Elizabeth Atkinson's Blog

So Long Blog

When I was told by my publisher to start writing a blog (“What’s a blog exactly?”) twelve years ago or so, I began with a photo of my old writing partner, Chinaberry.

Now I’m wrapping it up with my second writing partner, Obadiah, who has been struggling the past two months with the sudden onset of serious health issues. You wouldn’t know it this morning as Obi enjoyed the last bit of snow on the last day of March.

I have learned much from these two, such as, enjoy each moment of the journey. There’s no point in clinging to the past or worrying about the future. Let go of fear and anger and play every day, no matter how old you are.

When I was searching for parting words of advice, the most surprising, simplest thing popped into my head… yet another bit of wisdom imparted by my dogs: Greet each other.

I grew up in a household where we said Good Morning when we got up and Good Night when it was time to go to bed. When one of us left the house, we said “I’m leaving,” and upon return, “I’m home.” Growing up, I thought all families did this, but as an adult, I’ve been surprised to learn how few do.

Why is this important? It teaches children to value others and to know that they are valued. And it translates outside the home to strangers in the street. Make eye contact, nod, wave, or say hello to people you pass… value each other. Care about each other. Be kind to each other. Even with a mask your eyes smile.

It’s not possible to sign off without a few words about the pandemic, which has been tragic for many and challenged all of us in one way or another. But despite everything, those endless cracks of light continue to shine, leading us to personal discoveries and, more importantly, new priorities.  

Isn’t it amazing how silly so many social conventions seem now? How much time and money and precious resources we waste on vanity? If you’re healthy, stable, loved, and contributing to the world, who cares what you see in the mirror? Or in a photograph that doesn’t share your beautiful personality or project your comforting voice or emit your unique fragrance and radiance that we, who know you, see in you… and love.

When I first pursued this path as a children’s novelist 20 years ago, I joined a local scribbler’s group and met an inspiring writer, Terry Farish. I was blown away by her sensitive work. But then Terry and I went our separate ways, both of us publishing books and winning a few awards here and there, even working with the same editor at one point at the same publishing company. Over the years, we’ve bumped into each other at “KidLit” conventions and caught up occasionally over a cup of coffee, but I’d never had the chance to work with her. So, for my last gig last week, I invited Terry to join me in conversation, bringing it full circle…

Thank you, dear friends, for supporting me over the years, for reading my books and my rambling blogs! (I’m still not sure what a blog is.) A special, loving thank you to my family – my husband, Erik, and our children, Madeleine and Nate – for their patience with my artistic moods and my crazy hours spent writing through our decades together. And a huge thank you to my wonderful literary agent, Susie Cohen, who stuck by me even through the very unproductive spells.

I’m ready for the next chapter, whatever it may bring. And I hope you are too.

 “Think before you speak. Read before you think.”
– Fran Lebowitz

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Winging It! (Fall 2020)

Most seasons seem to stretch longer than they actually occur, but autumn is always most surprising to me, as it usually bumps up against the holidays. 

The last few months have been busy, as I’ve begun to wind down my writing career, reduce my social media presence, and shift toward literacy work. But whenever possible, like everyone else, I took breaks outdoors.

Thanks to Island Readers & Writers, I worked virtually with Maine students over six weeks as we developed stories. We started here as I zoomed with their real classroom…

…but suddenly had to pivot to their homes when a regional outbreak occurred. I learned first-hand the challenges teachers and students encounter every day learning online. And the parents who juggle it all. 

FLY BACK, AGNES won a Gold Moonbeam Award, recently, and has been nominated for a few other honors! But more importantly, I continue to hear from readers, like this dad who wrote:

“I wanted to tell you that I just finished FLY BACK, AGNES with my daughters last night. They loved it!!  It was a wonderful story… Great message of finding the good in any situation, finding a positive perspective when things look pretty negative.”

I have to say, I’m so happy to welcome winter today. With the return of the light and the coming New Year comes much hope. Finally, we see brightness above the dark clouds.  Keep flying… we’re almost there.

Birds have wings. Humans have stories.

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WINGING IT! (Summer 2020)

Summer days are nearly behind us and cool fall nights are slipping into place.

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Often this time of year makes people anxious with the start of school and hints of winter in the air.

However, with the virus still spreading and social distancing the new norm, I grow more grateful each day for anything familiar…

Leaves ripening to shades of red and gold.

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Early morning dew on the grass.

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An apple just picked from the tree.

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Spending unstructured time outdoors can be deeply healing.

