Starting New Things

View from Morse Mountain, Phippsburg, Maine. Photo by my husband, John

I started a chapter book yesterday, something for kids between early readers and the middle-graders for whom I usually write. It's fun to try something different. And though middle-grade novels are first in my heart, they take a lot out of me in an emotional sense. John asked me once why I took on such hard things in my novels. I thought about it and said the truth, "Because it's what I care about."

But those novels aren't the only person I am. When I do a library conference keynote, sometimes I'll say, "And how do you follow up a sensitive Newbery Honor novel about a girl who has a brother with autism? Well, I followed it up with a hamster in a car!" 

I don't know if I can sell this, but for the first time in a long time, I'm only doing this because I want to. And that makes it fun in a way that I haven't felt in awhile. 

So while my editor is doing her work on my novel and our next Hamster book is wrapping up, I'm just going to let myself write and try new things.

Because one thing I've learned about writing is that nothing is wasted. I learn something from it. Or it leads to something else. There's always a reason I'm drawn to something and that makes it worth doing, even if the reason why isn't crystal clear at the beginning.