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June 29th, 2009
09:23 am
I finally got the rough draft of my Robinson Crusoe adaptation done. Now I have to revise and get lots more pop and lots less words. Again, some of the stuff in the book is really funny, though so very flatly told (some of which was intentional) that the funny is lost. I want to bring it back. Which is not to say RC is a comedy (except in the classic "has a happy ending" way) but it does have funny things.
And some things that are hysterical even though they aren't meant to be. Near the end of the book Robinson Crusoe is a member of a party travelling over some moutains in Europe (and you thought it all took place on an island). They are attacked by hundreds and hundreds of wolves...coming in waves like troops on the battlefield. Okay, that made me laugh. No wonder the poor wolves are starving, their packs number in the hundreds.
And then Friday decides to torture a bear (right, not funny though apparently the group found it comic) but at the end he tells Robinson that's how they kill bears on the small Carribean island where he was from. Right...bears roaming the island jungles of the Carribean.
Anyway, my first draft is about 4000 words over so I need to get to work.
After adapting both Moby Dick and Robinson Crusoe, I find that (at one time) white folks had an unhealthy preoccupation with cannibals.
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June 22nd, 2009
09:36 am - Bag Lady as a Fashion Statement
My husband was looking at his extensive collection of grey shorts (I bought him a bunch of them when he was at the rehab hospital. They were on sale and met the requirements for rehab clothes: loose with pockets and a color that went with all his t-shirts I sent). He mentioned that the folks at "What Not To Wear" would have rude things to say about them.
I told him they would never notice his clothes. They'd be too busy asking me who the heck dressed me. Honestly, my clothes tend to be just a smidge less than ...stylish.
Once this winter I was wearing black leggings with blue sweats over them...I had the combination on because...um...okay, most of the crotch had worn out of the sweats but they were really warm and the right length. With my stubby little legs it's not that easy to get sweats the right length. With this combination I was wearing a really really faded long sleeved t-shirt thing with an odd purple-ish paisley pattern. And on top of that, a man's sweatshirt I had slashed down the front to make into a cardigan. My slashing was a little ragged. So was my hair...I'm prone to cutting it myself. My socks came from my husband's drawer (have you noticed how much warmer men's socks are?) and my shoes are just the tinsiest bit out at the sides, but they're sooooooo comfortable.
Many of my pairs of pants -- sweats and grey jerney knits -- were hand-me downs from my husband. He has VERY long legs and arms and so clothes tend to creep up on him after a few washings. Then I get them. They don't shrink that much so...well...they keep my feet nice and warm.
When I was younger, my fashion sense tended to be called "waifish" now that I'm middle aged, I just look like a bag lady. People overlook the value of a good bag-lady outfit. It's warm. Everything is uniformly faded and tired so it all matches in an odd way. It's very cosy. And if you spill on it or rip it -- it's all good.
But it does mean my husband sometimes stops me at the door and reminds me to change before we go somewhere. Since I'm the lady who once dashed to the library in my jammies, clearly it helps to have a keeper that way.
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June 15th, 2009
11:27 am - Platform
I've been hearing a lot about platform lately from children's writers (most of them fairly early in their careers). And I've been considering "platform" for the standard, garden variety children's writer.
Platform for a writer means the value of your name in marketing. This means do you personally have a fan base who will buy a book just because it has your name on it. James Patterson had platform (which is why someone published the blindingly bad Christmas picture book he wrote). Jan Fields does not have platform. The folks who recognize my name are not the same people who are likely to buy children's books JUST because my name is on it.
And I still firmly believe children's writers don't have to have platform to get their first book published. On top of that, I've seen not one jot of evidence to suggest that platform is necessary or even important to selling your first book.
Does this mean I think publishers don't like authors to be proactive about selling the book. Do I think this means I think your publisher would rather you DIDN'T do school visits, author talks, writing conferences, blogs, a website, etc. NO, I certainly do not believe this. I think all of those are great things to do when your book comes out. Heck, I think turning your car into a bat to sell BATS ON THE BEACH was a brilliant thing for Brian Lies to do and I think he's the cat's meow. His marketing efforts combined with a FANTASTIC picture book worked together to put him on the New York Times Bestseller lists and that does offer him some platform (though really, the bats might have more platform with actual kids.) Did he do any of this before he got published? Uh, no.