Life in the foothills of the White Mountains over the past few months has been (thankfully) pretty uneventful, with a few exceptions. Most significantly, we said goodbye to our cottage in the woods, where I wrote all five of my novels…

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and said hello to our new home – and new chapter in our lives – on the lake.

Fly Back, Agnes has gathered momentum since winning the 2020 International Book Award for Children’s Fiction from American Book Fest in July and getting some press. Check out the latest news here if you like.

Many thanks to the librarians who have invited me to their Zoom events. Obi & I are looking forward to visiting kids (virtually) at school this year!

Don’t forget, I’m offering a bonus chapter (“10 Years Later”) for free to anyone who wants to know what happened to Agnes after you finish the book. Contact me here with your email and I’ll send it to you.

And if you want to keep up to date with my book news, please follow me on Facebook. To see what inspires me, find me on Instagram.

As the sun sets sooner and the nights grow longer, I believe brighter days are on the horizon this fall… a house may be built of walls and beams, but a home is made of love and dreams.

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Be well.

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Winging It! (Spring 2020)

“Healing begins where the wound was made.” – Alice Walker

It would be an understatement to say the past few months have been challenging for this country. And promoting a new middle grade novel amid a cultural, political, social, historical reckoning — while a worldwide pandemic continues to wreak havoc — feels absurd and even wrong.

However, I still believe nothing has the power to inspire hope and transform lives like a good story.

This is especially true for children, who are listening to our adult words and watching our adult behavior. So please, at the very least, remember to be kind, gentle, and reassuring in the presence of children.

And encourage your children to open up a good book! For those of you trying to get your kids to read, here are a few tips which helped with my children years ago, who have since grown up to be avid readers.

Speaking of books… my new novel, FLY BACK, AGNES, was officially launched at Jabberwocky Bookshop in Newburyport (with the wonderful assistance of River Valley Charter School students) just days before the country shut down and started to quarantine…

And within a couple months, my little book was chosen by Travel & Leisure Magazine for their “10 Books Your Kids Will Love During Quarantine” list…

…as well as GIRL’S LIFE Magazine’s “Spectacular Spring Reads Giveaway”

Online reviews have been flowing in on INSTAGRAM here

and on GOODREADS here!

When the pandemic first hit in March, and essentially closed down the world, many authors went online to read their books aloud and offer virtual visits.

Immediately, I knew I wanted to do something different, as a few readers had already written to me asking, what the heck happened to Agnes after the book ended?

So, for those of you interested in finding out, I’m offering a bonus chapter – “10 Years Later” – for free! Contact me here to receive a copy, and make sure you include your email so I know where to send it!

You know, if the past months have taught me anything, it’s the significance of small gestures and simple pleasures. For instance, I now know what I can’t live without, like this excellent fan my sister and nephew brought back from Guatemala years ago. In the springtime, there is no way I could go outside in the Maine woods without it.

And porch visits! My husband and I have set up our porch, so that friends can enter the door (with their own beverage and snack) and sit down 10 feet from the couch where we’re already seated. We keep a safe distance away from each other as we discuss the world’s complexities.

And riding my bike, because nothing can recapture that feeling of pure childhood bliss like pedaling down a road.

And, of course, an endless stack of good books!

What small and simple silver linings have you recently discovered?

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Winging It! (Winter 2020)

“And now we welcome the new year. Full of things that have never been.” RM Rilke

I began the
new decade outside, absorbing winter in the north

and in the south…

following my New Year’s resolution to be more present in nature and stop worrying so much.

I’m also starting the new decade with a new novel,

FLY BACK, AGNES

available today!!

The official book launch takes place this Saturday, March 7th (4pm) at Jabberwocky Books in Newburyport, MA and 20% of the proceeds will go to the River Valley Charter School Foundation.

I’ve been having a great time working with the 4 – 8th grades (about 130 students total) at River Valley during the month of February…

…and four of their Middle School students will be co-hosting the book launch with me! I promised them my 4-legged writing partner will be making a special appearance as well

Winging It! (Fall 2019)

Autumn means off-season for many places, which is exactly when I like to wander, visit, and poke around…

Over the last couple of months I’ve crossed the ocean to the Azores,

taken a boat ride up the Potomac at night,

the ferry over to Martha’s Vineyard,

walked along the Ohio River in Cincinnati,

and crossed bridges to visit Maine students living on islands.

I believe traveling, like reading, challenges you to be a better, more empathetic person by taking you outside yourself and beyond your comfort zone.

