WRITING A GENERATIONAL STORY

AIM, a prequel to BLUE and COMFORT, is about family dysfunction spanning several generations. Junior Bledsoe has just lost Pop (his father) to an alcohol-induced death. On top of that, his insufferable grandfather has moved in and now shares his bedroom.

As a writer I had the challenge of figuring out, not only Junior's emotions, but also, what made his Pop tick. Living with his grandfather yields clues about why Pop drank and avoided his own family. But Junior also seeks answers from his aunts and, as stories unfold, he begins to understand Pop better.

I also wondered why Granddaddy, himself was such a miserable person. Until I figured that out, the story felt incomplete. I found the answers in the following paragraphs.

Source: Library of Congress

 First thing out of the box was a studio portrait of a soldier. “That’s your great-granddaddy there.”

“Your daddy?”
 
“Yup. Gideon Bledsoe. Confederate army.” Granddaddy picked up the tin can he kept by the rocker.  He spit a stream of tobacco juice into the can and kept on talking. “He was a pipsqueak when he joined. By the time, he came back, he was hard as nails. I wasn’t born yet but I can attest to the truth of it. A war will grow you right up.”
 
Gideon looked to be about my age. Fourteen. His eyes were might near as shiny as the buttons on his uniform. His dark hair curled out from under his wool cap. Looking at that picture, I couldn’t deny him for a relative of mine.

 As Junior struggles with the dysfunctions of Pop and Granddaddy, he's drawn to the soldier boy who looks so much like him. Clearly Great-granddaddy wasn't always hard as nails. 

In the course of the story, Junior makes some critical mistakes. He learns from those experiences but just as important are the lessons he learns from the generations that preceded him.

I'm pleased to announce that AIM is scheduled for release in Fall of 2016. What generational stories have you written or enjoyed? 

Book giveaways and more on generational stories at Talking Story.

PHENOMENAL BOOKS FOR FREE

Carol Baldwin and I just published our latest issue of TALKING STORY.  The theme is IMMIGRATION so we're giving away a few books on the topic.

HOPE AND TEARS:  Ellis Island Voices - More than twenty five characters share, through touching free verse, their history with  Ellis Island.  This book written by Gwenyth Swain was published by Calkins Creek books.  Like everything Editor, Carolyn Yoder produces, it is permeated with history and sheer beauty.

THE AMAZING HARRY KELLAR:  Great American Magician also published by Calkins Creek Books and edited by Carolyn Yoder, is stellar in every way. Author Gail Jarrow gives us a behind-the-scenes look at the work of a spectacular illusionist and performer. Chocked full of photos, advertising posters, and pictures of actual illusions, this book entertains and informs. 

A Step from Heaven is a haunting Korean Immigrant story which won the Printz Award in 2002 and was a National Book Award finalist in 2001. The copy we're giving away is a gently used paperback which includes an interview with Author, An Na.

Carol and I offer much more on the topic of immigration in literature in our newsletter.  You'll be happy that you clicked over there to enter the contest. (See giveaway notification and email link in the sidebar.) Deadline is May 21.

Good luck!

COWBOYS by David L. Harrison

I have this magnificent picture book in front of me. Something every kid or teacher would want to own.  And not only that, it's a giveaway.  I'll tell you in a moment how you can enter. 

But first, a glimpse of the book!

This is one gorgeous piece of work - the perfect pairing of poet (David L. Harrison) and illustrator (Dan Burr)  Together these gentlemen paint history so real and heartfelt that the reader wants to go back there.  Back to a time before railroads turned cattle drives into history.

Read this soulful determined poem.  Then I'll link you to the equally beautiful illustration.

SETTING OUT

All my life,
do what Master say.
He say, "Mind my cows,"
I mind his cows.

Cows, me,
my children,
wife-
all his.

No more.
Nobody owns me now.
Signed my X,
agreed to drive this rancher's cows
from Texas up to Abilene-

for pay.
My pay.

I'm on a journey of my own
figuring how it feels
to be free.

Now, take a look at this proud, hopeful cowboy, ready to set out on his new life of freedom.

There's a whole lot of cowboy life in the pages of this book. Each page-spread is one poem with a vivid illustration that shares the viewpoint of a different cowboy or one aspect of life on the range.

 Just leave a comment here. But over at Talking Story we have several giveaways so if you don't win COWBOYS you just might win a consolation prize!

You may have noticed that the theme of this issue of TALKING STORY is Poetry. and also that Highlights Foundation is offering several poetry workshops in 2013.  David Harrison will lead POETRY FOR THE DELIGHT OF IT, September 30 - October 3.  

I could be tempted... 