These are "after the sale" things and over time you can get some "platform" out of them. That's because platform is really all about you. Is there something about your name that sells books? If there is...sure, you're going to be that much hotter a commodity, but for a children's writer, the way to get your "name" to sell books is to write a lot of excellent books, sell them one at a time to good publishers, and then do the standard things to support each book until one day you wake up and people know your name.
People chasing platform before the sale are probably just investing time that is better used elsewhere. Children's book buyers are probably not going to know your name until you sell some books (unless you're building platform by winning American Idol or starring in the next Twilight movie).
Within a very limited sphere, I have name recognition...but that doesn't matter a scrap to children's book editors. For me to sell a book, I still have to write a good book that an editor will believe in. Same as everyone else. And from that step forward, I will be building a useful platform, not by chasing platform, but by doing what writers need to do -- write the best books they can.
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June 2nd, 2009
10:17 am
Yesterday my daughter and I were brainstorming about a new book I might be doing work-for-hire. She loves to talk about the book writing process with me and tell me what she thinks I ought to do. One of the things this book will need is a poem that accidentally turns into a spell (because of where it's recited) that wreaks catastrophe...the power of the word, indeed.
My daughter was thrilled. She immediately went to work on the poem. She was reciting all evening long. She was considering different poetic forms and which would work best in the book. It was fun to watch (if a bit overwhelming after the first hour.) She promised to work on it some more at school today.
She did let me know that if she comes up with the perfect poem, she wants byline billing in the book. I think I can talk her down to a mention on the acknowledgements and a new webkinz.
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May 31st, 2009
10:45 am - Self-Publishing cha-cha-cha
Now, that I ranted about self-publishing and POD, I wanted to note that I'm not opposed to self-publishing. But the folks posting the kinds of remarks I quoted are self-publishing out of ignorance and that is the worst possible choice to make because self-publishing is HARD. It's way harder than commercial publishing because you've got wicked odds that the only people going to see your book are your friends and family (assuming they like you that much 'cause if you're going with a POD, your product is going to be EXPENSIVE).
But, these kinds of remarks show folks who self-published for smart reasons:
My nonfiction picture book has a clear market through museum gift shops and zoo gift shops and I could reach all those markets directly. Plus, I could sell them in school visits -- and it doesn't hurt when you're booking to have published a half-dozen science-based nonfiction picture books. So why let a commercial publisher have a cut? I did the research and I knew how to self-publish wisely.
I'd published several novels with commercial presses but they felt one of my novels was for a niche market. Now, I knew I could reach that niche market directly, but I also felt it had broader appeal. And I knew it could be part of my school visits. So I researched self-publishing so I could know how to become my own publisher and do it well.
I do school visits as a storyteller and sometimes I tell stories I made up. Having a book to sell with my visits boosts my income. So I had a story collection printed that I could hand-sell at these visits.
I was writing religious picture books that clearly taught a lesson. The big Christian publishers are virtually impossible to break into and you really do have to have an agent -- and there aren't many with that specialty. So I went with a really tiny micro press doing POD, even though I knew my books would not end up in bookstores and all sales would be hand-sold. It's not the ideal, but I feel good about the hundred or so of each copy that I'm likely to sell.
I wanted to get Granny's book in print while she was still alive. She's not going to be taking any writing classes or "building her craft." But the grandkids will have a copy of her story and Granny will get to hold one in her hands. That's really enough for us.
Self-publishing and even POD through one of the "self-publishing services" can work. I know that it can. It just isn't likely to work for 99% of the people doing it. And when it doesn't work, too often folks fall back on the old "it's all publishing's fault" grumble.
Another reason self-publishing/POD publishing and working through one of the eensy weensy POD micro presses makes me sad is that too often folks start there and stop there. Their career never goes any further because the pressure to do ALL the selling as hand-selling is a huge hungry time monster that gobbles up the time needed to do what folks needed in the first place -- working on their craft and learning the industry. So they get stuck. They do book after book that sells a couple hundred copies (if they're good at hand-selling). And they invest a lot of time in convincing themselves that they are actually getting the exact same experience they would have at a larger commercial publisher.
Anyway, that's the rest of my rant.
