Grace Lin's Blog, page 112

on my desk monday

I've put work for "LiNa's Lily" on the backburner to do the interior illustrations for "Dumpling Days." This is a bit more complicated than usual because "Dumpling Days" is all about my first trip to Taiwan and I've drawn pictures with lots of Chinese words in them and I don't know Chinese (I've been struggling through lesson one in Rosetta Stone, I've been unable to pronounce the word 'juice' correctly enough to move on to lesson two).

That is where my new acquaintance, Amie steps in! A Taiwanese native, she spent a whole morning going through my sketches and correcting all the Chinese:

It was a very amusing breakfast as she looked at my drawings, sometimes staring in puzzlement and shaking her head. But she got through and, now (as long as I copy her words correctly) all the Chinese should be right. Though, the book is supposed to be all from Pacy's--a girl who doesn't know Chinese--point of view, so if there are mistakes it just makes the book more authentic, right? I hope so!!

Sunday Chinese School

Welcome to Sunday Chinese School, where we learn a Chinese word (or phrase) a week with my mom!Today's words are:

dragon: lóng
snake: shé
horse: mǎ
monkey: hóuzi

fortune cookie friday

"If you are a deer-hunter, do not waste your arrows on rabbits."
-Chinese Proverb

My six

Even though I've just finished up Dumpling Days, I'm already making plans for my next novel "Return to Sky." I admit I've been a bit scared to begin this one, even though I have been thinking about it for quite some time. Truthfully, I'm afraid my ambitions for it are greater than my abilities. But, I'm trying to take courage just like I did before when I first began work on Where the Mountain Meets the Moon. I had said I was going with Samuel Beckett's quote "Try again. Fail again. Fail better." I'm still going with the "fail better."

But a new quote has also crossed my mind. Recently, I read this post by Brenda Bowen where she excerpted Virginia Wolff's speech at the National Book Awards. In that speech Virgina Wolff talked about "Faulkner's six"--the six things writers should write about. Here's an excerpt:

Faulkner said in 1949 in the Nobel speech that if we are not writing about these six things we are not doing our job. They are love, honor, pity, pride, compassion and sacrifice. I think of them as Faulkner's six.

I thought that was interesting and quite moving, and it made me think of the things that are important to me write about, especially for this book. Right now, I think my six would be:

LOVE
KINDNESS
EMPATHY
RESPONSIBILITY
PEACE
JOY

But I think I'll keep tweaking and changing it. What would your six be?

book talk tuesday

Granny Torrelli Makes Soup by Sharon Creech

IndieBound Description: Twelve-year-old Rosie and her best friend, Bailey, don't always get along, that's true. But Granny Torrelli seems to know just how to make things right again with her interesting stories and family recipes. It's easier to remember what's important about love, life, and friendship while Granny Torrelli makes soup.

My Thoughts: I wanted to wait a little while before I recommended another Sharon Creech book but this is the perfect remedy for these cold winter days, when things feel dreary and you are a bit sniffly. This book is just like the soup it describes--cozy, comforting and nourishing.

on my desk monday

The first pass-pages of my upcoming novel "Dumpling Days!" All those pink post-it notes mark the pages that have my requested changes on them...and there are a lot! I am double crossing my fingers my publisher will be able to do them all!

This is actually a good lesson learned for me. Previous to this pass, I'd been editing and making changes on the computer, reading onscreen, and I thought things were looking fine. But when I was sent a hard copy and read it on paper, I found a lot of very-needed changes! I guess this is why I do not have an e-reader.

Sunday Chinese School

Welcome to Sunday Chinese School, where we learn a Chinese word (or phrase) a week with my mom!Today's words are:

rat: lǎo shǔ
ox: níu
tiger: lǎo hǔ
rabbit: tùzi

fortune cookie friday

"Do not tear down the east wall to repair the west."
-Chinese Proverb

local book buying

So I adore my local bookstore, Porter Square Books (they almost always keep a supply of my books--love the "on our shelves now" listing!) but before they were my local bookstore, I lived near Harvard Square and shopped (and worked) almost exclusively at the Curious George Goes to Wordsworth. However, now, I have some pangs of regret not shopping (and working) here:


Though I am glad I don't have to experience this anymore (amazon had just taken off when I stopped being a bookseller):



Ah, the memories!

lovely local visit

While I enjoy seeing students out on the road, I also enjoy visiting local schools. What one local school has done for a while now is have me visit the kindergartners in the Fall with The Ugly Vegetables and the 4th graders in the Spring with The Year of the Dog. This is wonderful not only because The Ugly Vegetables has a cameo appearance in The Year of the Dog, but because I've been visiting this school for so long that I am now seeing 4th Graders who I saw as Kindergartners! A true growing up with my books!

And every year, the 4th Graders prepare storyboards illustrating their favorite "small story" in The Year of the Dog. Here are some of them--aren't they great?
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&nbsp I hope I get to see them again next year![image error]