ART SCULPTURE BASED ON BLUE

BLUE was the book selected for the 2009 ALAMANCE READS (a community wide reading event). The Friends of the Alamance County Library pulled off some incredible events related to the book and its various themes.

Today, in connection with the upcoming issue of TALKING STORY newsletter which I co-produce with Carol Baldwin I am reposting one of the group sculpture projects that Artist, Ann Hobgood created with local youth.

Ann Hobgood with Found Objects Sculpture Based on Blue

She simply (and I'm sure it wasn't simple!) listed EVERY SINGLE ITEM mentioned in the book, collected them, and the group assembled them into one amazing sculpture!

Enjoy!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

In Which I Meet Our Literary Hero

I've been blogging about a few WWII heroes lately and that era is just so painful that I thought maybe it's time for a little lighthearted blogging.

So how about joining me at the Dr. Seuss National Memorial Sculpture Garden in Springfield, MA?  You don't even have to wear your snow boots because I went there in the summer time.

Dr. Seuss agreed to pose for a pic with me.

Naturally, you can't think of Dr. Seuss without also thinking of that cat in that hat.

The Cat in the Hat was never one of my favorites because well,

for some reason, the book always made me feel 

like this! 

I think it was on account of the stressed-out fish

 (who is way more like me than I care to admit!)

I was much more comfy with the Thidwick, the Big Hearted Moose.

And, oh so proud of my favorite Seuss hero, Horton who is always faithful to the miserable end.

And sticking close to the hero theme we have Yertle the Turtle who is somewhere
at the bottom of that stack.


Ah, yes, there he is

 with the weary look of sheer endurance on his face.

I'm pretty sure all heroes get tired at times and scared and just plain annoyed.  But they endure with humility.

They help others to acheive instead of focusing on themselves.

Which is why my hubby is in the hero chair here.

He's my Yertle, my Thidwick, and my Horton all rolled into one. 

And he might even be the Cat in the Hat if I weren't so stressed-out fishlike!

There's more fabulousness in this memorial garden but

I don't want to provide too many spoilers so go check it out for yourself. 

There's a chair, there waiting for you.

For more on Heroes, see this issue of Talking Story - coproduced by Carol Baldwin and me.

MEETING KAY WINTERS

I first discovered Kay Winters when I attended an SCBWI workshop near Philadelphia - back before the turn of the century.

And then, a few years later, in 2002, I bumped into her at a history writing workshop led by Carolyn Yoder of Calkins Creek Books.


As an aspiring history writer, I was a bit awestruck by Kay who had published an impressive stack of books. (And yes, envious, too.) I haven't seen Kay since then - probably because she's been busy researching and writing books about Abe Lincoln, the Boston Tea Party, Ancient Egypt, and more!


I decided it's time to catch up with her a bit and fortunately she agreed to answer a few questions for me here.  So, join me, please in welcoming the lovely Kay Winters.

It's so great to have you here, Kay. Maybe we could begin by hearing a little about the themes you feel compelled to write and some accomplishments that you're most proud of.


I am drawn to people in history who focus on overcoming obstacles instead of complaining about them. In Abe Lincoln: the Boy Who Loved Books, we have someone who came from a very poor family, a father who did not understand or appreciate him, who went to school for less than a year. And yet he walked out of the wilderness into the White House. Again and again as a private citizen and as President he failed.He ruled this country at a time of the greatest divisions we have ever known. ( Even worse than current politics!) But he persisted. I was so delighted to discover that books made the difference to Abraham Lincoln, and this is a message I am delighted to relay. I was proud to be invited to sign Abe at the National Museum of History in the Smithsonian and to find the title included on a number of state reading lists.


In Colonial Voices: Hear them Speak, I wrote about  the townspeople in Boston at the time of the Boston Tea Party. I described their occupations, their  politics, their struggles, their hopes. This  book won the  Carol Hurst Children's Book Prize for the book which  “best exemplified the highest standards  of  research, analysis and authorship in its portrayal of the New  England Experience.” The local theater  did a  reader’s theater production of the book at the Colonial Harvest  day in Westfield, Massachusetts.  My  husband and I and several others also did a reader's theater  presentation of Colonial Voices at Old South in Boston where the tea party meeting took place.


Ah, nothing like seeing your work embraced and interpreted by the artistic community. Congratulations on both the reader's theater and on the Carol Otis Hurst book prize.  What an honor! Now I'm impressed (and envious) all over again!


I know you get to mingle and compare notes with other history writers.  And you must have a few that you really admire.  Can you tell us who your favorite history authors are?

