Jeanie Franz Ransom's Blog, page 3

A Night at the Library — May 20, 2015

The Original Buder Branch

It’s been a long time since I’ve been back to the old neighborhood. My dad’s old neighborhood, that is. He grew up in a Hansel-and-Gretel house in St. Louis Hills, an area of south St. Louis that looks much like it did when I visited as a child.

Tonight, I have the pleasure of speaking at my dad’s old library. More than seventy years ago, the Buder Branch of the  St. Louis Public Library was the neighborhood library. Unlike my dad’s childhood home, the library has changed a lot over the years. I never went there as a child. My mom’s mom was my go-to-the-library grandma. My dad’s mom liked to go shopping, out to lunch, or to visit friends — most of whom, being German, owned at least one plump Dachshund.

I’ll be at the Buder Branch on Hampton from 7-8 p.m. for a presentation, then signing copies of my newest book, WHAT REALLY HAPPENED TO HUMPTY?. While I’m there, I’ll probably cruise by my dad’s old house on Itaska, and maybe get some frozen custard at Ted Drewes Custard. Forget “maybe.” It’s pretty much a given. After all, it has been a long time since I’ve been in the neighborhood. I’d love to see you there!

No kittens, puppies, or stupid people stunts. I promise!

I don’t do YouTube. This squirrel just doesn’t need another shiny object to distract her from writing. But once in a blue moon someone I know recommends something on YouTube, and today is a blue moon day. The video is from William Cappel Elementary in Troy, Missouri. Click here to view. In it, teachers and students tell why they like to write. It’s great to get their perspective, especially since I’ll be visiting this school next week to talk to students about writing…and to conduct a staff writing workshop.

Teacher Andrea Duffie said they showed the video to students this morning to “get them pumped up” about my visit next week. I must admit, it got ME pumped up, too! And my adrenaline’s already on overdrive. (I LOVE doing school visits!) But what I really loved was getting information I can use to make my presentations next week really resonate with both students and staff.

I’m already thinking about how I could use video to introduce myself to students and staff before I visit their school. It seems like a great way to make an author visit even more effective…not to mention fun!

Blue is the New Orange

Settting our new picks out after our fall trek to the pumpkin farm,  I thought it was fitting to revisit a post from October 2012 about pumpkin diversity. Happy Fall!

Thinking Beyond Orange

by JEANIE RANSOM on OCTOBER 6, 2012

Every year about this time, my family goes in search of some pumpkins for our front porch. There are five people in our family, so we have to have at least five pumpkins. Somehow we always end up with more!

We usually go to the same farm to pick pumpkins right out of the field. But last October, I decided we’d try a different place – a small, family-owned farm that just so happened to be right around the corner from the big, commercial place we traditionally go. And there we discovered a surprising fact: pumpkins aren’t always orange!

I don’t know about you, but whenever I think of pumpkins, I think orange. So when the farmer took us into his field to look for pumpkins, I was expecting to see lots of orange. I did see orange, but I also saw white, yellow, and blue. Blue pumpkins? Who knew?

The farmer walked us through the field, pointing out the different varieties: Cinderella pumpkins, warty pumpkins, cheese pumpkins, ghost pumpkins, and many more. As you can see from the picture, we found it hard to resist bringing home a few extra pumpkins!

Going the extra mile, literally, to find a new spot to pumpkin pick is much like working a little harder to find a fresh slant on a topic you’re writing about. It takes time to go beyond the obvious when you’re assigned to do a story on a popular subject like, say, Abraham Lincoln. But if you’re willing to search a bit more, chances are you’ll find some quirky, little-known fact that will make the difference between an ordinary story and an extraordinary one.

Ordinary stories, much like orange pumpkins, are easy to find. Are you ready to mix it up a bit? Go find a pumpkin that’s different. Put it where you can see it when you write. Once you go beyond orange,  a whole new world of possibilities await you!

Joe Dumpty Goes for the Gold!

Detective Joe Dumpty (Humpty’s brother) is back, and this time, he’s going for the gold. The gold crown that is! Seems that when Jack and Jill took a spill, someone took Jack’s crown. Now it’s up to Joe Dumpty to track down the crown — and the culprit — before the annual Gooseland Games get cancelled!

It’s fun for me to be able to share the publication process with readers, as well as students at the schools I visit.  Here’s a peek at the proofs for my next book, THE CROWN AFFAIR, which comes out on Feb. 10, 2015. Just click on the book cover to open an Acrobat PDF.

An Author Visit for Earth Day? Let’s “Planet”!

