Thursday, November 29, 2007
I Am Not Alone
Just came back from my critique group with renewed energy. What a great group of writers! I am very lucky. What makes me even happier is that just being around them helps me to feel that I am not alone. They are all mom/writers with young kids and are all published. They understand the trials of trying to have a family and a full-time career as a children's writer. I have another close friend who understands this, but lives far away, so I can't see her as much as I would like to. She would benefit from this group, too. I love my other writer friends very much, but it's also nice to be around writers who know what it's like to try and squeeze in a couple of hours of writing two or three times a week between runny noses, diaper changes, messy, toy-infested houses, and husbands wanting quality time. They all have more than one child, too, which is a comfort since it shows me that writing can be done with two children! I'm scared to death of what it will be like to have two and try to write. Well, I will find out soon enough...
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
America Earns an "F" in Reading for Pleasure
Just read on the Publisher's Lunch listserv about the new NEA Report. Check out what Publisher's Lunch said about it:
As Different Sparks Fly from NEA
But right before Jeff Bezos took to the podium to introduce a device designed squarely for core "pleasure readers" with disposable income, the NEA dropped their latest reading scare release. Analyzing a wealth of government data (approximately two dozen studies) instead of a single survey, this report sounds a new alarm--that "reading for pleasure" is in decline.
NEA Chairman Dana Gioia sums it up this way: "We are doing a better job of teaching kids to read in elementary school. But once they enter adolescence, they fall victim to a general culture which does not encourage or reinforce reading. Because these people then read less, they read less well. Because they read less well, they do more poorly in school, in the job market and in civic life."
Or at least reading in print, every day, for pleasure, which is really what the study measures. By their own admission, the report is severely limited by "its lack of specific data about online reading" because the "research is not yet strong."
Oddly, one of Gioia's recommended solutions is more coverages of books in popular culture: "I guarantee that if we could expand the coverage in the media, you'd immediately see people responding. People are looking for things to do that aren't dumb. I don't think that Americans are dumber than before, but I do believe our public culture is."
Or...what if we could get the administration Gioia serves less focused on relentless testing and measuring in schools and more focused on actually teaching and conveying a love of reading (and learning)?
In another ironic coincidence, the film version of Beowulf topped the box office over the weekend.
(Washington Post)
----------------
This is so sad and scary, but not really anything new. Reports like this seem to come out all of the time, but that doesn't mean that I like it. It makes me think just how hard of a time I'm going to have trying to teach Little Scribe and Baby Scribe to have a life-long love of reading. Little Scribe definitely loves books now, his favorites currently being LITTLE TOOT by Hardie Gramatky, HAVE YOU GOT MY PURR by Judy West, the original CURIOUS GEORGE, and HERE WE GO ROUND THE MULBERRY BUSH. I shudder to think that he might lose this love for reading that he has when he goes into middle school. Well, not if my husband and I can help it. Hopefully, he will sense our own love for reading as he grows up, and books will remain a natural part of his life instead of something forced on him in adolescence.
I received a free issue of PARENTING magazine and browsed through the Best Holiday Toys of 2007 article. To my horror, one of the "best" toys for ages 3-5 is something called a Smart Cycle by Fisher Price. You plug this stationary bike into the T.V. and play "educational" video games while getting exercise riding the bike (to help with childhood obesity, I'm guessing.)
Is anybody else appalled by this toy? I mean, first of all, how about having the kid go outside and play (or go to an indoor playground) so they can get "exercise," and secondly, do we really need to have kids start playing video games, whether they're educational or not, at age three?
Another "best toy" of the year for the same age group is a Clickstart My First Computer by LeapFrog that also hooks up to your T.V. so your little one can start getting addicted to video games, I mean, become smarter.
No wonder reading for pleasure is in decline.
As Different Sparks Fly from NEA
But right before Jeff Bezos took to the podium to introduce a device designed squarely for core "pleasure readers" with disposable income, the NEA dropped their latest reading scare release. Analyzing a wealth of government data (approximately two dozen studies) instead of a single survey, this report sounds a new alarm--that "reading for pleasure" is in decline.
NEA Chairman Dana Gioia sums it up this way: "We are doing a better job of teaching kids to read in elementary school. But once they enter adolescence, they fall victim to a general culture which does not encourage or reinforce reading. Because these people then read less, they read less well. Because they read less well, they do more poorly in school, in the job market and in civic life."
Or at least reading in print, every day, for pleasure, which is really what the study measures. By their own admission, the report is severely limited by "its lack of specific data about online reading" because the "research is not yet strong."
