Which Author Would You Choose?

What if you could sit down with any author for a chat? Who would it be, Hemingway, Dumas, Shakespeare, Rowling, Scieszka?

I choose all of the above, but there is one person that I regret I never got to meet or take a class from, and that is Joseph Campbell. My own writing, as well as my teaching of writing, sits on his hero journey foundation.  If you aren’t familiar with Campbell’s famous story structure jump over to Lisa Gail Green’s blog for a quick and concise overview.

My regret in never interacting with Campbell was partially satiated when I discovered THE POWER OF MYTHS PROGRAMS. This is series of discussions between Bill Moyers and Joseph Campbell on a myriad of topics including the hero journey, ritual, and mythology. They discuss story origins in myths from around the world with both reverence and humor, and show us how our work directly relates to the world's great stories.

Even though I will never get to shake the warm hand and look into the wise eyes of my literary hero, I can still be a student of his precious words. 

Let me entice you with some of treasures from the interviews: 

“Mythology to him (Campbell) was the song of the universe, music so deeply embedded in our collective unconscious that we dance to it even when we can’t name the tune.” Bill Moyers

“Myths are clues to the spiritual potentialities of the human life.” Joseph Campbell

“We are seeking an experience of being alive.” Joseph Campbell


And here, my friends, is our creative call to arms:


"Artists are the myth-makers of today." Joseph Campbell

Campbell’s fascinating perspective on the world is an invaluable filter in which we can view our own writing. He will forever be my tribal elder and mentor through his works and thankfully his beautiful preserved spoken words.


Hungry for more luscious Campbell quotes...Click away.

What writer would you invite for a creative conversation?

View From the 5th Grade Trenches - May 2011 - Get a Clue, 39 to be Exact

Here in the 5^th Grade Trenches we just finished a nail biting read-aloud. You might have heard of it, THE 39 CLUES, MAZE OF BONES (Book 1) by Rick Riordan.

The kids LOVED it. Amy and Dan Cahill, the pair of protagonists, are filled with the audacity and impulsivity that a middle grader can relate to. Dan is brash, and Amy shy. Every child in my class could relate to one or the other.

The humor was spot-on for the middle-grade brain, especially Dan’s one-liners. The villains may seem over-the-top and stereotypical to an adult, but the kids ate them up with a spoon.

As a teacher I loved all the curricular tie-ins that inspire a plethora of spin-off lessons:

History – The book is a Benjamin Franklin feast

Math – The magic square, overall number sense, and problem solving
Science - Chemistry and electricity

Language Arts – Anagrams

Technology – The fantastic online tie-in to the series where you find out which branch of the Cahill Family you belong to AND you have access to extra clues.

Best of all, the kids are grabbing for the rest of the series. I bought 3 full sets for my classroom alone, and we’ve stripped the school library as well. A different author writes each of the books, so the kids will be exposed to multiple voices and styles as they read on.

And there are the two words that are music to a teacher's ear – read on. 

Scholastic now offers the set in paperback. Dive. Dive.

Writer's Sketchbook

As a designer, I kept a daily sketchbook. I’d practice perspective, detail, shading, or just draw a subject that caught my fancy. 

As a writer, I keep a situational sketchbook. I jot down dialogue, settings, characters, conflicts, and specific details that intrigue me, and may find a place in a story. I hate to lose or miss anything juicy that I experience so I pop it in my writer's sketchbook to pluck later.

I just finished a three-day stint in the hospital, so of course I sketched my experience with words. In my writer’s sketchbook, I chronicle in bullet points. Here’s a peek:

HOSPITAL DAYS

• Nurse #1 hates me. Her upper lip curls at me all snarly
• No matter how you arrange the hospital gown, you always flash your hiney
• All hospital meat is a weird version of turkey meatloaf
• Nurse #1 has one eye bigger than the other
• Hospitals are not for sleeping
• The show NURSE JACKIE is not available on the hospital TV
• Nurse #1 will abandon you on the commode for an hour – take reading material
• Graveyard shift male nurses are the most entertaining
• “I will ask your doctor. I will ask the nurse. I will make no decisions.”
• Nurse #1 works more hours than anyone else
• Flesh-eating tape is used for wound dressings
• Beware of nurses who don’t wear athletic shoes
• Nurse #1 smells like the 99 Cents store
• There is some weird covenant against daily patient teeth-brushing
• Catheter, I.V., Bedpan, oh my.
• Nurse #1 will require mental leave time if we are together one more day

What does your writer’s sketchbook look like?

Versatile Bloggers

It's fun to take a moment to just yell THANK YOU to all the fantastic writing bloggers out there who have filled me with knowledge and inspiration. You all make me think, dream, and work harder. Hooray for Ye Olde Blogosphere.