• My favorite author of historical picture books is Pam Munoz Ryan.  I love When Marian Sang because of the details Pam chose to bring Marian Anderson to life. The book is both poignant and compelling,  irresistible combination. Pam paints a portrait of a young girl who  is incredibly talented and determined to pursue her dream. When she is turned away from the Music School in Philadelphia because of her  race, she finds a teacher. When he is about to refuse her, she  opens her mouth and sings. When the  Daughters of the American Revolution reject a possible  performance at Constitution Hall, after she has  sung to royalty  in Europe, she sings to a mega-crowd at Lincoln  Memorial. I think this is an example of a  picture book that  should be in every classroom from K-8. Unlike  history text books this picture book and  many others, captures  personality, setting, a  time period in history in a way students are not likely to forget.

• For Middle Grade Students and anyone in fact - Chains by Laurie  Halse Anderson is an forgettable historical  novel about a 13  year old slave and her sister and their harrowing journey to freedom during the time of the American Revolution. Only the 13 -year old survives.  This meticulously researched book is based on fictional characters but Anderson used letters, diaries, runaway  ads and military reports to develop her characters.  When I  finished reading Chains, I  thought this book is so  much better than many so called adult historical novels.I hope it  finds a wide audience with both students  and adults.

I love both of those books.  And now what is your favorite method of research?
My favorite method is on site research. When I did Voices of Ancient Egypt I went to Egypt twice, visited tombs and sites of ancient habitats. I sailed in a felucca, rode a  horse around the pyramids and a donkey in the Valley of the  Kings at Luxor.For Colonial Voices we went to Boston a number of times. We  also travelled  to Sturbridge and Williamsburg. I needed to check  out shopkeepers and their wares in these historic villages.   For my new book Voices on the Oregon Trail My husband and I  took that  journey by car, stopping to stand in wagon wheel ruts, visit  Trail Centers and Museums with dioramas, films and  artifacts, and photograph the prairie and the mountains. In  general,  I haunt the library, read diaries, journals,  letters, ads,  use film and on line sites and interview specialists in  the field.


Two trips to Egypt?!  History writers have the most fun, don't you think, Kay? And after you gather all that information, how do you weave fact into fiction?


In Abe Lincoln: the Boy Who Loved Books  all the quotes from him were authentic. None were invented. In Colonial Voices: Hear Them Speak, the characters were invented, so were their quotes, but in that book  almost every line on each page is packed with fact. I searched old books for samples of objects  that were used  at that time and mailed pictures of them to my wonderful illustrator Larry Day. So you see how he included  Whisper Sticks, for the Dame School, Wag on the Walls, for the Clockmaker, an old Tavern sign for the Tavern Keeper.  In this book I included a blacksmith’s slave and a Native American because they are often left out of accounts of the Revolution.


Thank you Kay, for sharing so many wonderful details and for introducing to several other amazing historicals!  And thanks to you, dear reader, for stopping by. 

Please visit Kay's website for more info on her and her numerous books.  But first, I want to mention that she has a new picture book out!

And she's giving away a copy via Talking Story, an E-newsletter co-produced by Carol Baldwin and me. Click on over to the current issue of Talking Story. Then visit the sidebar for instructions on joining the book giveaway contest!



TALKING STORY: May issue

The May issue of Talking Story E-Newsletter is out!  Carol and I had fun with this one - in fact the theme is fun. We figure that, for many of you, the school year is winding down. 

This means that teachers and librarians need to keep those students productively occupied until say, June 11 or so.  We share a few ideas for survival, one of which is that both Carol and I are giving away a Skype visit (video chat with author). Click over to the Talking Story site and visit the Giveaways Galore article in the sidebar.  Please follow the email link as instructed to get in on the contest.

Other giveaways include:

• Maupin House Publishers is giving away a copy of Rainbows, Head Lice and Pea Green Tile by Brod Bagert
• Recorded Books is giving away an audio of the acclaimed Wild Things by Clay Carmichael.

That's 4 chances to win, folks!  But you can't do it here at my blog - you've got to visit our newsletter site where you'll find some great suggestions for summer fun and some good reads too!

TALKING STORY: A Newsletter on Reading and Writing.

The second issue of Talking Story is out!

Co-publisher, Carol Baldwin and I focused on Networking in this issue. In it, we introduce some :

• Tips for networking effectively
• Authors we know who network well
• Ways that classrooms can connect with authors (besides a pricey school visit)
• Tips for online social networking and link to a helpful class on the subject
• Some of the librarians who have helped us
• Jan Broadfoot who helps NC teachers and librarians connect with local authors
• An opportunity for a teacher to win $ 150.00 worth of educational books
• A link to a book trailer contest with $ 1,000.00 scholarship prize.

Networking is a constant learning curve. At Talking Story we try to help you round the curve without embarrassing incidents.