Oddly, one of Gioia's recommended solutions is more coverages of books in popular culture: "I guarantee that if we could expand the coverage in the media, you'd immediately see people responding. People are looking for things to do that aren't dumb. I don't think that Americans are dumber than before, but I do believe our public culture is."
Or...what if we could get the administration Gioia serves less focused on relentless testing and measuring in schools and more focused on actually teaching and conveying a love of reading (and learning)?
In another ironic coincidence, the film version of Beowulf topped the box office over the weekend.
(Washington Post)
----------------
This is so sad and scary, but not really anything new. Reports like this seem to come out all of the time, but that doesn't mean that I like it. It makes me think just how hard of a time I'm going to have trying to teach Little Scribe and Baby Scribe to have a life-long love of reading. Little Scribe definitely loves books now, his favorites currently being LITTLE TOOT by Hardie Gramatky, HAVE YOU GOT MY PURR by Judy West, the original CURIOUS GEORGE, and HERE WE GO ROUND THE MULBERRY BUSH. I shudder to think that he might lose this love for reading that he has when he goes into middle school. Well, not if my husband and I can help it. Hopefully, he will sense our own love for reading as he grows up, and books will remain a natural part of his life instead of something forced on him in adolescence.
I received a free issue of PARENTING magazine and browsed through the Best Holiday Toys of 2007 article. To my horror, one of the "best" toys for ages 3-5 is something called a Smart Cycle by Fisher Price. You plug this stationary bike into the T.V. and play "educational" video games while getting exercise riding the bike (to help with childhood obesity, I'm guessing.)
Is anybody else appalled by this toy? I mean, first of all, how about having the kid go outside and play (or go to an indoor playground) so they can get "exercise," and secondly, do we really need to have kids start playing video games, whether they're educational or not, at age three?
Another "best toy" of the year for the same age group is a Clickstart My First Computer by LeapFrog that also hooks up to your T.V. so your little one can start getting addicted to video games, I mean, become smarter.
No wonder reading for pleasure is in decline.
Friday, November 16, 2007
An Update About My Day
I did end up writing character sketches, so my writing time wasn't a complete waste.
Just wanted to quickly write about where I'm headed tomorrow. I'm going on my own writer's retreat with a critique buddy to the Sylvia Beach Hotel in the historic Nye Beach section of Newport, Oregon. It's a book-lover's paradise since the bed and breakfast is dedicated to books and famous authors. Each room is even named after an author and decorated in their "style." In July, I stayed for two nights in the Jane Austen room. Copies of each of her novels lined the antique bureau. An afghan-covered reading chair sat in the corner. Crashing waves and a view of the ocean greeted me each morning.
Total bliss.
Check out their website at www.sylviabeachhotel.com.
Lord, please let my fingers fly over the keys!
Just wanted to quickly write about where I'm headed tomorrow. I'm going on my own writer's retreat with a critique buddy to the Sylvia Beach Hotel in the historic Nye Beach section of Newport, Oregon. It's a book-lover's paradise since the bed and breakfast is dedicated to books and famous authors. Each room is even named after an author and decorated in their "style." In July, I stayed for two nights in the Jane Austen room. Copies of each of her novels lined the antique bureau. An afghan-covered reading chair sat in the corner. Crashing waves and a view of the ocean greeted me each morning.
Total bliss.
Check out their website at www.sylviabeachhotel.com.
Lord, please let my fingers fly over the keys!
Just Rambling...
(written today at 10:00am)
Today I am finding it quite impossible to work on my novel. I am at Ken’s Artisan Bakery in NW Portland for a change of pace (and croissants) but to my amazement I can’t find any plugs for my laptop. Of course, my battery is dead, so I am stuck with doing the old-fashioned way of writing-- pen and paper. My notebooks are even all at home, so the only paper I have to use is the back of manuscript drafts. Oh well. It’s recycling, right? Better than not having any paper or a pen, for that matter. And the mini chocolate croissants are so good here! I like the hot chocolate, too, if only they could make it a bit hotter. (Tried twice)
I think I’ll try to write some character sketches using the Flemish art books that I’ve brought.
Hey, a corner seat has just opened up! I’m off to snatch it…
Aaah, much better. I hate floating in the center of a café. Must-have-wall-next-to-me-or-nearby.
No more procrastinating! I have to get something done today!
