Mirth & Matter

Yesterday, while I was talking about books and writing with an amazing group of 4th and 5th graders in Western New York, another group of elementary school students took shelter in their school, clinging to walls, huddling in the protective arms of their teachers as a tornado swept through their city. Later on, I saw the rescue crews on the news, and my heart ached for all of those families.

I spent time in the Oklahoma City area when I was researching my weather thriller, Eye of the Storm, and the people were so welcoming and wonderful. Those of us who weren’t in the storm’s path may be in a position to help now. So here’s a chance to do that.

Instead of pulling together an auction like we did to benefit the SuperStorm Sandy KidLitCares relief effort, I thought we’d try something faster, because Oklahoma needs help right now, given the magnitude of damage from this week’s EF5 tornado. Please consider making a donation to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Effort now. If you donate at least $10, I’ll enter you in a drawing to win a signed book.

I’m donating some of my books, and some other authors are doing the same – not because a book giveaway is the real reason to make this donation but because it’s a way for the children’s literature community to promote the effort and say thanks to those who decide to donate. I’m hoping that we can also donate signed books to the library system that serves families affected by the tornado, either to add to their collections or to distribute to displaced families. More on that when things settle down some…but here’s the KidLitCares Donation Drive information.

To be entered in the KidLitCares for Oklahoma Book Giveaway:

Click here and make a donation of at least $10 for  American Red Cross Disaster Relief. Ideally, you’ll do this now. Like, right now. But if you want to be entered for the book drawing, be sure to do it before 12pm EST on June 7th.  I’ll enter your name in the drawing once for each $10 you donate. So a $50 donation equals five chances to win.

You’ll receive an email receipt from the Red Cross.  Forward that receipt to kidlitcares@gmail.com, and you’ll automatically be entered in the drawing for one of our donated signed books!  You can see an ever-updating list of donated signed books below!

On June 7th, I’ll draw names for as many books as we have donated. I’ll contact you via email if you win so that you can provide a mailing address for the author to mail your signed book. Because our authors are donating postage, books can be mailed to US addresses only. (Sorry!) Again – the deadline is 12pm EST on June 7th.

 

Authors: If you’d like to donate a signed book as a Donation Drive Giveaway, please email kidlitcares@gmail.com and I’ll send you a link to the donation page.  Thanks!

Agents and Editors: If you’d like to donate a signed book by one of your authors or clients, that’s great, too. Email kidlitcares@gmail.com and I’ll send you that link, too.

Readers: Please help us spread the word about KidLitCares for Oklahoma by sharing this link on Twitter, Facebook and wherever else you have friends!

http://www.katemessner.com/lets-help-kidlitcares-for-oklahoma/

 

Here’s the list of books that have already been donated and will be given away on June 7th…

(It will grow…and I will try my best to keep up with it…please be patient! New books will be added daily.)

HIDE AND SEEK by Kate Messner

THE REINVENTION OF EDISON THOMAS by Jacqueline Houtman

SIRENS by Janet Fox

BIGGER THAN A BREADBOX by Laurel Snyder

PASSING THE MUSIC DOWN by Sarah Sullivan

SMALL MEDIUM AT LARGE by Joanne Levy

1 ZANY ZOO by Lori Degman

THE GENTLEMAN BUG by Julian Hector

TRADING FACES by Julie DeVillers and Jennifer Roy

BEDEVILED: DADDY’S LITTLE ANGEL by Shani Petroff

HOUNDS: LOYAL HUNTING COMPANIONS by Becky Levine

THE SINISTER SWEETNESS OF SPLENDID ACADEMY by Nikki Loftin

SPLISH SPLASH! by Naomi Davis

COUNTING ON GRACE by Elizabeth Winthrop

THE GOLLYWHOPPER GAMES by Jody Feldman

.

So.

I have some news.

I am pretty pumped.

No, I am really really pumped. I am making that EEEEEEEEEEEEE noise that balloons make when you pull the blowing-in part all straight across.

It is this:

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Mirrored from JacksonPearce.com.

