Judith L. Roth's Blog, page 6

How to mix travel with fiction writing

I have an opportunity to travel to Italy and Greece next month. My soul is filled with joy! But it’s also leaking a bit of guilt because my husband can’t come with me. He has to stay home and work. Our last two big trips were to Italy and I feel like a bit of a traitor going off to our holiday stomping grounds without him.

Some voice within said, “If you are also working, maybe you won’t feel so bad.” Of course! I could use my trip as research for a new novel that I would soon be writing. A novel plot I just thought of. Just now.  And all will be well.

Which seems like a really calculated, uninspired kind of thing to do to one’s fiction life.

However. I will be going back to Venice. Where there is literally inspiration around every corner….So….

 

Kitten

Like Sara with Serendipity, there’s a new baby in the house.

We were on the porch eating dinner when we heard the sounds of a kitten in distress. My son (Corey), his friend and I raced outside and found her across the street, in the bushes leading down to the river. She was far from any houses on that side of the street. We came to the conclusion (from the scrape on her chin) that she’d been thrown from a car, left to fend for herself. She seemed scared to be alone and came to us gratefully.

We brought her in the house and she made herself at home. My son said he’d take her to college with him. I thought that was a good idea. At the time. Now she’s been here a week and I can’t imagine how it will feel to have her gone.

I would tell you her name, but my son has yet to name her and he won’t let me do it. (Her name is Skitters. Don’t tell him I said that.)

Here is an odd thing: Corey’s cat died of extreme old age in May. Princess was an unusual-looking cat. Technically a calico, but with less white than they usually have. This new kitten, except for her face, could be a twin to Princess. She even walks the same way.

We miss Princess and we’re very grateful for such a perfect replacement.

Although the cornfield boys aren’t too happy about it….

Research and horses

Last month I got to go on a trail ride in the Smokies. Tennessee is entrancing–the trail wound up and down steep paths, over a stream, past a waterfall. Beautiful. And I loved being back on a horse like my sisters and I used to do every vacation.

But I couldn’t help but feel sorry for the horse. It seemed arduous having to climb so steeply with a rider on its back, going over the same trail time and time again. (This picture doesn’t show the steep parts of the trail.)

I don’t think horses are unhappy being ridden. But I think there’s probably a huge difference between being ridden by someone they know and love, going on adventures together–a huge difference between that and toiling over the same ground over and over with a stranger (usually inexperienced) plunked upon them.

I’d be interested to know what horse enthusiasts think about this.

It did make me remember the research I undertook when I was writing the horse parts of my novel (working title–Three Prayers). One of my main characters was an animal lover/healer. I needed Daniel to be able to lead his horse without a halter, so I started looking on YouTube to see how it might be done. I ran across some videos that showed how to join-up with your horse. Fascinating. They showed how to get your horse to willingly follow you, as if they’re your walking companion. Here’s one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfaUPeYBfTY  It gave me goosebumps the first time I saw it.

They wouldn’t have had this method in 1850, at least not named, but I like to think Daniel would have this same sort of relationship with his horse, Babe.

One of the fun parts of writing a novel is discovering what you don’t know about a subject and then learning some cool and interesting things you might never have looked into otherwise. Working on Three Prayers has taught me about goats, cheese-making, cuckoo clocks, the underground railroad in Indiana and Michigan, folk medicinal plants, pioneer life…I could go on and on. What a world!

Shrunken manuscript

My oldest son is getting married in a week and I have lots to do to get ready for guests. But I couldn’t help myself–I had to take some time out to reshrink my manuscript so I can make sure everything is where it ought to be.

Let’s get ‘er done

If you want instructions for shrinking your manuscript to get an all-in-a-glance overview, go to Darcy Pattison’s blog here: http://www.darcypattison.com/revision/shrunken-manuscript/

This novel-in-progress, Three Prayers, lays out at three rows of seven. It was 87 pages of manuscript before it was shrunk.

In the original shrinking, I could see where chapters needed to be added or divided. In this shrinking after revision (close to the time when I’ll be submitting it to my agent, Stephen Fraser), I noticed one chapter was abnormally long and I split it. This exercise of Darcy’s has been extremely helpful to me, a visual learner.

