Y.S. Lee's Blog, page 28

Pop! Goes the Weasel

A few nights ago, I lay awake in bed thinking about the lyrics to "Pop! Goes the Weasel". (Authors do not lead the lives of rock stars, know what I mean?) My son's been singing the North American version at preschool:

All around the mulberry bush

The monkey chased the weasel.

The monkey thought it was all in fun,

Pop! goes the weasel.

A penny for a spool of thread,

A penny for a needle,

That's the way the money goes.

Pop! goes the weasel.

But then I got thinking about the British version, which is the one my husband grew up singing:

Half a pound of tuppenny rice,

Half a pound of treacle.

That's the way the money goes,

Pop! goes the weasel.

Up and down the City Road,

In and out the Eagle,

That's the way the money goes,

Pop! goes the weasel.

If you're as history-obsessed as I am, you will found yourself looking for meaning even in traditional children's songs. The explanation I like best involves, coincidentally, the Victorian period. If you know that "pop" is a slang term for "to pawn" and that "weasel" is Cockney rhyming slang for "coat", then the lyrics suddenly make sense. This isn't just an odd little nursery rhyme featuring lively weasels; it's about grinding urban poverty. Go ahead, check it out!

This grittiness makes me like the song even more. How about you?

Cover Story: The Traitor in the Tunnel

Hello, friends! I'm so excited to share with you the behind-the-scenes photos from Candlewick Press's recent photo shoot for the cover of The Traitor in the Tunnel. As you'll see, it's the same team as last time. The model, Amber Ahlquist, looks a wee bit older (I guess even models are subject to the passage of time) and we found the same stylist, Crystal Thompson, which particularly thrills me to pieces, because she's an expert on nineteenth-century fashion. Without further burbling:

The shoot took place in New York. The severe black gown is part of Mary's uniform as a housemaid at Buckingham Palace. Her hairstyle is equally plain, to suit her assignment.

Oh, that vexing apron. Aprons are meant, in theory, to protect your dress from the muck and filth of housework (open fires, stone-flagged floors…). Yet white aprons show every bit of dirt and wear, so they're incredibly difficult to keep clean and crisp. Yes, Mary finds this annoying.

The model is photographed against a white backdrop.

Afterwards, her image is placed into context: this time, it's a drawing room at the Palace.

From these images, to this:

And that's the cover story! What do you think?

So indulged

Hello, friends. I'm blogging this week from my parents' house, where my partner, children, and I are playing, napping, idling, walking, exploring, and generally being coddled by the people who gave me life. It is grand, I tell you. Absolutely divine.

Do you know what the most beautiful sentence in the English language is, when uttered by busy and normally responsible adults? It's, "Hi, Mom. What's for dinner?" Okay, that's 2 sentences. But that's where I'm at, right now. I feel very lucky and extremely loved and totally indulged.

I'm reading this:

and this:

And I'll reflect on these in a future edition of A Reader Reports. But at the moment, it's raining outside, I've just had very hot shower, and I'm eating a steaming bowl of black rice pudding with coconut milk in an almost-silent house. Life may get better than this, but right now I just want these few minutes to last as long as possible.

How are you faring, this November? What's new with you?

 

Happy Hallowe'en!

Hello, friends! I hope you'll indulge my parental amusement for a minute. This is the jack o'lantern designed by our resident 3-year-old. Is it just me, or is a small child's drawing of a face more frightening than any deliberately spooky design?

I mean, I wouldn't want to sit next to this character on a long-distance bus ride…

I had an fantastic Hallowe'en surprise yesterday when this was delivered to my door:

Food52 is a place where anyone can join to enter their recipes in contests (or you can just hang out, comment, and drool over the gorgeous food photography). They give out lovely prizes and compile the winners into cookbooks such as this one. The site is now extremely competitive; casual cooks beware! But back in the days when things were, shall we say, still in my league, I won a contest with my recipe for Overnight Steel-Cut Oats. It's here, now, in the first Food52 Cookbook and I'm absolutely tickled.

What did you get up to for Hallowe'en? Were there any surprises – pleasant or otherwise – in your day?

