Kate DiCamillo's Blog, page 42

Two events in Vermont (March 20th-21st)

From the Candlewick team:

 

Alerting Vermonters to the following two events:

 

Kate is appearing at two bookstores in Vermont next week to celebrate the release of the Magician's Elephant in paperback! 

 

Sunday, March 20

Northshire Bookstore

1 p.m.  

4869 Main Street, Manchester Ctr, VT 05255-8918

(802) 362-2200

http://www.northshire.com/events2.php

 

Monday, March 21

Flying Pig

4 p.m.

5247 Shelburne Road, Shelburne, VT 05482

(802) 985-3999

http://www.booksite.com/texis/scripts/community/eventcal.html?sid=7087

2-24-11

Donald Barthelme: "The aim of literature . . . is the creation of a strange object

covered with fur which breaks your heart."

 

When I have a story, I feel as if I have been given something to carry. The

longer I work on the story, the more aware I am that my number one job is Not

To Drop It. I think of writing as running (okay, walking) down a dark road, holding

this mysterious thing out in front of me, thinking: oh man, please don't let me trip.

Sometimes, the story glows and this makes it easier to find my way down the

road. And sometimes, I am aware of the story as something warm in my arms, a

strange object covered in fur. Those days, the days of light and warmth are gifts.

Yesterday was one of those days. I wish I had a picture of what that feels like,

but I don't. In any case, that's the news from here.

More answers to your questions! (January 2010)

Kaity Calmes Do you an on writing more books? Or any books for young adults???

 

Hi Kaity, I plan on writing as many books as I can!  Yes, I do.  As for writing a young adult book . . . it's surely possible.  But not on the horizon right now.  

 

Denise Janssen How do you handle writer's block? When you have an idea in your head for a story but the pieces aren't ready to come together, what do you do?

 

Denise!  My official position on writer's block is that it doesn't exist.  There are just "bad writing days."  Sometimes, there can be weeks and months of bad writing days.  But I just keep showing up, waiting and hoping for a good writing day.  And about having the pieces of a story and knowing that they aren't ready to come together . . . I just keep notes in a notebook.  And wait until the voice for the story shows up.  For me, everything depends on the voice, then the elements will start to cohere.

 

Sheila Grossman How much did you read as a child, and who were your favorite authors? Which authors in general do you think have had the most influence on your work?

 

Hi Sheila!  I was a huge reader as a child.  I kind of read without discretion.  If it was a book, I loved it.  Here are a few that I loved: A Cricket in Times Square, Ribsy, all the Laura Ingalls Wilder books, The Borrowers.  Every book that I read (and read now) influences me.  Perhaps the most profound influence has been E.B. White.  

 

Dawn Murray Rankin Have you considered writing a series? (I am reading The Tale of Despereaux aloud to my 5th grade classes and they are LOVING it, as I knew they would! They beg for more, more, more Kate DiCamillo each day. Thank you for inspiring young readers and writers!

 

Hi Dawn, Thank you for reading to your 5th graders.  As for a series . . . maybe.  I think it would be a lot of fun to try.

 

Danny Ray Pilkington Hi Kate, How would you feel if all future books were only published in digital format? I hope that's not until the end of the world, if even then. There's just something about a real book.

 

Danny Ray!  There is something about a real book.  I can still *smell* some of the books that I read when I was a kid.  I think stories will show up in lots of different format.  But I think that there were always be "real books."  I can't imagine the world without them.

 

Marcia Dressel And a follow-up to Danny R.P. -- do you own an e-reader?

Marcia, hi . . .I have an iphone.  And I can download books onto that.  I haven't done it yet.  But it's comforting to know that I can access a story when I need one.

 

Elisabeth Brown Hendricks What are your favorite recent children's books? (besides your own) :)

 

I loved Pam Munoz Ryan's *The Dreamer.*  Run out and get a copy today! 

 

Shea Eckert Dear Kate, What advice do you have for a young writer who wants to write and has written some children stories and hopes have them published?

 

Hi Shea, here's my advice: rewrite and then rewrite and then rewrite and then go to the library and find *The Writer's Market* and see what publishers are looking for the kind of story that you are writing (and rewriting and rewriting).  Rewrite the story again.  And then start sending the story out into the world.

 

Alexa Kaufhold How long does it take your characters to "gestate?" In other words, how long before you are really ready to write about a person who's purely built in your head? Do you have any tricks for helping them (their character) along? Do their names come first or their personalities?

 

Hi, Alexa, 

The name comes first, always. (Names just pop into my head.  It's the only part of writing that's easy for me).  And then I learn about the character as I write.  They don't appear fully formed in my head; but I never feel like I'm making them up either.  It's more like they exist already and I get to discover them.

More answers to your questions - thanks for submitting!

Magdalena Agnieszka Brzezinska:

Would you be willing to share the original story that inspired the Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane?