Today I am finding it quite impossible to work on my novel. I am at Ken’s Artisan Bakery in NW Portland for a change of pace (and croissants) but to my amazement I can’t find any plugs for my laptop. Of course, my battery is dead, so I am stuck with doing the old-fashioned way of writing-- pen and paper. My notebooks are even all at home, so the only paper I have to use is the back of manuscript drafts. Oh well. It’s recycling, right? Better than not having any paper or a pen, for that matter. And the mini chocolate croissants are so good here! I like the hot chocolate, too, if only they could make it a bit hotter. (Tried twice)
I think I’ll try to write some character sketches using the Flemish art books that I’ve brought.
Hey, a corner seat has just opened up! I’m off to snatch it…
Aaah, much better. I hate floating in the center of a café. Must-have-wall-next-to-me-or-nearby.
No more procrastinating! I have to get something done today!
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Confessions of a Bibliophile Mama (and Other Thoughts on my Mind)
(Written on November 8th in coffee shop at Powell’s City of Books in downtown Portland, 11:40am)
I spend too much money on books. But I can’t help it. I LOVE books more than mint chocolate chip ice cream and a trip to Paris combined!
Okay, that's a bit of an exaggeration, but I really do love them. My dream is to have a library in my house. When my husband’s office is done and I can move into his little cubby hole of a room, I’m going to make it a library. Of course, I am going to share the space with our new baby boy and his basinnet (the room has a convenient door attached to our bedroom) for quite a while so he and his older brother can get some sleep. Eventually, Baby Scribe will share a room with Little Scribe, but for the time being he’ll be sleeping in “the library.” I wonder if he’ll end up loving books as much as Little Scribe does, and Little Scribe never slept in a library! (Okay, maybe when I dragged him to public libraries for my research when he was still in his infant car seat. And there were all those bookstores we went to, and still do go to…)
Didn’t get any writing done today, only a lot of VERY satisfying book browsing and purchasing. The purchases definitely have to do with my historical fiction novel-in-progress, at least, so that’s good. Three art books and two travel guides. Not bad. These books have helped me to get excited about working on the novel again, which is good because it’s been more than six months (I was revising my fantasy middle grade to resubmit). I’ve been really feeling far, far away from the story, and all of my notes and research that I gathered in the past, though important and helpful, didn’t seem to be inspiring me to write. These new books have given me the boost I need.
Art books from the period you are writing about are really a great tool to use when fleshing out stories. I feel more like a detective than a writer when I am looking through them, as if I were peeping in on history. I am constantly searching for my characters’ faces and clothing as well as for landscapes and all sorts of historic details that come to life in a drawing or painting. I need that visual stimulus to really feel immersed in the period. I’ve checked out quite a few books from the library, but Powell’s had different ones at good prices that really made my fingers itch to write.
I know, I know… I just need to keep my bum in the chair…to lock myself in a room with my computer, notes, books, and drafts and finish the goose-livered draft. December is the deadline I've created for myself (Last December was, too. Hmm…) If I don’t finish the draft then I think I’ll go crazy with all of the other story ideas that I have racing around in my brain. Mostly they are two to one—two fantasies for every one historical fiction idea, which is funny because I never think of myself as a “fantasy writer.” I don’t only read fantasies. I love and read most genres-- historical fiction, chic lit., realistic fiction, mysteries, and fantasies. But three fairy tale retellings are scouring my brain right now along with one magical realism tale and two historical fiction ideas.
Time is ticking away. I should get a plastic flip-top crate for my novel information/ research and lug it around with me like a ball and chain. Of course, that’s kind of impossible for a woman whose been told by her OBGYN to stay off her feet as much as possible. Maybe my husband can lug it around for me. I couldn’t even carry my computer bag around Powell’s and had to leave it in the car, plus make one trip to the car to unload a bag of books (out of my two bags of purchases).
I’ve been feeling a bit crampy on the left side. Should sit down when I get home. Little Scribe and I might be visiting Burgerville on the way home from The Play Boutique today. When am I ever going to go grocery shopping? Need to make that list, and then maybe Daddy Scribe will go. That would be a real life-saver.
Tried the hot chocolate trick to see if I could feel Baby Scribe kick. I do a little bit, about the same as I did earlier today. I hope he’s okay in there. I’m obsessed with worry about whether or not he’s moving enough everyday.
Which week am I, anyway? 25 or 26? I’ve forgotten now. I don’t remember if I’m going to turn 26 or 27 weeks on Friday. I think I’m turning 26 weeks. Should I look up how much movement I should be feeling?
I hope everything with the baby turns out okay. I feel like Baby Scribe is more of a miracle than Little Scribe because of all the worrying I’ve been doing before he’s even born that I didn’t have with Little Scribe.