Meditation in Action

Three-and-a-half years ago (ie, Before Kids), I was a passionate yogi. I practiced regularly, I thought daily about my practice and how it was evolving, and travelling to Mysore, India (birthplace of ashtanga yoga) was one of my dreams. Since then, I can count precisely the number of times I've done the full primary series: 0. Sure, I've tried to come back to it. Repeatedly. I was even semi-regular, for one joyous little window between pregnancies. But I've concluded that having a regular, mindful, dynamic yoga practice is unrealistic for the time being. (Check in with me in a year's time. If I'm not semi-regular again, please be disappointed in me. I certainly will.)

One thing I loved (still do) about yoga is that it's a form of meditation in action. These days, however, I get my meditation-in-action in different ways. Cooking is pretty frenzied, with one child "helping" and another yodelling in the background. Ditto baking. But look what landed in our back garden today!

Two cords of seasoned firewood. And it all needs to go into the shed (that blue building on the right). Stacking firewood is only very distantly related to yoga: both require a gentle warm-up and no special clothing (regardless of what lululemon would have you believe). Both leave you feeling sore and smug the next day. And until things calm down around here, I'll take my meditation in action wherever I can get it.

What's your form of meditation in action?

P.S. I recently recorded two audio clips for the nice people at teachingbooks.net. Want to hear them? The first is a short reading from A Spy in the House and the second is a silly one about the pronunciation of my name. Hope you enjoy!

The Traitor in the Tunnel!

Hello, friends! I'm so thrilled today to share with you the North American cover for The Traitor in the Tunnel:

Those of you with an editorial eye will now be wondering, "The Traitor and the Tunnel" or " The Traitor in the Tunnel"? Why are you so inconsistent, Ying? Don't you know the title of your own book? In fact, there are two slightly different titles. I originally chose "and" because I wanted the title to allude to different traitors and different tunnels, and that's what we did at Walker Books for the UK edition. But the fine editors at Candlewick Press felt that "in" sounded better – faster, snappier, cleaner. And once it was pointed out to me, I agreed. So the North American edition is The Traitor in the Tunnel. Did you think it was possible to agonize this much over a simple conjunction or preposition?

I also wanted to share with you an absolutely lovely review of Traitor by Niranjana Iyer of Brown Paper. Iyer says, "The richness of detail, the intelligent writing, the intricate plots, and superbly-drawn characters elevate this series miles above most YA offerings on the shelves today; I'm delighted to hear this trilogy now has a fourth installment in store for its many devotees." Thank you so much, Nina!

A Reader Reports: Hot Streak

Hello, and welcome to the second instalment of A Reader Reports, which is very much what the title promises. I've had an absolutely wonderful streak of books lately – so much so that I'm a bit worried about what's coming next, in case it doesn't live up to its predecessors. The Fabulous Four, in the order I read them, are:

Shadows on the Moon, by Zoë Marriott

I flicked this one open quite casually, thinking that I might just browse a little before saving it it for a while. Then I read the first paragraph: "On my fourteenth birthday when the sakura was in full bloom, the men came to kill us. We saw them come, Aimi and me. We were excited, because we did not know how to be frightened. We had never seen soldiers before." But it's not just a tense, fast-paced adventure story. Zoë re-tells the Cinderella story in a way that makes Suzume, the main character, a real heroine: determined, resourceful, intelligent, and brave. She folds into the story cultural details about a country that resembles, but is not, feudal Japan. And she plays with the idea of what it means to be exotic with witty, thoughtful results.

Jane Austen: A Life, by Claire Tomalin

I've raved about Claire Tomalin here before, so I'll keep this brief. I cannot imagine a more sensitive, satisfying exploration of Jane Austen's elusive life story. Tomalin fills in the gaps gently, suggests enticing possibilities, and offers a thoroughly convincing theory for Austen's quiet period. She also reads the novels with authority and her argument about Sense and Sensibility (until now my least-favourite Austen novel; Tomalin claims it's a conflicted debate about propriety and Romanticism, which intrigues me) makes me want to re-read it more attentively.