I can only cover 5 pages with my fabulous furry body

Cat assistants

Cats like to help. Or at least , they like to think they’re helping.

I’ll just keep this warm for you…

I am writing right now with a cat in a box on my lap. This is where he thinks he belongs when I’m at the computer. If I ignore him when he comes swishing around me, he stands on his hind legs and pokes my shoulder with his paw. Repeatedly. This can be annoying. So he’s on my lap. In a box. Because he’s a little bit weird.

Any box will do, but this one’s my favorite.

When I’m writing a book and come to the place where I need to see it all at once, I lay it down on the floor all around me. You can imagine how fun this is for the cats. I haven’t figured out yet why they feel the need to step on paper on the floor. Does the crinkling sound musical? Do they like the way they can leave paw prints on the page? Why is lying on paper preferable to lying on the carpet? I don’t know.

Pencils and papers and pens–oh my!

Pens are also a big draw. Writers’ tools are cats’ playthings. Which is not often helpful. Unless it is helpful to be distracted.

Don’t worry–I got this!

Sometimes it is helpful. I don’t want to be so focused on the words that I forget the softer side of life. The fur that can purr.

How did all those cats fit in there?

International dragons

Yesterday my mail deliverer kindly placed a package on my back deck. Inside: my first-time-ever translation of a book of mine.

It’s not in one of the romance languages. Or ancient Greek. I could maybe sort of read one of those. No, it’s a language that seems more fantastical because the letters are not any I can recognize. And the book is read from back to front. Perfect! If dragons could read, I think they would read this same way.

So here is the Hebrew translation of Goodnight, Dragons. I believe the publishers renamed their translation title as Every Dragon Needs a Hug. (Although I can’t confirm that by looking at it.) By the way, this might be a quirky gift to give for a bar or bat mitzvah.

New kid in town.

Writing with dragons

A couple of months ago, I was struggling with a scene in my historical novel. There were too many things to keep track of. I had five characters, three horses, two dogs, a wolf, two houses, a river and a bridge. It was a chase scene that was going flying in all directions because I couldn’t see in my mind’s eye what could happen or even what was most likely to happen. I couldn’t see what was impossible given the placement of the bridge and the movement of the events. I needed concrete help.

So I went into the labyrinth that is my son’s room. I grabbed up plastic figures that could stand in for my characters, animals and setting. I put the Lego men and the flying dragons to work.

Yes, this is part of my job.

I roughed up the terrain on my bed (held down at two corners by cats) and moved the plastic figures as I played out what I thought might happen in the scene.

Suddenly things fell into place. One character had to leave at a certain time, another character had to find their way around the river….Possibilities that hadn’t occurred to me were suddenly, obviously the answer to what-will-happen-next. I was saved by the concrete. And the plastic.

You can read the longer writing tip about engaging in the physical world by visiting the Literary Rambles blog that I did a guest post on: http://www.literaryrambles.com/2013/04/tip-tuesday-130.html

 

Children’s Author Peggy Archer

In honor of poetry month, I’m interviewing NY Times bestselling author Peggy Archer. Her books are One of the Family, Turkey Surprise, From Dawn to Dreams and the most recent book I’ll be focusing on, Name that Dog!

I became acquainted with Peggy through SCBWI when I was looking for a critique group. Peggy is a generous writer, sharing knowledge and encouragement with kindness. She’s also a generous friend. I feel blessed to know her.

Peggy, welcome here! Now, on to the questions:

Where did you get the idea for Name that Dog?

Thank you so much, Judy! I’m excited to be here on your blog. To answer your question–When our dog Snickers was a puppy, she did so many funny things that I wanted to write about. But I was busier than ever with two kids getting married. So I thought I would write poems about the things she did.

Snickers

My poems were awful! I didn’t think that would matter because I only wanted to ‘keep the ideas alive’ to write about later. But I soon found out that I couldn’t stand the awful poetry! So I read a lot, and learned to write better poetry. It grew on me, and I found that I enjoyed it

Eventually I got the idea to write a collection of poems about my dog. I had written a few poems about other dogs and their names, and I decided to make this my theme. I also thought it might help other new dog owners to name their dogs. To tie it together even more, I made it an alphabet book. At the time I was writing this, I discovered that no one wanted picture books of poetry, or alphabet books. But I loved what I was writing and did it anyway.

