The Next Big Thing Blog Tour

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I’ve been tagged by Amy Timberlake for The Next Big Thing Blog Tour! Amy recently published One Came Home, which is my bedtime reading right now. Check it out!

I’ve never taken a “Blog Tour,” although I love to travel, so this is me, learning as I go.

Here are the questions—and my answers:

1) What is the working title of your next book?

It started out as CARGO and has been changed to THE MYSTERIOUS CARGO. I just submitted this ms and am waiting to hear if my first choice editor likes it.

2) Where did the idea come from for the book?

Every summer I drive 1000 miles across I 90 from Chicago to New Hampshire and then 1000 miles back again. I am always fascinated and amazed at the trucks and vehicles I see and the things they carry. That’s where the working title, CARGO, came from. Then, on a drive downstate I saw the most amazing piece of cargo I have ever seen. It was huge. It was long. It was unmarked and I have no idea what it is. I took photos. And I knew I had to include that mysterious cargo in this book.

3) My ms is a picture book for 4-6 year olds. Currently it is a little heavy on text (800 words), and I’m hoping that once an illustrator is on board we can reduce some of the text by telling the story through the pictures. I have already cut as much as I feel I can without having to write tons of illustration notes and losing the flow of the text. The next round of cuts needs to be a collaboration between editor, illustrator, and myself.

4) What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a
movie rendition?

I half-way imagine Bart Simpson as my narrator. The sister is a little like Lisa and a lot like me as a child. The parents could be Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. Not sure who could play the part of the dog.

5) What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

On a two-day family road trip a young boy forgets about his missing video games and becomes obsessed with following the progress of one particular truck carrying a very mysterious cargo.

6) Who is publishing your book?

That is a good question. I have submitted to one editor and am hoping she will love this story enough to want to work with me on it, but I will not put her on the spot by naming her. It took me twelve tries to find the right home for TRUCK STUCK. I hope this book reaches the right editor sooner than that.

7) How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?

It has taken me 4 years I think to bring this story from random notes and journal ideas to a completed ms. I thought I was going to write in rhyme, since each of my previous 3 books rhyme. I wrote a prose version of the story intending to substitute rhyming text once I’d nailed down the plot details. Every time I tried to force the story into rhyme it became unworkable and cumbersome. I liked the flow of the prose. After a year or more of struggling to rhyme I finally gave myself permission to write in prose. I feel so liberated!

8) What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

One book that I looked to for a model is the Golden Book, Scuffy the Tugboat, by Gertrude Crampton, illustrated by Tibor Gergely. Scuffy takes off downstream and passes through different kinds of landscapes until he reaches the wide ocean. The changing scenery and transition from rural to urban landscape reminded me of the changing landscape on my own road trip. I also looked at A Trip to the Bottom of the World with Mouse, by Frank Viva. This is another book about a trip and I liked the way the story is told in dialog. It is a Toon book, a comic for youngsters. While I don’t see my story as a comic, it does have a lot of dialog.

9) Who or what inspired you to write this book?

While I was originally inspired to write about the amazing trucks I keep seeing on my travels, I fell upon a phrase that really pleased me—“I go! You go! We go! Cargo!” That line has become a refrain in this non-rhyming text, with variations to the line that mirror the story. It captures the energy and fun I hope is in the story.

10) What else about the book might pique the reader's interest?

All through the story the boy is hoping to discover what the mysterious cargo is. (Spoiler Alert!) And he never does find out. I intend to set up a Facebook page where readers can post photos or drawings of the interesting cargos they see and perhaps someone will solve the mystery of the mysterious cargo.

Next up on the Next Big Thing Blog Tour? Lori Degman, author of One Zany Zoo and inveterate rhymer will pick up the baton. Take it away, Lori!

Do You Haiku?

I was asked to teach 4 poetry workshops to the 4 second grade classes at Mann School in Oak Park, District 97. This is part of the Art Start program, funded by the Oak Park Education Foundation. I've never taught poetry workshops for Art Start before, never done a series of poetry workshops, and never taught poetry without first using art as an entry into the creative process.