Plain Kate, by Erin Bow

[image error]This book just won – and entirely deserved to win – the TD Canadian Children's Literature Award! It's a stunner of a novel about an orphaned carver girl, the Plain Kate of the title. The novel is a fairy tale, a ghost story, a coming-of-age tale, and a meditation on family, all told in beautifully precise and elegant prose. And did I mention the talking cat? I cried myself to a  pulp reading this and the world is a better place for its existence.

Faith Fox, by Jane Gardam

I love Jane Gardam's work. She's a ruthless observer of human weakness, yet affectionate towards the ridiculousness of her characters' behaviour. She creates absurd situations with outrageous levels of coincidence, yet they feel absolutely realistic at the same time. Faith Fox is a baby whose mother dies in childbirth, setting off a series of actions and reactions – Faith is just the catalyst. As always with Gardam, it's not about the plot at all; instead, I revel in her language, her astoundingly precise and surprising characterization, and her gift of being able to see into so many different times and places and minds with such clarity.

Whew. So. What have you been reading?

P. S. I bought Shadows on the Moon and Plain Kate with my own money; Jane Austen and Faith Fox were gifts from my husband, who is also clearly on a hot streak.

Award-winning (since Tuesday night)

Hello friends! Please pardon my lateness in blogging. I've been shuttling to and from Toronto with a wee infant, who, while being the best baby companion imaginable, is still a bit boggled by her late nights and lack of routine. (As am I.)

We were in Toronto for the Canadian Children's Book Centre's annual awards gala, and I came away with the best news possible: A Spy in the House won the inaugural John Spray Mystery Award! Here's what the judges had to say: ""In A Spy in the House Lee has got Victorian London right; this is what Dickens' world really smelled like, literally and morally… Interesting and unique, Mary Quinn is a strong character who can think on her feet… I loved this book from the first line to the very last… A great read for a young adult of any age…"

I'm astounded, and thrilled, and humbled, and so grateful to a long list of people:

- John Spray of the Mantis Investigation Agency, who created and funds the award;

- My husband, Nicholas Woolley, who is my first and best and most ruthless reader;

- My agent, Rowan Lawton of PFD, who first envisioned the book as a YA novel;

- My editors, Mara Bergman of Walker Books UK and Deborah Noyes Wayshak of Candlewick Press, for honing my manuscript to its present form;

- All the booksellers, librarians, and teachers who are its passionate advocates;

- And finally, I am so very grateful to you, my readers, who are fervent about Mary Quinn and her circle. It's a joy and a privilege to write these books. Thank you for your support.

Warmest congratulations to my fellow finalists Jan Markley, Allan Stratton, Marty Chan, and Norah McClintock. Long may mystery novels for young people continue to flourish!

A short delay

Hello, friends. I'm in Toronto for the Canadian Children's Book Centre's annual awards gala and will blog all about it here tomorrow!

The Traitor is coming!

Hello friends! It's been a busy week. I was at Kingston WritersFest on Thursday, where Adwoa Badoe and I read and talked about our books. Adwoa's first YA novel is called Between Sisters and it's about 16-year-old Gloria, who goes to work as a maid in modern-day Ghana. You can't really get further, geographically and culturally, from the Agency, but our terrific moderator, Susan Olding, led us through a lively conversation about social pressures, personal expectations, imperialism, our protagonists' characters, and our writing process. She bridged the two worlds of the novels beautifully. I loved the really thoughtful audience questions, especially from Beth and Clara (hi!).

with Susan Olding and Adwoa Badoe; photo by Bernard Clark

 

photo by Bernard Clark

I also stopped in at Lethbridge, AB's first-ever Word on the Street festival and chatted with readers there about the link between research and writing. Good times.

I'm reading Claire Tomalin's Austen bio, Jane Austen: A Life, at every stolen moment and absolutely adoring it. It's not just that I'm an Austenphile; Tomalin is such a wise, sympathetic, subtly observant biographer and she makes me think about things anew. For example, she really challenges my opinion of Sense and Sensibility, until now my least favourite of Austen's novels. Tomalin argues that S&S is a debate connected to the politics of the 1790s, and that Austen's characterizations of Elinor and Marianne are much subtler than I'd previously thought. I'm determined to re-read it, now, and see if I agree.

And finally, I have an official North American publication date for The Traitor in the Tunnel! February 28, 2012 is the Big Day. Huzzah!