Do you have a method for deciding what kind of poem you’re going to write before you start writing? Or do you just begin and let the voice in your head take over?

I guess it depends on what I’m writing about. In FROM DAWN TO DREAMS I wanted the poems to reach the mind of a toddler. They focused on things that a toddler would know about, and things that would give a parent and child something to share.

For NAME THAT DOG! I wanted the poems to have some humor because I think dogs often make you smile or laugh. I also like having a twist at the end, something you might not expect. In this book, the names are based on each dog’s personality or what it looks like, or maybe something else. Bandit likes to steal things, Liberty was born on the Fourth of July, and Noodles has curls that look like noodles.

I think all of the poems in Name that Dog, except for one, rhyme. Is rhyming poetry your favorite kind, or do you use it because it’s child-friendly?

I’ve always loved rhyming poetry, and nursery rhymes were a favorite of mine when I was a child. Listening to music is inspirational to me. I love music that has good rhythm and a good beat. The poem, Frank, doesn’t rhyme, but it has a good rhythm. I usually write for the younger child, and, like you said, rhyming poetry is more kid-friendly. But I think that comes second to writing the type of poems that I love to read.

Two of your books are written in prose, and two are poetry collections. Which kind of writing do you prefer? 

I love both! If I had to choose, I’d probably say that writing a funny picture book, with a song or poem that is repeated in the story, is the most fun. I think picture books are very poetic in themselves. But I also love playing with language to create a poem, and gathering them together within a theme.

You have lots of grandchildren. How do they help and/or hinder your process?

Yes, we have 11 grandchildren now! Most of our younger grandchildren live close to us here in Missouri. They are all inspiring, and keep me in touch with how the mind of a young child works. I love being around them! We read lots of books together, and I can see what kinds of books they like—‘research,’ combined with good times and precious moments together.

What books have you finished reading and thought, “I wish I’d written that!”

That’s a hard question to answer, because there are so many that I think are really good! I love Mole Music, by David McPhail, and Look What the Cat Dragged In, by Gary Hogg and Mike Wohnoutka. There are the chanting books by April Pulley Sayre, which are also cool topics about nature, like Trout, Trout, Trout! And so many more!

Anything else you’d like to share?

 To help celebrate National Poetry Month this year I’m giving away copies of my picture books, NAME THAT DOG! and FROM DAWN TO DREAMS, to two lucky blog readers in a drawing at the end of April. To be entered in the drawing just leave your comment on any of my blog posts this month at http://www.peggyarcher.com/blog.htm. Also on my blog this month are Wednesday Interviews with four very talented children’s authors who write poetry. I invite your readers to stop by on Wednesday, April 17th, when I’ll post an interview with my good friend and critique partner, Judith L. Roth!

Serendipity & Me launched

Thanks to all the family and friends who helped make the book launch party a success. My sister-in-law, Nancy, is queen of the kitchen on these events. My husband’s band, Re/Issued, makes it a party. These great guys learned Needtobreathe’s song, “Something Beautiful” for me, even though it was outside of their comfort zone. Thanks to all for making the night something beautiful for me….

Re/Issued playing at the Serendipity & Me book launch party

Book launch music

A week from tomorrow (3-22), Serendipity & Me will be festively launched at my church (Hively Avenue Mennonite Church, 800 E. Hively, Elkhart, Indiana–7:30-10:00 p.m.).

The best of the festivities come in the form of a cover band called Re/Issued. These guys always do my book parties, and I am extremely grateful to them for that. It helps to have a husband in a band when you’re throwing book launches!

They are quite a collection of loveable guys with talent and wit. In the picture below, they pause briefly from practicing last night for the event. From left to right: Byron Warkentin, Paul Boers, Bob Birkey, Marc Roth. Come for the books, stay for the music. (Or just come and stay for the music!)

Re/Issued 2013