Sarah Johnson interviews me at Through the Tollbooth today about writing a trilogy, including discussion of writing exploratory drafts, crafting a character arc over multiple books, and researching the Bones of Faerie trilogy (including some of the pictures I took of Liza’s forest, pre-faerie-apocalypse).

And speaking of trilogies, look! It’s a complete set!

Faerie After comes out just one week from today!

Mirrored from Janni Lee Simner / Desert Dispatches.

The Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu, May 15-19

We took a flight from Lima to Cusco, then a taxi to Huaran, a tiny hamlet in the Sacred Valley. Our accommodations were at the Green House, the best B&B I have ever stayed in. http://www.thegreenhouseperu.com Hosts Bryan (from Liverpool) and Gabriel (Buenos Aires) are funny, friendly, and gracious. Just one of many examples of their helpfulness: For our day trip to Machu Picchu, we had to catch a very early train. No time for breakfast. Bryan was up to see us off--with a bag containing a picnic breakfast of sandwiches, fruit, and cookies for us to eat on the train!

Julia and I are both dog lovers, so we were delighted by the three house dogs Paco (aka Puppy), Yana, and Laika. Laika takes special responsibility for the guests, cuddling whenever invited to, and taking them for a lovely walk to a nearby waterfall.

You can opt to have dinner at the Green House, cooked by Gabriel, and we did this three out of the four nights. Our menus:

Wednesday:
--sweet potato soup
--Green House beef stew over mashed potatoes
--apple crumble with ice cream

Thursday
--individual broccoli quiches
--Green House spinach cannelloni
--chilled lemon mousse

Saturday
--guacamole with tequenos (crisp rolled pastries stuffed with cheese)
--trout over a potato mille-feuille topped with salad
--chocolate brownie and ice cream


Nothing too fancy--home food instead of restaurant food--and every dish was delicious.




The stunning view from our room at the Green House. Only four rooms total. The village of Huaran consists of a school and three tiny shops. (If you want shopping and night life, this is *definitely* not the place for you.)

Regular visitors to this blog know that I don't usually spend this much time describing my accommodations. But the Green House is special. I don't expect I'll ever stay in a more peaceful and pleasant place anywhere in the world.

Laika leads the way...





...past the rainbow...




...to the waterfall...







Julia gets into the Green House groove.


Friday, May 17: Machu Picchu

Okay, so everyone takes millions of photos at Machu Picchu--you can't help it. But even the best photos cannot convey the essence of the place. Those below are just to prove that We Were There.





















Except for a few brief breaks in the cloud cover, it rained almost the entire time we were in Machu Picchu. Didn't matter. In the morning there were a couple thousand other people there. Didn't matter. The high altitude and hundreds of stairs had me puffing so hard I almost saw stars. None of it mattered: Machu Picchu is truly wondrous in a way that's impossible to put into words, even for someone like me who likes to put almost everything into words. We stayed until late in the afternoon, when the place emptied out almost completely, and it was even more magical then.




There's still more to our trip (including a really fun horseback ride and a perfect final meal in Lima), but enough for now. I've been home for twenty-four hours and am still smiling.

First off, I should note that making lists is one of my favorite sorts of things to do. It feels like work, you see, even though you aren't truly accomplishing anything concrete besides taking ephemera that's clogging up your brain and putting it on paper for the world to see. Or, you know, anyone who wants to be bothered finding your notebook and deciphering your writing. But I digress.

There are several sorts of lists/plans that need to be made. Here's a list. (Yeah, a list of lists. Go me!)

1. You need to get or create a floor plan for the house/apartment/space you are moving into.

This assumes that you know what/where it is, or what sort of thing you'd like it to be, and really, if you don't know precisely, you have some idea. Maybe you're going to cut a bedroom, or get a place without a separate study/office. Usually you have some idea. And since I have read this tip in something like 100% of every article on moving/downsizing that I've read, I figure there must be something to it.

And it makes sense. I am moving from a 3 bedroom, 2-1/2 bathroom house to a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom house. Doesn't sound like that big of a deal, right? Not until you figure that I have both a family room and a living room and a half-finished basement (all of which contain furniture, computer, and entertainment equipment) and there's only one living room at the new place. And I have a full dining room and eat-in kitchen (read two tables with chairs, plus several pieces of additional furniture including a bookcase, two dining room storage pieces and an antique tea cart), but the new house has a rather tight dining area that can't fit my dining room table, let alone any other pieces.