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May 30th, 2009
10:30 am - Why I Never Liked Brady Bunch
I get embarrassed for people. Sometimes when someone does something or says something really stupid and the person doesn't seem to realize how they look or sound, I get really embarrassed for them. I used to get embarrassed for the kids on the Brady Bunch and for the folks in Mayberry. Those were just pretend people but they triggered that feeling of "Oh, no they're going to be so humiliated when they find out!"
Now I sometimes get that way for writers on the Internet -- especially writers who are self-published or are considering self-publishing. I read a lot of blogs and boards and newsletters because I figure part of being the Institute webeditor/guru is knowing what's going on. So I read. And sometimes I get really embarrassed for people. Really.
When I see things like...
"I self-published because publishers aren't interested in new authors..."
"I went with a POD because all the publishers had met their quota of new authors..."
"Publishers weren't interested in my book because I'm not a celebrity..."
"I couldn't afford an agent so I couldn't get published..."
"I couldn't sell my book because it was too clean..."
"I couldn't sell my book because it wasn't Harry Potter..."
Argh. Okay, sure, if a person was a celebrity with decent platform, that person could probably get a crap children's book published. We have seen evidence of that, so that one has some validity. But here's the real story for all of these:
"I self-published because publishers aren't interested in new authors with books that aren't ready for publication."
"I went with a POD because all the publishers had met their quota of new authors with books that won't sell...which is a quota of none."
"I couldn't afford an agent so I couldn't get published because I don't know a thing about publishing and didn't want to take the most minimal time to learn."
"I couldn't sell my book because it was too clean though there are plenty of clean books, but not many of them that aren't written at a competitive level."
"I couldn't sell my book because it wasn't Harry Potter and wasn't...well...good."
Folks are in such a freaking hurry. They write the book. Then rush full tilt to sell it. And then when it doesn't sell by the end of the week, they turn to self-publishing or POD. And the problem 99% of the time was that it really wasn't competitive in today's market. Maybe the person wasn't really up to the level of craft he/she needed to reach (the days of an editor nurturing a shiny bit of talent until it was embedded in good craft are pretty much past). Maybe the person was writing for adults and didn't realize it. Maybe the person confused "things happening" with "plot." Maybe the person let his/her imagination run away with him/her and just assumed the reader would go along for the ride even if the ride was confused and plotless.
But you know what...most of the time the problem was the book. Not every time but darn near every time. But really, most of the folks who actually ARE ready and are just not hitting the right editor yet are probably not turning to vanity presses. Because most of the folks who actually ARE ready have probably educated themselves to the reality of this business. If you've spent the time perfecting your craft and learning about the specific world of children's writing, you've almost certainly learned enough to avoid saying stuff like I see on some of these boards.
Well, I could rant on but the husband is thinking all the clacking of my keyboard means I want to do the grocery list now. Sigh. Oh, and I keep editing for my typos...clearly ranting and spelling requires some level of multitasking I cannot manage.
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May 5th, 2009
10:08 am - I made something
I've been wanting to have a really silly contest ever since the Institute of Children's Literature opened their new discussion board. But I wanted to give a prize and I wanted to be able to mail it to the winner without spending the gross national product of Madagascar. So I decided I would make a weee little dolly who loves to write and she could be someone's mascot.
So I did this weekend. She's the prize in a rejection letter in verse contest on the Writer's Retreat http://institutechildrenslit.net/index.php
Yeah, the graphic is kind of crappy because I scanned her instead of taking a real photo. But I can get scans into my computer in less time and she's so small (two and a half inches) and flat-ish. Her face is embroidered and she has auburn curls, a tiny lace collar and wee purple beads for buttons on her dress. I thought she didn't come out too bad, even if the graphic stinks.
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April 26th, 2009
10:01 am - A Year Ago...
Today my husband's nephew has been married for one year. This means one year ago today I danced for the first time with my husband. We'd probably not danced before because I'm really not very large-group social. I liked dancing with him. After nearly ten years of marriage it was nice to do something romantic and sweet for the first time.
The next day he got sick.
Yesterday, he moved a toe on his left foot really clearly for the first time since the sickness damaged so many nerves. This means the nerves are still coming back. Yay! He went outside barefoot yesterday and said he could feel the roughness of the patio concrete on the souls of his feet...another big deal.
Every once in a while we run across something he can't remember at all, not even a little from before he got sick. The virus in his brain didn't erase many files but when it did...they were just gone. No access. Zap. So far, none of them have been big moments but still, it's sad to lose a memory.