 

Hi Magdalena . . . Edward's story is the result of a Christmas gift from my friend and mentor Jane Resh Thomas . . . she gave me a rabbit doll and when she handed him to me, I said: what's his name?  And she said: Edward.  (I'm going to take a picture of the original Edward and see if we can post it) So I went trotting home with this rabbit doll and I put him on the couch in my living room and every time I walked into the room, he scared me.  He's a very imposing rabbit.  The third night that he was in the house, I had a dream about him being underwater, stripped of all his finery (i.e. naked) and waiting to be found.  The image was haunting enough that I wrote it down in my notebook.  And then a few days later, I thought that I would try to turn that image into a picture book.  When I sat down to write, the story just kind of, I don't know, flowed out of me.  It was one of the best writing experiences I've ever had.  It was like the story told itself.  Edward is sitting in my office right now, watching me type these words.

 

 

Linda Rozo:

I got one . . . we met you in south Florida and you said that you were happy with the way the movies were interpreted, but after that my daughter and I both read Tales of Despereaux then watched the movie and she was really disillusioned with the movie because it was missing so much of the storyline of the book, who decides what goes into the movie and how much editorial control do you get over the movie?

 

Hey, Linda.  How are those palm trees doing down there?  Six inches of snow on the ground here.  Okay, then . . . on to the movies.  Basically, the only control I have when a book gets turned into a movie is deciding whether or not I want to sell the dramatic rights.  After that, I can't control what happens.  I feel like I've been very lucky with the movies based on my books; both have been respectful and loving translations.  That said though, a movie has different demands than a book, so it's impossible to be absolutely faithful when doing an adaptation.  I've learned to let go of my story and let it go out into the world.

 

 

Danny Ray Pilkington:

Hi Kate, what was your favorite book given to you as a kid at Christmas?

 

Hey Danny Ray . . . I love this question.  I still remember unwrapping the first Paddington book on a Christmas morning in Florida.  Man, I loved that book.  I read it all in one big, greedy gulp on Christmas day.

 

 

Pat Sharon:

We have a wild turkey that I have named Tilly wandering about our yard. She is alone, but acting like she would like to be part of the family, as she stands and looks in the window for a good part of the day. I know that she is trying to tell me her story. How do I know what it is? How do your characters tell their stories to you? Woof, PMS

 

Pat!  Does she really look in the windows?  I love that.  I wonder what she's thinking when she watches you sit down to dinner.  You learn Tilly's story by finding out what she wants and you do that by asking questions.  Here are some questions to ask Tilly: why are you alone?  Where is your tribe?  What are you looking for when you stare in the windows?  What would happen if you became good friends with a goose that wasn't able to make the trip south this year?  

 

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Answers to your questions!

Here are Kate's answers to a few of your questions!

 

Melissa Cairns:    Kate, I'm an elementary school librarian and also an aspiring children's book author. Your writing is an amazing inspiration to me and my students alike. We read your books avidly! What advice do you have for aspiring writers out there as far as the writing/publication process goes? How did you make your start in publication? Thanks for taking the time to answer my question-- my students and I look forward to your answer!

 

Hi Melissa, thanks for all those compliments.  And thank you for reading.  Let's see.  I'll start with "how did you get your start" part of your question.  I got my start when I talked to a Candlewick sales rep and said something like "I love everything Candlewick publishes, but I can't get in the door with my manuscripts because I've never been published and I don't have an agent."  And that Candlewick rep (Linda Nelson (bless her)) said: "If you give me a manuscript; I'll get it to an editor."  And she did.    It was a picture book manuscript and Candlewick ultimately rejected it, but in the meantime, I had started working on a novel about a girl and a dog.  And the editors at Candlewick said that they would be willing to read that novel.  So.  All of this was after a *lot* of rejection (some 400 rejection letters) and a lot of writing and hoping and reading.  Which gets me to the first part of your question . . . advice for aspiring writers.   .  I read my way through (literally) a warehouse full of children's books.  And I wrote and wrote and wrote.  And this still is the best advice I have for people (kids and adults) who want to write: Read.  Write.  Every day. It's advice that I am comfortable giving because it's advice I give to myself every ding-danging morning.

 

Eric VanRaepenbusch:  Kate, What is your favorite birthday memory or tradition? Kind of a strange question but I have a blog that follows my family's reading adventures celebrating children's authors birthdays. During your birthday week this year my daughter and I read Edward Tulane. She loved it!

 

Eric!  Hi!  My favorite birthday memory.  Hmmm . . . in fifth grade, for my birthday, I had the slumber party to end all slumber parties.  We (six of us) stayed up all night.  We put on my mother's "shoes of her youth" and danced to all her Arthur Murray Dance records.  It was grand.  Birthdays now involve scrabble games and cheesecakes made with honey and good, good friends.  I like the idea, very much, of celebrating a birthday by reading aloud the same book every year.

 

Dawn Olson   Hi Kate: When you need to "get out of your head" and relax, what authors do you like to read?

 

Hi Dawn, every afternoon I try to make time to sit down with a notebook and a book.  I call those afternoon sessions "cogitation."  The books I like to read during that "get out of my head time" are anthologies: Best American Non-required Reading is one of my favorites.  Also, literary magazines like Tin House and Granta and A Public Space.

Danny Ray Pilkington:   Hi Kate, do you have special music you listen to while writing. Love your books. Hope to see you in Delaware again someday.