If you’re a librarian or teacher, you already know that having an author visit your school can make a difference in students’ writing knowledge and practice. But having an author visit who’s a member of Authors for Earth Day can make a difference for our planet, too.

As an Authors for Earth Day (A4ED) participant, each year I visit one school where I donate half of my fee to an environmental or animal protection organization. Students get to choose where the money goes, so it’s a beneficial experience all the way around.

Earth Day is traditionally observed in April. But with spring break, standardized testing, and everything else that has to be done by the end of the school year, it can be hard to find time for an Earth Day celebration, let alone an author visit. That’s why, starting this year, the Authors for Earth Day founders decided to make every day Earth Day (and really, shouldn’t it be?). So you can schedule me for an Earth Day event any month – even in April, if you have the time.

Every A4ED participant chooses just one school to partner with each year, so if you’d like to team up with me, please email me by clicking on  the Contact button.

Rolling Out My Next Book

I’m pretty “egg-cited” about the cover for my new book, THE CROWN AFFAIR, available February 15, 2015. Detective Joe Dumpty (Humpty’s brother) is back, and this time, he’s searching for the gold crown Jack lost when he and Jill fell down the hill. I’ll be posting a few sample pages here soon!

 

 

 

 

Yard Work, Anyone?

 

Finally! It’s warm enough to write outside! My “office assistant,” Nemo, is happy to help. He knows I like to write in longhand first, then edit as I type into the computer. I have A LOT of writing to do — thus, the rather large pencil. After submitting several of my picture-book manuscripts to my new agent, Lori Killkelly at Rodeen Literary Management, I’m now turning my attention to my middle-grade manuscript. I’m revising to eliminate a character that really doesn’t add to the story, taking out a chapter and sprinkling parts of it throughout the book in order to create more suspense, and, oh yes, writing the rest of the story. There’s only so much daylight left, so I’d best get busy! More to come….

Writing for Kids

Whether you’re an aspiring writer looking for info and insight on getting published — or you’re a published author wanting to increase your presence in schools, check out an interview I did with author and blogger Margo Dill: www.walruspublishing.com/for-readers/jeanie-franz-ransom.

Why “The End” is Just the Beginning

The End. As a reader, these two words mean that you’ve reached the end of a story or a book. But as a writer, reaching the end of your story is just the beginning. As I tell students when I talk to them about the writing process, it’s never “one and done.” Your first draft is just that. Because when you type “The End,” the real work begins. Editing, revising, weighing each word for its worth, shaping a story that satisfies both the writer and the reader. It’s a process that takes time, but it’s essential, whether you’re a student striving for a good grade or a writer wanting to get published.

When I started writing for children, I thought it would be easy. How hard could it be to write a thousand words or less? I quickly learned that writing a picture book is easy. Finding a publisher is hard. But the hardest of all is the time between writing the book and holding the published book in your hands. Having a baby is a breeze compared to birthing a book. I never imagined that it could take a year or more to get a picture-book manuscript ready to hand off to the illustrator to work his or her magic. I mean really. How many times can you revise a 32-page manuscript?

How about seventeen? Or thirty-five? Indeed, there are thirty-five files on my computer for my next book, the sequel to What Really Happened to Humpty?. Thirty-five versions – some with just a few changes, some with a lot, but thirty-five nonetheless. It’s taken more than a year to revise this book, and it will be two more years until it’s published.

Fortunately, I don’t have to go through the whole process alone. I have an excellent “labor coach”, my editor, who works me hard to make the story the best it can be, while encouraging me  every step of the way. I also have a couple of wonderful critique partners – essential to any writer who either wants to get published or who is in the throes of revision.

Although I wrote the end of my next book several years ago, it wasn’t until recently that there was an end to the revisions. This past July, my editor gave me the good news that the manuscript was ready to sign off on and give to the illustrator. My work, for now, is done.

But the end of the publication process isn’t truly the end, not if you hope to be more than a one-book author. It’s the beginning of your next project, whatever it might be. For me, I’m starting a third book in my Joe Dumpty detective series, as yet untitled. I have the beginning – The Muffin Man has disappeared – but who knows how it will end? All I do know is that when I write the end, it’s just the beginning of the publication process. It will be hard and long, but worth it. Because after the end, there’s always the bright, shiny promise of another beginning.

 

Outside Can Be the Right Place to Write

An article in The New York Times today affirmed what my dogs already know: writers are more productive when they write outdoors. Every time Luke and Nemo see me walk through the house with a notebook or my laptop, they head straight for the front door and practically herd me outside to write.  It works. Read why writing in the fresh air can be, well, a breath of fresh air for your creativity. Click here to read the article.