But he works outside a bit. He gives me heck about my desk. He's well.
I'm glad.
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April 17th, 2009
09:03 am
My husband and I were watching television the other night and saw a silly cereal commercial with Bear Gryllis of Man vs. Wild. This cause us to come up with other silly commercials for this guy.
We decided on a whole campaign for something (haven't decided on the product yet) where they drop Bear in the middle of a city, but he acts like he's out in the wild. They could drop him on top of a tall building and he could do his pose from up there looking down and saying how his first job is to get down there and find water...so he climbs down the building.
And for finding food...we were torn. My husband thinks he should go after pigeons. I want to see him make snares next to fire hydrants because small mammals often pass there and they can be tasty eating.
I believe that could be profoundly funny. Especially with's Bear's tendency to get nakid at any and all provocation. Can you imagine a hot day in NYC and Bear's peeing in his canteen in the middle of the street?
Anyway, it made us giggle.
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April 7th, 2009
08:38 am
Carolina won the NCAA. As an alum, I say, "Yay!" Though I have to admit it's not a passionate yay since really, I'm not a big basketball fan. Even when I was there, I never actually attended a game -- though I did score tickets for friends once or twice.
We won the NCAA one of the years I was there. And I happened to watch the game. I was dragged off to some game-watching party, which I found relatively painful, especially considering I had an 8am test the next day and my anal side wanted to be studying.
Then we won and everyone at the party filed out into the street and I was pushed along by the flood. The main street of Chapel Hill (named Franklin Street) was so packed, you really didn't decide where you would go, you just rode the wave. The group of us from the party linked together into a chain and poured up and down the street.
My ex-roommate took up the back link of the chain. She was tall and very blonde and being at the back of the chain was inviting a little too much full-contact from male passersby so we swapped places. I'm short, dark, and ...well, plain. I didn't glow with that neon "grope me please" quality of a leggy blonde. And no one molested me.
Until.
A large...very large...startlingly large young man simply plucked me off the end of our line and proceeded to carry me down the street. Now, truth be told, I'm not tall -- I come from Lilliputian stock. But I am solid (though I was far from obese then)...still carrying me down a street took commitment.
The guy actually managed a couple blocks of toting me. I don't know if it was my constant kicking, hitting, screaming or just weight that made him decide carrying me had lost it's appeal because he never said a word. He just unloaded me in the crushing crowd of thousands and wandered off.
Then I saw that my ex-roommate had abandoned the safety of the train to come after me. I thought that was really nice. Together we floated with the crowd, and got spray painted blue...one guy I knew actually have a paint can and a brush and I got a lot of paint from that encounter. I kept my blue streaked sweatshirt for many years.
Finally, I went home, showered, changed and went to my 8am test. Some of the people still had blue splattered clothes on. We all had blue hair and faces (since spray paint is not something you just shower off). And we all did horribly on the test...I had to read each question several times to even make sense of them. Later, the instructor mentioned that everyone did poorly -- he honestly seemed puzzled by it.
We didn't start any fires during our squash on Franklin Street -- at least, I don't think we did. I am not a fan of open fire, and I believe I would have noticed. I did see people jumping up and down on cars parked alongside the street (I hope the owners were well insured). And I saw naked people in trees (but then, this was during the height of the streaking rage, I saw naked people a lot. Mostly I thought they looked cold.)
I saw photos of the crowd on Franklin Street this year. THe newspaper account didn't mention property damage to cars. I did see open fires on the street and the paper mentioned a number of students had to go to the hospital with burns -- so I see that although the car owners seem to have gotten smarter, the students have not.
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April 6th, 2009
08:32 am
Though I was late to both parties, I read all the comments on both Queryfail (a Twitter event where some agents vented about the horrifying things that found in the slush on that specific day) and Agentfail (where some writers vented about what giant poopyheads agents were). Both events made me a little sad though both were totally understandable.
They were both *begun* in the spirit of "education." Some of the agents thought writers would read queryfail and learn from it. But really, the writers who did the bulk of the really really wretched queries (and it was generally those that were poked at) aren't reading a lot of writerly educational stuff online. If they were, they wouldn't have done really "not done" things. So although a few writers might have spotted a trend they could learn from, mostly it looked like venting.