    

Hi Danny Ray.  (I love that name).  For every book, I have different music that I put on when I write.  For  Edward Tulane it was Rachmaninoff's *Vocalise* played over and over.  For Because of Winn-Dixie, it was Van Morrison's *Enlightenment.*  It takes me awhile to find the right music, but once I do, I stick to it.  And hey: Delaware was great.  Thank you for being there.

 

Marcia Dressel   How do you get over first chapter fear? I've promised myself to try NaNoWriMo this year and I'm scared to start!

 

Hi Marcia,  How is it going with NaNoWriMo?  (I like that because it sounds like the name of a summer camp).  I have first chapter fear, too.  Actually, I have every kind of fear imaginable.  So, every day the first thing I do is write before I terrify myself out of doing it.  Why don't you try getting up early in the morning and see if that makes it easier.  Also, don't think of it as "the first chapter;" think of it as: "a little writing i'm going to do."

 

Pat Sharon:   Kate, Woof! Your characters have stayed with me from the first book of yours that I read. Do any of your characters come back to want to tell more- or another - story?

 

Pat!  How are you?  Huh?  Woof, right back to you.  Let's see: do the characters come back?  Hmmm.  A few years ago, I would have said that if I told the story right then they wouldn't need to come back.  But now I believe that anything is possible.  For instance, I thought I was done with Mercy Watson; but seemingly, she ain't done with me.  We'll see what happens.  Stay tuned.

 

Please feel free to continue to submit questions for Kate; she'll try to answer a few each week. - The Candlewick Team

To Kill a Mockingbird

 I'm heading to Miami for the Miami Book Festival and one of the things that I will be doing there is talking on a panel with Mary Murphy who wrote a book called Scout, Atticus and Boo: A Celebration of Fifty Years of To Kill a Mockingbird.  In preparation, I'm reading To Kill a Mockingbird for the first time in eighteen years. I'm reading slowly, because I don't want, can't bear, for the story to be over.

 

I said all of this to a friend today. 

 

And she said, "What is it about that book?  Is it the writing that makes it so extraordinary?" 

 

And I said, "No, it's the heart."  

 

The writing is great, of course.

 

But it's Scout, Scout's heart, that illuminates each word of the story.

 

Her heart makes the book into a light you can hold up in front of you and see the whole darkened world by.

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Bless Yourself - November 2010

Graffiti on a billboard in Queens:

Bless yourself.

I wrote the words down.

 

Once I talked

to a farmer who kept bees:

seven hives behind

his apple trees; the farmer stuttered

when he talked about

what the bees made:

honey

honey

a word he

almost

could not say.

 

Sweetness,

the hope of it,

the fact of it,

confounds.

 

Hard to bless

ourselves.

Harder

to let ourselves

be blessed.

 

Still.

All this light.

Coming down.

 

http://www.katedicamillo.com/journal.html

 

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A poem in celebration of Because of Winn-Dixie

Kate spoke at Columbia Teachers College this past weekend. She was introduced with the following poem, read aloud by the author, Shana Frazin.

 

"September"

 

We gather on the carpet

Because of Winn-Dixie

 

We begin to form a community

Because of Winn-Dixie

 

We learn to talk about

important things

like

our families

our friends

our hurts

Because of Winn-Dixie

 

Upon learning a substitute is coming

my students,

my mostly wonderful students,

say,

"But she won't read

Because of Winn-Dixie

like you do."

 

And so it is

that I come to know

that I matter to them

 

Because of Winn-Dixie

 

 

- Shana Frazin

 

(This post by Candlewick Press team)

Bus Poetry

I was in New York City over the weekend and a friend and I took the bus down Broadway.  Every once in a while, when your head is not too busy and your heart is not too heavy, you can relax and really, truly see all the faces around you.  Ezra Pound's short, short poem "In a Station of the Metro," captures it best:

 

The apparition of these faces in the crowd;

Petals on a wet black bough.

 

That's what happened to me on the bus on Friday.  Every face was a revelation; and each face deserved a poem.

 

Somebody needs to start a Bus Poetry campaign, that's what I think.

From North Carolina

I was in North Carolina over the weekend and I met a lot of fabulous people and got asked (more than a few) thought-provoking questions.  At one bookstore event a small girl raised her hand and said: do you write to inform?

 

I said: oh, absolutely not; I write fiction.  I just make things up.

 

At the same event, another girl asked: is writing your hobby or your job?

 

I said: writing is my hobby and my job.  I would do it even if I didn't get paid to do it.  Telling stories is how I make sense out of the world. 

 

I was thinking about all of this (the amazing people that I just met, the hobby vs. the job, the need to tell a story and what I learn from the telling) on the plane ride home and I thought: maybe I do write to inform.  I write to inform myself of my own heart (which is often hidden from me).  I tell a story and I catch a glimpse of myself.  And the happy, amazing thing is that when the story goes out into the world (with me trailing along after it), I get to catch a glimpse of other people's hearts, too. 

 

[image error]I got to see the Duke University Chapel while I was in North Carolina. It looks like the inside of someone's heart.