Happy Father's Day! My Favorite Dad in Life & Kid Lit...

Dad holding my youngest kiddo

Happy Father's Day to all of you dads out there!

If you have a chance to leave a comment on this post, I'd love to learn who your favorite fictional dad is. Mine has to be Danny's father in Roald Dahl's Danny, The Champion of the World. 

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My father has always been a fan of music, particularly songs that tell stories. His favorite singers (including John Prine, Lucinda Williams, Patty Griffin) are ones who have interesting things to say, and he's one of those people who will play you a song, pause it, then repeat a lyric to see if you've realized how cool or poignant or meaningful it was.

He probably doesn't remember this, but he once told me that Paul Simon's "Graceland" was the most perfect song ever written. So this one's for you, Dad:

Lyrics:

The Mississippi Delta was shining
Like a National guitar
I am following the river
Down the highway
Through the cradle of the civil war
I'm going to Graceland
Graceland
In Memphis Tennessee
I'm going to Graceland
Poor boys and pilgrims with families
And we are going to Graceland
My traveling companion is nine years old
He is the child of my first marriage
But I've reason to believe
We both will be received
In Graceland

She comes back to tell me she's gone
As if I didn't know that
As if I didn't know my own bed
As if I'd never noticed
The way she brushed her hair from her forehead
And she said losing love
Is like a window in your heart
Everybody sees you're blown apart
Everybody sees the wind blow

I'm going to Graceland
Memphis Tennessee
I'm going to Graceland
Poor boys and pilgrims with families
And we are going to Graceland

And my traveling companions
Are ghosts and empty sockets
I'm looking at ghosts and empties
But I've reason to believe
We all will be received
In Graceland

There is a girl in New York City
Who calls herself the human trampoline
And sometimes when I'm falling, flying
Or tumbling in turmoil I say
Oh, so this is what she means
She means we're bouncing into Graceland
And I see losing love
Is like a window in your heart
Everybody sees you're blown apart
Everybody sees the wind blow

In Graceland, in Graceland
I'm going to Graceland
For reasons I cannot explain
There's some part of me wants to see
Graceland
And I may be obliged to defend
Every love, every ending
Or maybe there's no obligations now
Maybe I've a reason to believe
We all will be received
In Graceland

One Month Countdown to Becky Thatcher and Co.

Hi All~

I've got a book coming out in just one month and my editor, the lovely Kristin Ostby of Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, was kind enough to ship me a couple of early copies so I could see what they look like. Here they are:

(mine's on the left, next to shiny new editions of MARK TWAIN (!!!) books)

New editions of Mark Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn are being released at the same time (to be sold individually and in a boxed collection with Becky T.). Iacopo Bruno did a wonderful job with the covers and interior illustrations and I'm excited for the books to hit shelves on July 1st. 

Munchkin# 1 w/ books

Munchkin #2 w/ books (looks like she prefers Huck Finn)

My parents happened to stop by last Thursday/Friday and I got to surprise them with the dedication page featuring two names that are very near and dear to me: Mom & Dad. They drove to Colorado after visiting my grandma in Iowa~ 11 hours just to see the grandkids~ before heading back across the country to their home in Tennessee. They called this morning, having stopped in Hannibal, Missouri, hometown of Samuel Clemens, aka Mark Twain. Here are a couple of photos they emailed me from the Mark Twain Boyhood Home and Museum:

Becky Thatcher House (part of the Museum's property)

Boyhood Home (with nicely whitewashed fences)

Mark Twain Boyhood Home & Museum sign

And in weather news, it's finally starting to warm up around here. My 5-year-old gathered a bowl of hail during last week's storm and put it in the freezer to show anyone who happens to drop by, but other than that, I believe summer is on the way. Hope you're all doing well!

May Writing Contest Round-Up (and a snow update)

Once again, I'm going to direct you to the capable hands of the SubItClub blog for contest information. Here are a few of the items they have listed for the rest of the month. Go to THIS POST for a full list:

5/12: May Secret Agent Contest - Open to MG and YA. Qualifying entries are critiqued online.

5/15: Remixing the World’s Problems Challenge - Using the poems from Solving the World’s Problems by Robert Lee Brewer as inspiration, write your own remix poem. Winning remix will receive $500 from the author.

5/22: Query Kombat – Submissions will start on the 22nd with the first rounds beginning June 1st. Agents will be participating including Pam Van Hylckama Vlieg, Cate Hart, and Sandy Lu. More details will be posted on Michelle Hauck’s blog soon.