I understand venting. I've read through what amounted to slush piles for contests and been horror stricken. Most...not a few or even many, but MOST...of the entries were not only unpublishable but I could see no way to fix them. They have fundamental issues that showed the writers were no where near ready to submit anything. And I expect slush piles all over look like that. When you've read a few hundred of these in a day (and I did)...you start to get angry. I think it's the pain of feeling like you're being punched in the brain over and over and over and you want it to stop. All they need to do is learn to write before they start submitting -- right? Right? Oh and read submission guidelines -- they're short, couldn't the writer put that much effort in?
So yeah, I get the venting. But I also get it on Agentfail...I even get the anger. This business can make a person angry no matter what role you play in it. There is a tidal wave of submissions crashing against every agent or publisher and most of them are from people who need to stop, drop, and learn. But that isn't going to change. And that tidal wave, honestly, is actually the root of all the problems. Not disorganized agents. Not elitiest editors. Not gatekeepers or guard dogs. The problem is the tidal wave and I have no idea what could be done about it.
There have been a number of times when I've said I would quit this business if I just knew how. But I really do love to write. I love to communicate with print. I love to explore and play with words. I love to learn new things about the language. I love to hear from readers. But I hate the process of seeking publication because it's frustrating and disheartening.
When I started in this business in the early 1980s my writing sometimes just sucked...really. And I got long kind rejection letters filled with suggestions and help because that was a time before the tidal wave. Editors could do that and in their hearts, most editors would still like to. Editors haven't grown colder since then, they've just drowned.
I suspect agents are similar. They aren't cold hearted (mostly), but we are drowning them. And I don't think it's going to stop, which makes me sad. We're going to see more and more policies in place to try to survive the flood of bad, bad, bad writing. And those policies are going to make more and more writers mad. And we're going to get more and more "us" vs. "them" going. I don't see how we can prevent it.
But I'm sad about it. I'm sad when I drop a submission into the mail, knowing waits are getting longer and...who know? I may not ever hear back. I have to admit, discouragement is a serious problem for me. I'm finally at a point in my life where I'm truly and justifiably confident in my writing and it's the place where I'm throwing submissions into a hurricane.
Folks say you have to love writing -- I do. You have to write even if no one ever reads it - I can't do that. To me, writing is only halfway there. Writing is communicating, connecting, making the reader think...without a reader, I'm just having mental self-serve sex and that's not okay with me.
But even though everything about this business makes me sad, I'll keep at it because I don't think I can walk away. And I promise not to carry my torch and pitchfork to the gates of the castle because I'm not angry with agents and editors. I know who started the problem.
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April 3rd, 2009
10:49 am
Since it's national poetry month and since there is no way I could make a poem a day, I am posting one from last year. I still can't judge if it's good or bad...strong or just maudlin but at least it had a happy ending after all..
If you must go
Then go.
You’d stay with me, I know
If staying was your choice to make
But I don’t wish to hold you here if there is better
But how could there be better?
When every day of here is a union
Hands held
Laughs shared
Loving fiercely, kindly, deeply
Words were spoken
God has joined together
If God joined
Then why can we not stay joined until the last step
Taken together
Hands held
Breath stilled
Heart wide open
Why?
If you must go
Then know I won’t be angry
With you.
But with God I make no promises
Only requests
To let you stay
Make you whole
Not pull my still beating heart in two
And make me live with just the bleeding half
Lying cold in my chest.
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April 2nd, 2009
10:25 am
Well, my computer is mostly well (not all of my emails will send, but at least they'll all collect).
I have writing work -- technically, I always have writing work since the Institute job comes with a lot of writing work. But as much as I love writing-about-writing, I'm happy to be doing something else too.
My physical tests came back with all things just spiffy -- I'm not sliding into diabetes, I don't have any kind of creepying female cancer, and I'm happy about those things. I don't expect bad health news, but it's nice to hear everything is just fine.
Although I have a ton of work every day, I'm not falling behind.
I think I'm whipping this weird cold thing I've had ever since the bronchitis seemed to go away. But my wild girl is being whipped by her weird cold thing and she's home today with a bit of a fever. But she isn't throwing up. Really, with her, that's fairly miraculous. She doesn't feel well, but I'm hopeful for a quick recovery.
So life is pretty good. My beloved was telling me about a dream he had where he signed up for something only to find out it was couples counselling so he's in the middle of all these cranky married couples and telling them that he wandered into the wrong group since his marriage makes him happy every day.