Oh. And the house I'm moving into is already fully furnished. Which brings me to the next list.

2. Once you've figured out exactly how big your target space is, you need to come up with a "must have" list.

This is a list of the things that you need in order for the space to function. (I got this suggestion from the e-book by Lisa Patriquin that I recommended in the last post.) This is limited to the items necessary for each space to function as you intend it to.

For instance, my sweetheart and I agree that the master bedroom needs the following items: 1) a bed; 2) side tables/nightstands; 3) lamps; 4) an alarm clock; 5) 2 sets of sheets (min.); 6) a blanket/bedspread; 7) pillows. It doesn't, strictly speaking, need dressers, since there's a massive closet, but it has one anyhow. It also doesn't need the TV that's in there, although we're likely keeping it there.

For bathrooms, you should list things like towels, trash cans, shower curtain, etc. For the kitchen, it gets really crazy (and I haven't yet tried it), but you need to create a list containing only the things you actually need to have a functional kitchen. Not your ideal kitchen. Not a fully-outfitted, wants-for-nothing kitchen. Just a functional one. How many place settings of dishes. How many sauce and frying pans (and what sizes), baking dishes, wooden spoons, dish towels, etc. I am positive that the answer is that I need a lot less than what I have, although a bit more than what my sweetheart has. I'm sure you can see why I haven't undertaken this one yet.

3. You need to come up with a list of what is going into your new space.

Once you know what's on your "must have" list (or, if you prefer, "need to have" list, but I don't prefer that terminology, because it's too easy to say "But I need three sets of every day dishes so they can match my every mood", for instance), you have to "shop" for the items that will fill that list. Shopping can involve actual shopping, of course - maybe you want to start new, or you are getting rid of one sized bed and replacing it with another (moving up or down, either for yourself or another bedroom), for instance. But shopping can also involve "shopping" from the available items that you already own (in our case, that's stuff in two houses).

In the case of the aforementioned master bedroom, not all that much is going to change. We will likely swap alarm clocks, since I really like my iHome and my sweetheart doesn't really care what sort of clock we have as long as it works (and he can read it without his glasses on). I may swap one of my pillows for one of his, too, but that's pretty much it from the "must have" list.

4. You need to come up with a list of projects that need to be done.

In my case, this includes things at both houses, and I suspect that's the case for many people. A friend of mine is moving soon, and needs new floors and some interior painting done at her new place, as well as clearing out and fixing up at her current one.

This includes a list of things to be cleaned, painted, repaired, replaced, or disposed of, as well as things to be given away, sold, or purchased.

5. When it comes to purging/clearing activities, it pays to have a plan.

Figure out what areas you plan on starting with first. Calculate how many rooms/areas you have to deal with, and how much time you have in which to work, and map out a specific plan to allow you to move through those spaces in an orderly (and, if possible, not too rushed of a) fashion.

In the case of my house, we've decided to tackle my basement first.* It's a mess, yo. And because it holds a daybed and trundle, it is sometimes called into use as a guest room, which seems likely in June when Maggie graduates and the house fills up with family.

What I've done is to think of it in four sections: 1) the walk-in storage closet; 2) the main room (where the daybed is); 3) the craft area (which never really got set up properly, exactly, and is full of stored items); and 4) the laundry area. For each area, there's a list of tasks of the items and areas to be addressed. (Each of the sections ends with "sweep and mop the floor".) The plan was to complete the closet last week, then move to the main room this week, the craft area next week, and the laundry area the week after that. It involves clearing out a lot of unused stuff, figuring out what to keep and what to get rid of (and then how to get rid of it), some organization, some packing, and a lot of cleaning.

So far, we're on target - in fact, we moved to the main room a good two days ahead of schedule. The goal is to spend 20-30 minutes each day on the project, which is a good goal. Practically speaking, it usually turns out to be more like 30-60 minutes, but the commitment is only for 20, so it's doable on a daily basis. Because, as I stated last time, momentum is your friend, so getting a bit done every day is a Very Good Thing. I'll keep you posted on how it's going. And on some of the things I'm figuring out/learning along the way.