Last month, my husband, Erik, and I visited Plimoth Plantation on the banks of the Eel River overlooking Cape Cod Bay. For those who have never been, Plimoth Plantation is a living history museum with reenactors representing the original “Pilgrim” settlers on one side of the campus…

and native members of the Wampanoag and other Native Nations educating guests over at the Wampanoag Homesite.

The last couple of times Erik and I visited Plimoth Village, our children, who are now grown and on their own, were children.

Before that,
I was a child when I visited.

This time, as an older adult filled with curiosity and a need for clarification, I asked the Pilgrim reenactors and the Wampanoag staff members lots and lots of questions.  All of them answered authentically, revealing the complexities and struggles that came with life-changing persecution, exile, and subsequent invasions during the early 1600s.

Toward the end of the day, Erik and I were sitting in a cozy Wampanoag long house with about 30 other visitors. A lovely Wampanoag woman was telling us the most engaging stories and answering questions about the culture and traditions. A boy raised his hand and stood up, anxious to be seen. He was 1 of approximately 900 other students visiting Plimoth Plantation that day from area schools.

“When did
the Indians stop attacking the Pilgrims?” he wanted to know.

The adults fell silent, stunned by the question, as the young woman’s shoulders rolled forward. She sighed. Her gaze floated around the room and landed on the fire she stoked to keep us warm.

Eventually, she looked over at the boy and smiled kindly, compassionately.

“That’s a
very interesting question,” she said “because that is not how things happened. Maybe
your teacher needs to go back, after spending the day here, and discuss what
was actually going on at the time.”

This Thanksgiving, nothing is more important than teaching your children to explore the truth about history.  From other perspectives. Outside yourself, beyond your comfort zone. Only then, can we begin to understand and celebrate our shared humanity.

“What is this you call property? It cannot be the earth, for the land is our mother, nourishing all her children, beasts, birds, fish and all men. The woods, the streams, everything on it belongs to everybody and is for the use of all. How can one man say it belongs only to him?” (Massasoit, leader of the Wampanoag in 1620 at the time the Pilgrims arrived.)

(Photo Credits: Original & Google Images)

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WINGING IT! (Summer 2019)

A life without love is like a year without summer.

(very wise old proverb)

Not long ago, when a girl asked me how I go about writing a book (as people often do), I began with my usual pat answer – first an idea, then the characters, setting, conflict, plot & chapter outlines, etc – as if there is a specific formula I actually follow. 

The
truth is, it’s not really like that. 

“To
be honest,” I said to her as I paused mid-sentence, “I’m mostly
winging it.” 

Writing is pretty much like living: you have ideas and goals you’d like to pursue, people you’d like to connect with, places where you’d like to live, conflicts you’d like to resolve — but most of the time you’re improvising and revising as you go along.

So WINGING IT, I decided, is the perfect name for my quarterly newsletter, which begins today with this summer edition!

After a very busy spring, including a phenomenal adventure
through New Zealand

Milford Sound, South Island, New Zealand

with library and school stops along the way,

Half Moon Bay School on Stewart Island, New Zealand

followed by a trip to see my editor at Carolrhoda Books in Minneapolis,

Carolrhoda Books, a subsidiary of Lerner Publishing Group

I’m now gearing up for my new novel, Fly Back Agnes, which will be released in March 2020! I’ve seen the cover and, I have to admit, it’s my favorite so far.

And luckily my writing partner approves…

In less than two months, I’ll fly over to The Azores where I plan to visit more libraries and a school or two. I’m beyond excited to explore this volcanic paradise!

And I’m already brushing up on the bit of Portuguese I learned decades ago the summer I lived in Brasil …

Campos, Rio de Janeiro

Later in the fall, I’ll head north with Island Readers & Writers to work with students living off the coast of Maine and in Washington County.  This will be my third time traveling with IRW and I can’t say enough about the phenomenal work this unique literacy organization does for Maine kids!

Dennysville, Maine

Part of my visit is being generously sponsored by the Ferguson Foundation, who will match donations.

To learn more about IRW grants and how you can help, please check them out here.

By the way, you can still find me on Facebook, Twitter, and now on Instagram — I’d love to follow you!

So that’s my slice of news from this tiny corner of the world. If you get a chance, let me know what you’re up to this summer in the comments section below — especially what you’re reading! I’m finishing up Becoming by Michelle Obama (powerful and inspiring) and starting The Overstory by Richard Powers. Any recommendations?