5/31: Write Club 2014 - Submit a 500 word sample to be considered for one of 32 participants that compete in weekly bouts. There are agent and editor judges participating.
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In other news, we got more snow yesterday and it's still snowing as I type this post. My girls are set up at the kitchen table with spoons and bowls of snow in front of them. The 16-month old has plain snow, but I let my 5-year-old decorate hers with colored sugar sprinkles. I figure if you can't beat it, eat it.

This morning: Bike & Shovel

This morning: Porch chair (aka, snow lump)

Happy Mother's Day~ A Song Tribute

Happy Mother's Day to my wonderful mother!

In addition to throwing the most creative themed birthday parties ever, my mom loved to sing around the house and in the car. As a result, I am now notorious for making up silly songs and belting out the Frozen soundtrack with my own daughters. Some of my favorite memories of growing up with mom include our impromptu duets to Going To The Chapel, Hey Big Spender, and this song:

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!

What season is it?

View from my front porch this morning.

I love a good snowfall. I really do. I love the frosting it puts on the mountains and I love the holiday-ish feeling that the sight of snow always gives me. And I know that I'm a lucky lady to be in a situation where my family has a home and cars that the snow can fall on. I know all of that.

But this is becoming tiresome.





No, I do not want to build a snowman.

Writing Process Blog Tour (and 2 MG titles you don’t want to miss!)

Pirate Pens: Essential for Drafting

This blog tour is where writers/authors answer questions about their writing process. Anna Schumacher, author of END TIMES (out from Penguin in May) posted hers last week and tagged me to participate. You can check out her writing process HERE.

What am I working on?
I’m working on edits for NOOKS & CRANNIES (coming summer 2015 from Simon & Schuster), a middle grade novel set in the Lake District of England that was pitched as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory meets Clue.  With lots of characters and a mystery-in-a-manor-house vibe, it’s been a fun one to work on. I’m also drafting a new idea set in 1830s Ireland.

How does my work differ from others of its genre?
I love all genres of middle grade and have to assume that all those voices/stories/plots have seeped into my writing approach over the years, so I wouldn't necessarily say that my writing differs distinctly from what’s been written in the past or what’s out there now. In terms of historical fiction (my stories so far tend to be set in the past), I think I try to straddle the line between straight historical and something more playful—my ideas are set during specific times and I do research to add certain details, but then I end up having a somewhat exaggerated  bent to it. There’s no real fantasy or magic in my writing (yet!), but I think it generally borders on something that could garner reader responses of “Hey, this isn't realistic!” to which I might respond, “You’re right! That’s what’s so nice about writing fiction~ sometimes you get to break rules and be a little bit ridiculous or fantastical, even when writing within a historical time/place.”

Why do I write what I do?

I write middle grade because those are the books that initially solidified a love of reading for me and I’m nostalgic for that time in my life. As for why I write in the genres I do (mainly historical time periods), I don’t know. Though contemporary and fantasy MG books are among my favorites, I can’t seem to follow through with writing ideas in those genres (at least not yet, but I’ll keep trying).

How does your writing process work? 

Come up with query-style summary paragraphs for an idea, draft most of a novel, get stuck, resort to actual outlining, finish/polish draft, send to critique partners, revise, send to CPs again, revise again. 
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And now, here are two middle grade debut authors who've written novels that I love. Please stop by their blogs and become a follower (they may be posting about their writing process next week and you won’t want to miss any stellar advice they have).

Louise Galveston- Louise Galveston is the author of BY THE GRACE OF TODD (Penguin/Razorbill Feb. 27, 2014). She and her husband live in the Midwest with their eleven kids and a parrot. When Louise isn't writing or folding laundry, she directs her local children’s theater, where she’s playwright in residence.

Check out her blog:
http://www.louisegalveston.blogspot.com/

Tara Dairman- Tara Dairman is a novelist, playwright, and survivor of the world’s longest honeymoon (2 years, 74 countries!). Thanks to her travels, parts of her debut middle-grade novel ALL FOUR STARS (Penguin/Putnam, July 10, 2014) were written in a mall in Brazil, a guesthouse in Morocco, and coffeehouses in Argentina, Cameroon, Gabon, and Tanzania. Revisions took place in the slightly less exotic locale of her parents’ basement in New York.

Check out her blog:
http://taradairman.com/blog/

Eternal Winter...

This is a picture of our backyard this morning.

It is APRIL 7th.

(Update: it is now April 13th and our weather forecast calls for 5-8 inches today with 5-9 inches of new accumulation tonight. That's a possible 17 inches of snow.)

I'm fairly certain that the weather has something to do with my daughter listening to the Frozen soundtrack over and over and over and...

She has set off an eternal winter.

Help me, Olaf. I need a warm hug.