsters, fishing gloves, and instructions for the kids to see and try banding and measuring before I arrived.
 

One of the banding photos from my instructions.

Susan recently sent me a sweet email that ended:  P.S. We're having a great time banding lobsters today!

And I'm staying with Grace Worcester Greene, one of my favorite Vermont librarians, and seeing a few friends while I'm there.  What a nice way to kick-off my final week of school visits.  I have just two more:  this fun visit to Vermont, and on Friday, I'll be in Andover, Massachusetts with the New England Scholastic Bookfairs for my last visit for 2010-2011. 

You Can Belong In More Than One Place

Rangeley, Maine

Yesterday, I drove north about an hour and half to do two school visits in Madison, Maine.  I spoke at both the junior high and the elementary school.



The second and third graders were very excited about Hot Rod Hamster. As a special surprise, I read them Happy Birthday, Hamster, too.  It was great to see how much they enjoyed it. 

And I loved this lobster trap that one of the third grade classes made me. Each lobster has a word about Touch Blue written on it. It's perfect that the lobster on the front says "HOME." 



I was thinking about that word as I carried this trap out to my car. And I was remembering how Tess tells Aaron that you can belong in more than one place. 

After my school visit I had almost four hours to wait. DDG Booksellers, one of my favorite Maine independent bookstores was celebrating their 20th Anniversary with a party last night.  It didn't make sense to go home between the events, so I looked at my Maine Road Atlas and decided to take an adventure to pass the time.  "I'll go to Rangeley," I decided.

Rangeley is where Aaron lived right before coming to the island in Touch Blue. It's a beautiful area in the western mountains of Maine. The drive over included lots of farms and rushing rivers and ski areas and grand old mountain hotels. 

 

 

And roads running through deep woods with . . .

  He was a young moose. I didn't see an adult nearby, so I think he was newly on his own. 

About 10 miles later, I saw another moose!  The photo isn't very good, but when I stopped to get my camera out, he headed back to the woods so this is the only photo I got.

 It's always exciting to see a moose.  I did drive extra cautiously after I saw them, though.

One of the things that amused me with Touch Blue is that Aaron was called an "urban" kid in a couple of reviews. 

Um, no.  THIS is Rangeley!



Rangeley is famous for skiing, snowmobiling, hunting, fishing, hiking, rafting, kayaking, and swatting the black flies!

 

But here's what Aaron misses.



In Touch Blue, Tess promises when lobstering slows down, she is sure her dad will take Aaron back to those mountains for a visit.  

Looking around me yesterday, it felt like he did that.