I'm yelling with gratitude and not because I'm being tortured by a physical therapist. I had hip replacement surgery on Monday, and I'm sure there has been plenty of yelling since then, but this THANK YOU is good yelling.


THANK YOU. Oops, I'm still yelling. Must be the pain meds. 


For the record I am about 20+ years younger than most people who have hip replacement surgery.  I plan on beating all the older patients in a footrace by post-surgery day three.

I'll compose myself and stop yelling now. Thank you (see how refined I can be) to Carolyn Arnold for honoring me with the Versatile Blogger award.  


I'm jazzed to pay it forward to some blogger folks I've been e-hanging out with these days:

1. Arlee Bird Check out her TOSSING IT OUT blog and scroll down to enjoy the Blogging A-Z challenge that took place in April.
2. Deana Barnhart
3. Ebony McKenna
   
4. From the Write Angle
   
5. Tina Moss
   
6. Write on Teens
   

Forgive me in advance for not responding to posts this week. I'm probably re-learing how to put my socks on with a long grabber stick. 

Character Flaws

I’m going to be awful this week. You may have to avert your eyes. I’m delving into the realm of character flaws. Those juicy blights on a character’s personality, if not soul, that may either attract (bad boy) or repel (too good to be true) us as readers.

Hmm? Where do we go to dig the treasures of character flaws? First, if we are brave, we pull them from our own shortcomings. Second, we shamelessly steal negative traits from people in our lives.

Come with me, if you dare, down a list of flaws. (If you think you see yourself in this list you are hallucinating.)

Grandiosity

Know-it-all-osity

Lack of tolerance for stupid people

Insecure to the point of annoying

Never-shut-up-ers

Interrupters

I’m so much better than you-osity (I love a good –osity)

Liars

Bullies

Never-follow-through-ers

Selfish (Not to be confused with shellfish)

I don’t listen when you speak to me-ers

My life/loves/job/problems are so much more important than yours-ers

Cheaters

Enough about me…

What characters flaws drive you loopy, but are a blast to write?

Obsession Confession - Middle Earth Alert

I admit it. I have an incurable obsession with any and all that is J.R.R. Tolkien’s THE LORD OF THE RINGS. Above all else this work inspired me to put pen to paper as a writer. It gave me permission to build fantastical worlds, set forth on adventures, and create swoonworthy heroes (Aragorn, not Frodo).

Confessions of a LORD OF THE RINGS addict:

• I immerse myself in the story every year by either reading the trilogy, listening to the audiobooks (appendices included – you haven’t lived until you’ve experienced the full story of Aragorn and Arwen), or watching the extended versions of all three films.
• I read the entire trilogy aloud to my children. (My Gimli ROCKS)
• I own a cardboard standee of Aragorn (Thank you Peter Jackson for casting Viggo Mortensen.)
• I still have nightmares about the Nazgul (Sauron I can deal with, but those nine riders FREAK ME OUT.)
• I play the LORD OF THE RINGS slot machines (I’m up to the Shards of Narsil bonus.)
• I attended Trilogy Tuesday, December 16, 2003, and watched all three movies back to back in the theatre the day RETURN OF THE KING debuted (That’s a lot of popcorn. I’m on the left in the pic.)

All kidding aside, I revere this story. It continues to set a literary bar that I will never achieve, but always strive for.

Tolkien permeates my teaching as well.

“All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost” – is a fabulous writing prompt.

“War must be, while we defend our lives against a destroyer who would devour all; but I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend…” – this works as a Patriot POV on the Revolutionary War.

Are you a Tolkien devotee? What piece of literature continues to glitter the gold of inspiration to your writing?

Middle Earth Fans: Check out Peter Jackson’s Video blog for THE HOBBIT

Query Weary

Are you query weary? Have you offered your bright and shiny manuscript up to what seems like a sky-high stack of agents and haven’t made a love connection yet?

You are not alone. Welcome to the business end of writing.

I went to a fabulous SCBWI query workshop last year where I heard, “If you haven’t queried 100 agents you’re not doing your job.”

Wow, 100 agents.

Recently I read on a blog that a writer’s magic query number was 187 before she clicked with her agent.

Wow, 187.

In my acting days we used to say that if you had one callback in 20 auditions you were doing well.  As a writer I equate that to receiving one request for a partial or full in 20 queries.

Is it worth it the hours of agent research and a memory book full of rejections?

You betcha! I’m a first hand witness to the magical synergy that happens when a writer finds THE agent they were meant to connect with. It’s an exciting partnership that inspires and motivates. The journey is worth the prize.