Oooh, just felt a good little kick there. Are you in there, Baby Scribe? Are you comfortable? Need anything? More hot cocoa? How about Shannon Hale's newest novel?
Both of my children are definitely miracles, but I have to admit that it was nice to be in ignorant bliss before Little Scribe surprised us with his early arrival.
Losing steam on my journal writing. Off to pick up Little Scribe…
I spend too much money on books. But I can’t help it. I LOVE books more than mint chocolate chip ice cream and a trip to Paris combined!
Okay, that's a bit of an exaggeration, but I really do love them. My dream is to have a library in my house. When my husband’s office is done and I can move into his little cubby hole of a room, I’m going to make it a library. Of course, I am going to share the space with our new baby boy and his basinnet (the room has a convenient door attached to our bedroom) for quite a while so he and his older brother can get some sleep. Eventually, Baby Scribe will share a room with Little Scribe, but for the time being he’ll be sleeping in “the library.” I wonder if he’ll end up loving books as much as Little Scribe does, and Little Scribe never slept in a library! (Okay, maybe when I dragged him to public libraries for my research when he was still in his infant car seat. And there were all those bookstores we went to, and still do go to…)
Didn’t get any writing done today, only a lot of VERY satisfying book browsing and purchasing. The purchases definitely have to do with my historical fiction novel-in-progress, at least, so that’s good. Three art books and two travel guides. Not bad. These books have helped me to get excited about working on the novel again, which is good because it’s been more than six months (I was revising my fantasy middle grade to resubmit). I’ve been really feeling far, far away from the story, and all of my notes and research that I gathered in the past, though important and helpful, didn’t seem to be inspiring me to write. These new books have given me the boost I need.
Art books from the period you are writing about are really a great tool to use when fleshing out stories. I feel more like a detective than a writer when I am looking through them, as if I were peeping in on history. I am constantly searching for my characters’ faces and clothing as well as for landscapes and all sorts of historic details that come to life in a drawing or painting. I need that visual stimulus to really feel immersed in the period. I’ve checked out quite a few books from the library, but Powell’s had different ones at good prices that really made my fingers itch to write.
I know, I know… I just need to keep my bum in the chair…to lock myself in a room with my computer, notes, books, and drafts and finish the goose-livered draft. December is the deadline I've created for myself (Last December was, too. Hmm…) If I don’t finish the draft then I think I’ll go crazy with all of the other story ideas that I have racing around in my brain. Mostly they are two to one—two fantasies for every one historical fiction idea, which is funny because I never think of myself as a “fantasy writer.” I don’t only read fantasies. I love and read most genres-- historical fiction, chic lit., realistic fiction, mysteries, and fantasies. But three fairy tale retellings are scouring my brain right now along with one magical realism tale and two historical fiction ideas.
Time is ticking away. I should get a plastic flip-top crate for my novel information/ research and lug it around with me like a ball and chain. Of course, that’s kind of impossible for a woman whose been told by her OBGYN to stay off her feet as much as possible. Maybe my husband can lug it around for me. I couldn’t even carry my computer bag around Powell’s and had to leave it in the car, plus make one trip to the car to unload a bag of books (out of my two bags of purchases).
I’ve been feeling a bit crampy on the left side. Should sit down when I get home. Little Scribe and I might be visiting Burgerville on the way home from The Play Boutique today. When am I ever going to go grocery shopping? Need to make that list, and then maybe Daddy Scribe will go. That would be a real life-saver.
Tried the hot chocolate trick to see if I could feel Baby Scribe kick. I do a little bit, about the same as I did earlier today. I hope he’s okay in there. I’m obsessed with worry about whether or not he’s moving enough everyday.
Which week am I, anyway? 25 or 26? I’ve forgotten now. I don’t remember if I’m going to turn 26 or 27 weeks on Friday. I think I’m turning 26 weeks. Should I look up how much movement I should be feeling?
I hope everything with the baby turns out okay. I feel like Baby Scribe is more of a miracle than Little Scribe because of all the worrying I’ve been doing before he’s even born that I didn’t have with Little Scribe.
Oooh, just felt a good little kick there. Are you in there, Baby Scribe? Are you comfortable? Need anything? More hot cocoa? How about Shannon Hale's newest novel?
Both of my children are definitely miracles, but I have to admit that it was nice to be in ignorant bliss before Little Scribe surprised us with his early arrival.
Losing steam on my journal writing. Off to pick up Little Scribe…
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