What could be better than a husband who feels our life together makes him happy every day?
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March 26th, 2009
02:13 pm - Beware the Internet
I was tooling around near the beginning of the week, going to my usual websites. Really, I'm pretty dull in my Internet habits: I visit a preset collection of blogs, a few writing forums, the newspaper at my hometown, the newspaper at my town here, and the Institute sites.
But, I also needed to do some research on some classic literature. I wandered off the beaten path. I picked daisies. And the wolf came. I noticed my computer was acting...odd. The browser froze up. It seemed sluggish.
Now in my Windows 98 days, this was common and the cure was a reboot. Today, my husband says "NEVER REBOOT A FUNKY COMPUTER" -- right, I know that. But old habits die hard. I rebooted. Bad Jan...bad bad.
My computer was veddy veddy sick. When I clicked on links, I got redirected to places I did not want to go. When I worked in Word, my computer acted like it had Computer ADD...it would wander off...thinking of other things and my keystrokes would stop stroking. I would have to use the mouse to click on the word document to get the computer's attention. Veddy bad.
My hubby tried to cure it. He tried hard. He tried so hard the computer stopped loading Windows AT ALL. Eek. Thankfully through the magic of he-knows-a-lot-more-than-me, he managed to copy my MyDocuments files onto his USB-thingie. Then he reformatted my computer.
And he used the most recent backup (thankfully only a week old) and the stuff from the My Documents to get everything pretty uptodate. But I'm still trying to get all my emails to work and still running across things that need fixing.
Still...no bad bad computer sickiness.
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March 23rd, 2009
02:27 pm
My wild girl loves to read or be read to.
BUT
She totally breaks down and cries, hard, if a character has to say "good-bye" to something. This is something that sneak up on you in a book. We were tooling along reading THREE GOOD DEEDS when suddenly...
[SPOILER ALERT -- DON'T READ FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW]
...the witch who was neither very nice nor very sympathetic, dies. My daughter cried for a good five minutes. I shudder to think how she would handle one of the infinite number of pet-dying novels.
The other night she was reading an article in either RANGER RICK or NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC KIDS (I'm not sure which as we get both). Apparently it was about raising some wild animal and then (oh no)....releasing it back in the wild. I hear wild weeping and run to her room. She hated the idea of loving an animal and having to say good-bye even though she totally knows that animals are happier in the wild. But she felt deeply for the wildlife person and we broken hearted over her loss.
Last night we were reading THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS and Mole had sniffed his home...but Ratty was in a hurry and nearly wouldn't go with him. Finally they went and were glad they did. It was a grand reunion with Mole's old life but he knew he loved his new life even more.
Right -- heart broken crying.
Really, life is a mine field with my daughter. When she was in preschool, they had to call us to come to the school because they showed a happy little movie about a little boy whose dog had puppies and he had to find good homes for them all and did....the teachers had no idea why my wee girlie fell apart during the movie. But as soon as I walked in, I asked what has been going on -- a movie. Did someone have to say good-bye to something in the movie? Yes, but it was a happy scene. Not for my girl.
She used to cry everyday for the preschool goodbye song -- then for the Kindergarten goodbye song. We had to turn the tv off to avoid the Blue's Clues goodbye song (because one can only handle so much emotional crisis).
Recently, we bought her a new bed -- she cried for the old one, not because she still wanted it, but because it was leaving.
It's a constant source of mystery for me. But she is learning to get hold of herself a bit quicker than in the past. Still, you just never know when a good-bye might suddenly leap up and get ya.
Personally I think I'll form a storm-trooper group and begin challenging books on the basis of containing lurking good-byes. Makes as much sense as some of the stuff I've seen.
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March 18th, 2009
02:02 pm - Did the Doctor Thing
I went to the doctor today and it appears I am not near death. Yes, I'm getting older and creeping elderness would be better faced by a skinny broad, but otherwise, I am good. This is not a surprise.
In terms of health, my husband and I come from vastly different family heritage. In his family, one gets some horrendous and little known illness -- and then lives for like 20 to 30 more years before dying. In mine, you are pretty much in fine health (give or take) for whatever your alloted life span, then you get something horrendous and die...pretty much immediately.
My heritage is cheaper. But it also means I am not surprised when the doctor can find nothing actually wrong with me.