So if you are query weary, here are some hints to keep on the trail to successfully finding the agent of your dreams:

1. TARGET POTENTIAL WEAKNESS AND GIVE IT A NEW COAT OF POLISH:

Channel your Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys self and analyze your track record. Is there a pattern to your “no thank yous” from agents? Can you find a weakness to strengthen in your:

Query letter/Voice/Characters/Plot…

2. GO FISHING FOR AGENT POSSIBILITIES:

There are wonderful blogs and websites that will guide you to excellent agents.  Two of my many refueling stations are:

Casey McCormick’s Literary Rambles

Chuck Sambuchino’s Guide to Literary Agents

3. FEEL THE LOVE FROM YOUR CRITIQUE PARTNERS:

They know your work. They are fresh eyes for you. They are going through the same thing you are be it at the agent or editor query stage. In the case of my group they are now cherished lifelong friends and trusted colleagues. Lean on them.

4. KEEP THE FAITH: In the hopeful song PICK YOURSELF UP Lyrics by Dorothy Fields and Music by Jerome Kern from the film SWING TIME:

Nothing’s impossible I have found,

For when my chin is on the ground,

I pick myself up

Dust myself off,

Start all over again.

Oh, What a Day!

Glass half-empty:

• My son and I locked ourselves out of the house an hour before his behind the wheel driving test.
• We surprised my friend during her shower to get our spare key, after calling another friend to drive us to her house to get said spare key.
• The brake lights shorted out as the DMV examiner was checking them, so my son couldn't take his driving test.
• It took two hours to get the short in the brake lights fixed at the car place.
• A spaced out lady almost backed into me in a parking lot.
• The DMV website would not let my son reschedule his test online.

Glass half-full:

• It's impossible to break into my house.
• My son's friends have their driver's licenses to rescue us.
• My friend showers.
• My son didn't get rear-ended while taking his driving test with faulty brake lights.
• I had time for a delicious veggie wrap while the car got fixed.
• I am alive to write this blog.
• Still working on a glass half-full/DMV line...

And then I starting my writing day...

• Birds chirped
• Cats purred
• Music played
• The outside world disappeared
• Bliss and Joy took my hands

How has diving into your writing reframed a horrible, terrible, no good, very bad day for you?

What? An award? Me?

I have a confession.  Long ago in a galaxy far far away someone gave me a blogger award and I lost track of it.  My organizational skills are shady at best.  I apologize for not being able to thank you in person for that first award.  I was thrilled.  I skipped and sang a song.

The amazing Lisa Gail Green has given me a second chance despite my previous dimwitted slight, by honoring my blog with the Stylish Blogger Award.  Run, don't walk to check out her blog Paranormal Point of View.


Seven things about myself:
1. My greatest fear is that I will be eaten by a shark or a bear.
2. I was the assistant art director on IT'S GARRY SHANDLING'S SHOW, for three seasons.
3. My collection of STAR WARS memorabilia is the envy of every ten-year-old boy on the planet.
4. I changed my daughter's middle name from Colleen to Christine in labor.
5. I enter a Zen state when I go to a bookstore or an office supply store.  Pretty, pretty post-its.
6. I was Louisa in a national tour of SOUND OF MUSIC my freshman year of high school.  Yes, I wore the sailor suit.
7. Twitter overwhelms me, but I will persevere and figure it all out.


Here's a shout out to a few of the blogs I love and am honored to pass this award along to.  Check them out and enjoy.


Jess Falling Leaflets
Monica Love YA
Michelle L. Brown Brownie Points
Julie Musil Writing and Blogging Between Carpools
Dana Elmendorf A Squirrel Among Lions
Jessica Love Jessica Love Writes


I could go on, and on, and on, and on...  
Thanks to all you dedicated bloggers who teach me something new with every post and fill me with inspiration.

View From the 5th Grade Trenches - March 2011 - For Japan

Art is the heart beat for expressing emotion, be it through canvas, camera lens, music, or words.  As my class watched the cataclysm unfolding in Japan, they felt a need to send love to our brothers and sisters suffering across the sea.  Haiku, a poetic gift from that exquisite country, was the way they expressed their thoughts.

We are in much fear                                                    

God will find a way to help                                         

There are no tears left                                                

Lisa                                                                               

Just hope, don’t be sad                                            

No more tears, help will be there                              

Hope is there for you

Rian    

Days and days go by

Hope and sadness fill our hearts

Devastating news

Ashley S. & Kathleen

Sadness of Japan

Family's hearts are broken

Something good will come of this

Gage & Pratik

This link will take you to a list of official Red Cross donation sites supporting the relief efforts in Japan.    http://www.redcross.org/en/otherdonationsites/