I decided to ask for some advice. Debbie Creticos is a second grade teacher at Longfellow School. We've worked together on Art Start (art) projects for at least 4, maybe more years. And sometimes we've introduced poetry to go with the art. Debbie invited another second grade teacher to join us and we brainstormed poetry and second graders together. At the end of the session Debbie said, "You'll be fine. They'll love you."

I reread Gooney Bird Is So Absurd, by Lois Lowry. This is a book Debbie introduced me to several years ago. Gooney Bird Green is a fabulous second grade character who likes to be in the middle of things and who wears the most flamboyant outfits imaginable. And each of the books in the series focuses on different aspects of writing and story-telling. In Gooney Bird Is So Absurd, the class is studying poetry. Following Lois Lowry's lead, I decided to begin with Haiku for my first Art Start workshop.

I turned to another great book, Haiku (Asian Arts and Crafts For Creative Kids) by Patricia Donegan. In this book the author provides a real understanding of traditional Japanese haiku, provides 7 keys to writing haiku, and includes many examples of both traditional Japanese haiku and haiku written by contemporary poets including children from all around the world.

Since my workshops are only 30 minutes long, the teachers follow up after I leave and help the students continue writing. I made a poster for each class with examples of haiku poems and a page spread from the proofs for my own book, The Robin Makes A Laughing Sound: A Birder's Journal. Each season opens with a bird list, a sketch of a white oak tree in that season, a few bird sketches, and a haiku appropriate to the season. I also included a sheet of tips for writing haiku (basically taken from Donegan's Haiku book. Here's a copy of that sheet:

How to Write Haiku:

Haiku poems are made up of very few words, maybe six to ten, broken into three short lines. If you are trying to count syllables, the pattern is:

5 syllables

7 syllables

5 syllables

It is not necessary to count syllables.

Describe a moment in time—something that actually happened to you, that you actually saw. Choose your words carefully to paint a picture in your mind. Use descriptive words—not just “flower” but what kind of flower, what color flower, what about that flower is special and unique?

Create a snapshot, a picture, using words. Use your senses to get in touch with the world around you.

What do you see?

What do you hear?

What do you smell?

What do you taste?

What do you feel?

At recess, at lunch, on your way to and from school, pay attention to the world around you. Watch with “haiku eyes,” keep an open mind. Prepare to be surprised and find your haiku moment.

I left each class with a poster, a stack of magazines for cutting up, and nice blue card stock for the kids to write out their finished poems on and illustrate, perhaps using the page proofs from my book as inspiration. Here's a list of the books I left each class:

Lois Lowry, Gooney Bird Is So Absurd

Jack Prelutsky, If Not For The Cat

Bob Raczka, Guyku

Sallie Wolf, The Robin Makes A Laughing Sound: A Birder's Journal

Well, It's Been A While Since Last I Wrote

I haven't been keeping up with my reading journal the way I'd planned, but I sure have been reading. That's about all I did this winter--curl up on the couch with a good book. My favorite book since I wrote last has been Okay For Now by Gary Schmidt. Richard Peck wrote the review for the New York Times. I won't try to top that, but there were all kinds of reasons why I loved this book. The first was the voice--the narrator, Doug, had a very distinctive way of addressing the reader, asking numerous time, "You know how that feels?" And as the book progresses these questions shift from being confrontational, angry, hurt, to expressing joy, wonder, gratitude. The Doug's growth is displayed in his questions.

Another reason I loved this book was because each chapter began with a reproduction of an Audubon print of a bird and Doug's description of the print. I have always believed in the healing power of art and Doug comes under that spell. His ability to see his world in the world of Audubon's birds opened up new ideas of how pictures convey their meaning. I'm an artist, with an art degree, and I learned about composition from reading this book.

This is the last reason for liking the book that I'll give, but it's not the last reason I have--Doug has to reach outside his family to find adults who will give him the support and help that he needs to overcome so many obstacles in his path. And he finds help in many strange places and in turn is able to help others. The message is important--that there are people who care about you even when your parents can't or don't. Doug feels as if he is entirely on his own at the beginning of the book, with no one who can take his side, and by the end of the book he has built a community of caring people.

If you haven't read this book, you should--it's a great story, powerfully written.