Kate DiCamillo's Blog, page 18
January 14, 2014
I wore the dress! I made the speech! I received the medal!
It was all fabulous...
I wore the dress! I made the speech! I received the medal!
It was all fabulous.
But I think that, for me, the most fabulous part was that about forty kids were there.
I was sitting in the front row and the kids were behind me and to my left and I kept turning to look at them.
Every time I saw their faces, I felt braver, more certain.
Every time I looked at them, I thought: I can do this. I need to do this.
So. Let’s do this. Let’s read together. Let’s connect.
It was all fabulous.
But I think that, for me, the most fabulous part was that about forty kids were there.
I was sitting in the front row and the kids were behind me and to my left and I kept turning to look at them.
Every time I saw their faces, I felt braver, more certain.
Every time I looked at them, I thought: I can do this. I need to do this.
So. Let’s do this. Let’s read together. Let’s connect.
January 10, 2014
From the Candlewick team: Please submit your questions for Kate as a comment on...
From the Candlewick team: Please submit your questions for Kate as a comment on this post by Monday, January 13, and Kate will answer as many as she can next week!
January 7, 2014
I am packing my bags and leaving tomorrow for Washington, D.C.
In my suitcase i...
I am packing my bags and leaving tomorrow for Washington, D.C.
In my suitcase is a book of poetry by Joyce Sidman entitled What the Heart Knows.
Here is the beginning of a poem entitled “A List of Things that Will Set You Free:”
“Feet.
Wheels.
Wind.
Sunshine.
Words.
Music.”
I read those words and think this: yes, yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. And: yes.
I keep reading the poem.
I keep thinking: yes.
In my suitcase is a book of poetry by Joyce Sidman entitled What the Heart Knows.
Here is the beginning of a poem entitled “A List of Things that Will Set You Free:”
“Feet.
Wheels.
Wind.
Sunshine.
Words.
Music.”
I read those words and think this: yes, yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. And: yes.
I keep reading the poem.
I keep thinking: yes.
January 2, 2014
So, this amazing thing has happened.
I have been named the National Ambassador...
So, this amazing thing has happened.
I have been named the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature.
This involves me receiving a medal (!) in a ceremony (!) at the Library of Congress (!).
The whole thing is pretty intimidating; but it is also deeply, deeply gratifying, because for the next two years, I will get to go around the country talking about what matters to me, and what matters to me is this: people connecting through stories.
I believe that stories are a way for us to see...
I have been named the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature.
This involves me receiving a medal (!) in a ceremony (!) at the Library of Congress (!).
The whole thing is pretty intimidating; but it is also deeply, deeply gratifying, because for the next two years, I will get to go around the country talking about what matters to me, and what matters to me is this: people connecting through stories.
I believe that stories are a way for us to see...
December 31, 2013
A few nights ago, I woke up around one in the morning and could not go back to s...
A few nights ago, I woke up around one in the morning and could not go back to sleep.
I stared owl-eyed into the darkness for quite some time; and then I gave up and turned on the light and picked up the book that was on the floor by the bed.
The book was Dickens’ A Christmas Carol; and I was at that point in the tale when the third ghost—all dark robes and ominous finger-pointing—had arrived.
I tell you what: it makes for harrowing reading at two in the morning.
I could feel my chest tight...
I stared owl-eyed into the darkness for quite some time; and then I gave up and turned on the light and picked up the book that was on the floor by the bed.
The book was Dickens’ A Christmas Carol; and I was at that point in the tale when the third ghost—all dark robes and ominous finger-pointing—had arrived.
I tell you what: it makes for harrowing reading at two in the morning.
I could feel my chest tight...
December 24, 2013
I was driving home the other day and got stuck behind a car that was traveling i...
I was driving home the other day and got stuck behind a car that was traveling impossibly slowly and also kept jamming on its brakes.
“Arrrggh!” I shouted. “What is the problem up there? What are you doing?”
And then, even though the day was clear, there was a sudden shower of snow across my windshield.
The shower of snow was followed by a red-tailed hawk.
His left wing brushed the glass in front of me.
He was beautiful, ferocious.
And then he was gone.
I followed the slow car and its tapp...
“Arrrggh!” I shouted. “What is the problem up there? What are you doing?”
And then, even though the day was clear, there was a sudden shower of snow across my windshield.
The shower of snow was followed by a red-tailed hawk.
His left wing brushed the glass in front of me.
He was beautiful, ferocious.
And then he was gone.
I followed the slow car and its tapp...
December 19, 2013
I had a dream that I had the perfect opening line for a novel.
This sentence le...
I had a dream that I had the perfect opening line for a novel.
This sentence led to other beautiful sentences and in my dream, I could feel the novel just writing itself.
I can’t remember it of course, that perfect opening line.
I have thought before that I should keep a notebook by my bed.
But my guess is that the dream was just that: a dream.
There is no perfect sentence that leads to other perfect sentences.
There is only the long walk down a dark hallway.
Every once in a while, there is t...
This sentence led to other beautiful sentences and in my dream, I could feel the novel just writing itself.
I can’t remember it of course, that perfect opening line.
I have thought before that I should keep a notebook by my bed.
But my guess is that the dream was just that: a dream.
There is no perfect sentence that leads to other perfect sentences.
There is only the long walk down a dark hallway.
Every once in a while, there is t...
December 17, 2013
I watched “Frosty the Snowman” last week with some friends.
I have seen this Ch...
I watched “Frosty the Snowman” last week with some friends.
I have seen this Christmas cartoon many, many times and my favorite bit has always been the magician running through the snow saying “Busy busy busy,” after Santa sends him home to write “I am sorry for what I did to Frosty” a hundred zillion times.
But this time, this year, I was very taken with the notion of Santa speaking “a fluent Rabbit.”
Of course Santa speaks a fluent rabbit. He must also speak the language of stars and stone...
I have seen this Christmas cartoon many, many times and my favorite bit has always been the magician running through the snow saying “Busy busy busy,” after Santa sends him home to write “I am sorry for what I did to Frosty” a hundred zillion times.
But this time, this year, I was very taken with the notion of Santa speaking “a fluent Rabbit.”
Of course Santa speaks a fluent rabbit. He must also speak the language of stars and stone...
December 12, 2013
I was talking to a writer friend yesterday about writing and how you never know...
I was talking to a writer friend yesterday about writing and how you never know when a novel is going to turn, open, blossom. I have slogged along for months at a time thinking: this is not working, this will never work.
And then, suddenly, something will shift.
There will be a loosening; some light will get in.
The thing about this is that you never know when it’s going to happen.
It can be the day you are ready to give up.
It can be two weeks after the day that you were ready to give u...
And then, suddenly, something will shift.
There will be a loosening; some light will get in.
The thing about this is that you never know when it’s going to happen.
It can be the day you are ready to give up.
It can be two weeks after the day that you were ready to give u...
December 10, 2013
I was at a party on Saturday night and I didn’t feel so well. I went upstairs a...
I was at a party on Saturday night and I didn’t feel so well. I went upstairs and lay down on the couch. I could everyone downstairs laughing and talking. At one point, I heard someone say, “Where’s Kate?” and then the laughing and talking went on.
I closed my eyes. It was warm upstairs.
From somewhere far away, there came the sound of a train whistle: once, twice, three times. It was the bass note to the chorus of happy voices downstairs.
It was the sound of leaving.
And I was staying.
...
I closed my eyes. It was warm upstairs.
From somewhere far away, there came the sound of a train whistle: once, twice, three times. It was the bass note to the chorus of happy voices downstairs.
It was the sound of leaving.
And I was staying.
...