Now, there is one thing both families share. A deep abiding interest in health (and specifically symptoms and meds) as a conversation. We talk about our meds. We can trot them out in a heartbeat and compare colors, sizes, and pricing. But again we diverge. Mark takes great pride in being able to take all his meds in one huge gulp. Sort of stunt swallowing. My people, on the other hand, revel in being delicate. We can only take one small pill at a time and even then it'll probably get stuck sideways and plague us throughout most of the day.
Symptoms are another point of interest -- the more bizarre and less socially acceptable as public sharing the better. Oh, so you have hemorrhoids that hang like bananas? Well, let me tell you about my nasal polyps...or colorful mucus I've coughed up. Goodie. Really, conversations with groups of elder kin can put you off your lunch for a week. Mostly Mark and I try...really...not to take part in such. But sometimes I do note that our personal dinner conversation really isn't exactly genteel.
So, I am well and glad to be well. We celebrated by buying the wild girl some junk for Easter and getting a new lamp for the living room (our present floor lamp stands at a 45 degree angle...which is interesting (especially since it doesn't actually fall over) but somewhat disquieting to see. I have to go watch Mark put the new one together.
I hope your day is healthy.
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March 13th, 2009
07:25 am - Writing
I spend a lot of time writing about writing. I do it for KidMagWriters and for the Institute. I do it in letters to my students. And (despite it sounding vain and obnoxious) I think I do it pretty well.
But still.
Sometimes I long to do more writing than writing about writing. But writing about writing pays the bills (well, I don't make any money from KMW but that one is important to me.) But an opportunity to do some work-for-hire writing has peeked above my horizon and I am delighted. It'll feel good to get into a lengthy project again. It's not that I don't have plenty of half-finished books I could work on...but since all my half-finished books have no promise of paycheck, they get pushed to the back of the things-to-do pile. But work-for-hire means writing and paycheck.
Which makes me veddy veddy happy.
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March 6th, 2009
07:54 am - I think I can, I think I can
I've been working hard on catching up after my bout with demon bronchitis. Mostly, I'm fairly caught up, but I have a number of article submissions for the Institute website that are lurking in my in-box unread. My goal is to have them all read and responded to by Monday. Then, I'll be more or less caught up. That should feel nice.
One thing I struggle with in playing catch up is the urge to do other things. Right now, I really want to pull out my needle and thread and scraps of felt and make some writing angels. I've been seeing these tiny little things in my head and I can completely picture how they should look. So I want to make one. I.want.to.do.it.now. This would not be good. This would not get the four student files on my desk done. This would not get the articles read in my in box. This would not clean my house.
But it wants me.
I face this same kind of thing when I'm about to tackle a writing project that I'm feeling a bit inadequate about. I'll suddenly get a whole magazine story plot laid out neatly in my head just asking to be typed up...type.me.it'll.just.take.a.moment! Or I'll feel the pull of the dust bunnies under my desk. Anything to get me away from the task at hand.
I've come to the conclusion that keeping my brain focused is like herding cats. But I keep trying. Giddy-up there, kitty!
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February 18th, 2009
09:23 pm
Well, I was self-Googling this evening because...well, because I do that sometimes in the dark night of the soul. Anyway, I found a homeschool group talking about the evils of the book I wrote for the Creative Girls Club and warning one another about it. Now, I like homeschoolers and I've worked with homeschool groups so this is not sneer at homeschooling. I've met terrific, brilliant homeschooled kids.
But, I digress. Apparently the folks in the group wanted to be sure to police their mail in case my little book of ultimate evil should slip through the mail into their homes. I mean, yeah, the book has magic so if you really hate magic -- I get that it's evil 'cause it has magic. I've known a lot of all magic=evil folks. Heck, I've known people who wouldn't allow The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe because it's chock full of good and bad magic and thus evil.
But if you don't just hate magic outright, I'm probably confused about the evil thing. The book is all about these girls who go through a portal to a magical world where they fulfill their destiny of bringing back the wellspring of good power to the world before evil twists everything to the death and destruction of all. So, since it's sort of a good overcomes evil thing, I have to assume it's just magic period that's the problem.
I hope so. They didn't even mention the sad tendency toward the clunky prose which is probably the real evil lurking in there.
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February 1st, 2009
09:54 pm
I don't normally do these test things...but I liked this one. I love nerdy stuff.
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