Thank you, as always, for checking in and for the many years of support!

May your summer be memorable and your memories filled with summer.

Lake Kezar

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Beginning Again

After blogging for more than a decade, I’ve decided this one will be my last. It’s time for a little something different.
My funny, smart, devoted 90 year-old father passed away recently, so it feels like a natural time to make some adjustments, recreate, and continue on… which is exactly what Dad did whenever he faced difficult obstacles or a deep loss.
Like many children who were raised during the depression, my father acquired a formidable layer of resiliency and optimism, despite his challenging childhood circumstances. He loved life and made the most of his.
A couple years ago, I asked my dad (already legally blind with a failing heart) how he kept at it every day — rising early, following the same routine, exercising on the treadmill, dressing well, reading (large font) novels on his Kindle, cursing at the exasperating news, cracking his famous jokes, flirting with my mom — and he told me the answer is simple:
You have to keep moving forward, no matter what.
If you stop and dwell on the past — all that you cannot change — then your body will give up. And eventually, you will give up.
So brush off yesterday, reimagine today, and walk toward tomorrow… because every day is a gift and a chance to begin again.
Thank you, Dad.

 

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If THAT Happens

We were hosting a baby shower for one of my husband’s colleagues at our apartment outside Boston, our own baby just a few months old. The party was really an excuse to have people from the office over to get to know each other better.

Everything had gone well until the very end when the last baby gift was opened. I was keeping a list of the baby presents for the parents-to-be, so they could write thank you notes later, when I noticed nothing written next to one of the guest’s name.

“Robert,” I said. “I must have missed you. What was your gift again?”

Robert looked away and replied quietly, “Nothing. I’ll bring something to work on Monday.”

The room fell silent. A fun party now ended on a very uncomfortable note, partly due to Robert’s blunt response, but mostly because I didn’t think before I opened my mouth.

Every human on earth, since the beginning of time, has experienced them: AWWWkward Situations

Those embarrassing moments which seem to happen more often this time of year with all the requisite holiday commitments. Awkward situations like…

~ Blanking out and forgetting a friend’s name when you introduce them. 

~ Waving back to someone until you realize they’re waving at someone else.

~ Talking to yourself, only to notice someone has been watching you.

~ Having too good of a time and consequently tripping or breaking or spilling on others.

~ Sending an email or text to the wrong person… I mean the really wrong person.  

~ Hugging a person when they decide to kiss your cheek, but they miss and kiss your nose or eye, because you’re only hugging… or vice versa.

Either you laugh it off or you cringe yourself into a dark hole. Most of us do a little of both: laugh and cringe, cringe and laugh.

Awkward situations are unavoidable, but the way we handle them says a lot about our well-being.

Experts recommend “apologize where appropriate, maintaining your sense of humor and moving on fairly quickly.

‘Don’t take yourself so seriously that you derail the conversation, not with your flub, but actually with your response to your own mistake,’ says Jessica Hagy, author of How to Be Interesting (In 10 Simple Steps).

It may also be helpful to remember that your faux pas likely looms larger in your mind than in anyone else’s.

‘There’s something called the spotlight effect — people think that they’re in the spotlight — but everyone thinks they’re in the spotlight,’ says Rodolfo Mendoza-Denton, an associate professor of psychology at the University of California at Berkeley.

‘So in the eyes of other people, one’s actions aren’t being analyzed as carefully as one thinks.'” **

In other words, no one cares nearly as much as you do when these things happen. And the good news is, as you get older and survive countless humiliating mini moments, you tend to laugh a lot more and cringe a lot less.

 

**Social Rx: How to Recover from 5 Classic Faux Pas

Photo Credits: Google Images

 

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Book News: Coming in 2020!

“Amy Fitzgerald at Lerner/Carolrhoda has bought Elizabeth Atkinson’s middle grade novel FLY BACK, AGNES MOON. Reeling from her parents’ divorce and her best friend’s sudden abandonment, 12-year-old Agnes invents a new identity for herself—new name, new background, new confidence—until some unlikely friends make her rethink who she really wants to be. Publication is scheduled for spring 2020; Susie Cohen at PearlCo Literary Agency negotiated the deal for world rights.” (Publishers Weekly: Rights Report)

Agnes Moon is fed up with her old life, so she invents a new one, never expecting her two worlds to collide.

-FLY BACK, AGNES MOON-

by Elizabeth Atkinson

Spring 2020

(Lerner Publishing Group)

 

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