Augusta Scattergood's Blog, page 45

Another Year, Another Parade

If you need inspiration for writing a parade scene, look no further than Chatham NJ.

In fact, that's what I did when writing GLORY BE. Okay, honestly, the homecoming queen in a scratchy dress came from all those Friday afternoon parades before CHS Wildcat football games in Cleveland, MS.
B ut the rest? All from Chatham.

Here's a quick glimpse of today's parade, in pictures. 

HAPPY JULY 4TH EVERYBODY!



 I'm a huge fan of bagpipers. Love the newest addition. Check him out, the kid on your far left.


 Another new addition. A truck supporting our governor.









All the swim clubs decorate floats.

 


Statue of Liberty. Wouldn't be a parade without her!  
 
And for all of you who've been to the parade in Chatham. Yep, the crazy firemen ended today with two little burning houses, hoses, buckets of sparking confetti. Same as always. 
It's good that some things never change, right?

Oh, and Happy Birthday, Gloriana June Hemphill.

Pinterest Party

Three of us from my old New Jersey critique group gathered to master Pinterest. We all had Pinterest accounts but weren't sure how best to use them. Book stuff? House stuff? Recipes?

We looked to the experts. But our Shout Out via Facetime didn't connect. We were on our own. Fortunately the HELP menu on Pinterest is helpful.
Here we are.Working away, with our computers glued to Pinterest.


Fortunately, Lee Hilton was one of the group.  
(She's a food blogger!)
And a really good cook. We ate well, rewarding our hard work.
Kale chips, fresh guacamole, sour cherries from the Summit Farmer's Market.


Check out our Pinterest boards.
Leslie Davis Guccione
Lee Stokes Hilton
Augusta Scattergood

(Tip: Search our names, then click on PINNERS to find our boards.)

We're all there now.
We went nuts pinning and repinning. No pin left unturned!

My Art for the Day...

My friend Eileen created this snappy new Facebook cover picture. She used Photoshop.
Someone commented that it was like a Junk Poker treasure box. And we all love treasure boxes, right?

For those of you contemplating making your own collage, another clever friend recommends this site:

http://www.picmonkey.com/#

Super easy! I have that right from the source.

Let me know how much fun it is. Next time, I may do my own.
Though it sure is nice to have all these talented friends. Thanks, all!

Quote of the Day

Children, like animals, use all their senses to discover the world. Then artists come along and discover it the same way all over again.

Eudora Welty
(1909-2001)


And speaking of Miss Eudora.

Here's a link to an early draft of the powerful story she wrote on the day she read Medgar Evers had been shot. 

http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20130602/NEWS0107/306020016/Eudora-Welty-s-short-story-Medgar-Evers-death-From-Unknown-

If it's an Eudora Welty kind of day where you are, there are many more of her quotes on this blog. Just type her name into the search box.

Here's one I love:
http://ascattergood.blogspot.com/2011/12/true-confessions.html

OR you can click over to Brainy Quotes.
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/e/eudora_welty.html

I think I'll revisit a few of her short stories, again this summer.

My writing inspiration for the day! How about you?

Road Tripping

Thank you, Mr. Schu, for taking time from your busy schedule (American Library Association! Chicago! Envious.) to blog about GLORY BE.

You can read his blogpost right here:
http://mrschureads.blogspot.com/2013/06/glory-be-is-backseat-book-club-selection.html

Fellow writers, teachers, librarians: If you don't follow him on Twitter, Facebook, his blog, etc, and you want to know the latest, greatest kids' books or ways to engage young readers, you are missing out.

Plus he takes some fun, book-related trips.

Last year Mr. Schu's annual road trip itinerary included Mississippi, and other points south. He read GLORY BE in some of my favorite places. Lemuria Books, the Eudora Welty Library, the old Capitol, the University of Southern Mississippi.



Here he is, hanging out at the Welty Library in Jackson. 

I'll be following along to see where he ends up this summer. Maybe someplace cooler than his Southern Swing last summer. Have a fun trip, Mr. Schu!

ARCs: a Quick Story in Pictures

This morning I'm thinking about ARCs.
No, not the character or the plot kind, though goodness knows I've been worrying over those lately. Fine-tooth combing the heck out of a few wandering Plot Arcs.
But that's a story for another blogpost.

These are the ARCs I'm talking about.


For those of you who get these Advanced Reading Copies of forthcoming books, you know what I mean. This is a TINY stack that happened to be within rolling distance of my desk chair this morning.

Many are unrequested, sent via mail or UPS by publishers, agents and authors.
Some are picked up at ALA, BEA, or any of those other initial shows you may be so lucky to get sent to.

To learn how a professional chooses from her much taller stack than mine,
check out what the fabulous Professor Nana says HERE .
Great list of ways to pick your next book, BTW!

Click to read what Wikipedia has to say on the topic of
 ARCs, AREs (Advanced Readers/ Reading Editions) or even galleys.

(What I think of as a galley doesn't look much like a book and somehow seems not as much fun to read. See below, the big one in the middle...)






(I took this picture on my deck early this morning and titled it Arcs On Deck, for identification. Then it occured to me. Yes, three of them are On Deck, next up, ready to be reviewed!)

They are not meant to be sold. I try to pass mine along to new readers if I don't want to save forever.
Most publishers- all publishers?- make it very clear that they are NOT FOR SALE...




(An aside. Although the ones I've read have been amazingly kind and positive, I try to stay away from Goodreads/ Amazon, etc. reviews of my own book. But last night someone sent me a pretty funny review of Glory Be via Amazon. The reviewer, who actually is a person I knew as a child, mistakenly bought an ARC and gave the book a "1."
My only Amazon #1, which is not good. 4 and 5 are good...
:)
She was disappointed that it wasn't a "REAL book." Though she loved the words inside.
About three people commented and set her straight. Thank you, whoever you are, nice people who commented.)


My most recent review for the Christian Science Monitor was a collection of YA Summer Reads and I got to include a book whose cover made me open it the day the mail came! Love, love, love the cover of Michael Northrop's new book, Rotten, not to mention the words inside.






Next up, one of the most delightful books I've read in a while. That fabulous mouse tale from Richard Peck.  Newly arrived, with publicity info from the publisher. Also cracked open upon arrival. And read in one sitting.

Now you know a bit about ARCs. Hopefully enough so that you won't buy one by mistake, anywhere. But if you do- hey, you never know!  They could eventually be valuable.
Hang on to them if you love them!

 Now. Back to those pesky plot arcs...

Wax lips, anyone?

It's that kind of day. Right?

What Fun!

After a year and a half of talking to kids about writing Glory Be, I've learned a lot. One thing I'm sure of: If your publisher offers you what they claim is a Great Opportunity, take it.

The George Washington Carver School in Newark was just that. The kids were great. Their teachers were great. I loved this school.

Yes, it's June. It was warm in New Jersey. Carver School was celebrating Multi-Cultural Day with a big assembly. And some of the kids left early for a field trip to the Intrepid. A lot happens in this school. And yet the teachers had managed to share the book in class and teach their kids a lot about the 1960s. Every one of the 125 5th and 6th graders were beautifully prepared, well-read, and brilliant. I'm sure of it.

Here are the pictures to prove it.



The poster. Sigh.

Some of the messages:
Thanks for coming. 
We love your book.
I love your work. (I adore this remark!)
Thanks for being an author.



The kids, having fun! 
Posing with the poster.

(They were the best behaved listeners and questioners in the world.)









Scholastic Bookfairs, NJAfter3, and My Very Own Library teamed up to sponsor my visit. Scholastic donated books for every single 5th and 6th grade student at George Washington Carver and Bruce Street School for the Deaf.
(Way to go, Scholastic!)


Scholastic even sent me a ton of bookplates to sign, in case any of the kids forgot their books. Very few forgot. And those had printed a pic of the cover of Glory Be for me to sign.




(I have a lot of bookplates left. If anybody needs one, email or comment or Facebook message me, and I'll send it your way!) 




 


 These girls were part of the multi-cultural assembly. Dancers from the Dominican Republic!


 Here I am with the fabulous teachers. I loved chatting with them after my presentation. One had worked in a Freedom School and told me all about it. They'd all done an amazing job of preparing the kids. Thank you, ladies!
One teacher says her kids want to write a sequel: Whatever Happened To Robbie?
Now you know I love that...

(And a special shoutout to the Tech Guy, not pictured: Thank you for your help!)
What a way to end my school year, traveling with Glory Be!

Greetings from New Jersey

Yesterday I had a positively FABULOUS school visit with some kids at the George Washington Carver School in Newark (Thanks, Scholastic!). Another blog on the school visit coming soon.



(Okay, here's a teaser. There were 125 kids, all had read the book, all had amazing things to say.)


Since I don't quite have all my photos from yesterday yet, on this rainy day in NJ, here are a few pictorial Jersey Love things you might not expect. Reasons I love spending time in my adopted home state of 25 years...


1. The grocery stores and the many, many Farmers Markets sell fig trees and figs.
The Farmers Markets alone would be reason enough to spend the summer here.







2. The July 4th Parade. I love bagpipers! I love parades!
Can't wait for this event, coming soon.
(Picture from previous edition. They really don't change that much...)





3. Visiting old friends and former libraries. This is the front of the Library of the Chathams, Main Street, Chatham NJ, all decorated for Flag Day or July 4th. I worked here as a reference librarian for five years before returning to the world of school librarianship.
This town loves its flags!





4. The train to NYC. Every hour, at least. Quick ride.





5. And speaking of trains. If you look closely at this view from the Newark Broad Street station yesterday, you can see the Valley Landscape Silo in the distance.





Which reminded me of The Sopranos, that late, great TOTAL FICTION HBO show.

Which of course sent me looking for a clip with that silo. And here it is. Near the end.






We are shaped by all the places we've lived, aren't we? So far, nothing from The Sopranos has made its way into my own fiction (!) and probably never will, but that July 4th parade? Totally.

How about you? Is setting a product of your own life settings, so to speak?

Reading and Writing and Eudora Welty

On the occasion of my last two school visits of the year, I'll share one question I get asked first and maybe most : Why did you become a writer? What inspired you?

And this is pretty much my answer, too.

“Indeed, learning to write may be part of learning to read. For all I know, writing comes out of a superior devotion to reading.”
― Eudora Welty, On Writing