*I have to consult with my sweetheart and figure out what the rest of the plan is - whether we go to the attic or garage next, or start tackling rooms and closets and cupboards inside the house. But for now, getting the basement all the way done before Maggie's high school graduation next month will be enough. The rest will still be there afterwards.

See you next Tuesday with another downsizing post. Meanwhile, the blog will still be here, doing its usual thing.

Home after a wonderful trip. Extra special thanks to author Julia Durango, who traveled with me: Julia speaks fluent Spanish, and if it hadn't been for her, I'd *still* be in the wrong taxi.... Many of the photos below were taken by her (JD).


May 11-14, in Lima:



At Huanca Pucllana archeological site. (JD)




In the Pueblo Libre neighborhood at the Museo Larco: saying hello to the resident Peruvian hairless dog amid lush display of bougainvillea. (JD)




Whenever I'm traveling abroad and staying in hotels, I always have at least one impassioned "wish I had a kitchen!" moment. This was it for me in Peru: The local supermarket sold beautiful small scallops on the half shell with the roe attached. (JD)


At Colegio Roosevelt:



With John Kurtenbach and Julia. (I think Tina took this photo?--Thanks, Tina!)




With library assistant Tina Raventos and elementary librarian Michelle Roberts. And Knuffle Bunny.




With the Simpsons. (Papier mache heads display in the elementary library. Thanks again to Tina for taking the photo.)




With the students from the Korean club, who helped organize my evening presentation to the school's Korean community. Two of the students did simultaneous translation of my remarks--not an easy job! (JD)





Delicious stir-fry of flounder and veg at Chez Wong, a quirky little restaurant in Lima. No menu: First course is flounder ceviche, with or without octopus (we had it with), followed by the flounder stir-fry, and then another flounder stir-fry with homemade black-bean sauce. Very simple food and very delicious.




At Amaz restaurant, specializing in dishes made with ingredients from the Amazon region, several entrees were wrapped and steamed in bijao leaves. This is my hearts of palm and chicken, which was interesting and tasty; Julia's fish dish was even better.




The Dunkin Donuts in Lima airport: a donut called Delirium.


Our wonderful stay in Lima was due to the efforts of John Kurtenbach, Lisa Gore, Michelle Roberts, Tina Raventos, and all the library staff at Colegio Roosevelt. Thanks also to the teachers who used our books with their students, and most of all, to the TERRIFIC STUDENTS who read our books and were such enthusiastic audiences!


Next entry: Part II, the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu

Earlier today, it appeared that the schedule was in such disarray and everything was on such a hurry-up basis in Belmar that there may not be time for me to read AT THE BOARDWALK to the kids during the reopening of the boardwalk, but it turns out that there IS time after all. To wit, from 12 to 12:20 tomorrow afternoon, plus or minus start and finish and such.

I am very much looking forward to it.

1. You are letting people tell you that you should be doing other things with your time.

2. You can’t live with the level of clean that your family accepts as normal.

3. You haven’t decided to treat your writing seriously and so no one around you treats it seriously, either.

4. You haven’t made yourself a writing space.

5. You haven’t realized that you need help.

6. You do what is urgent rather than what is necessary.

7. You don’t let your kids and other people solve their own problems.

8. You think that someday you will have more time for writing.

9. You are spending time doing things you actually don’t care about.

10. You are actually using distractions as an excuse not to write.

11. You are terrified of writing, of actually sitting down and putting yourself on the page.

12. You are too busy criticizing the best selling books that you are reading to write something better.

13. You don’t know what to do with a blank page.

14. You don’t know how to turn off your internal editor.

15. You talk a good game, but you don’t play it.

16. You need to do a little planning and research before you start.

17. You don’t actually like writing. You like having written. (Join the club.)

18. You need to write the first line of the next chapter before leaving for the day.

19. You need to spend time remembering what it is you love about writing.

20. You have convinced yourself that you need 2 hours to write and don’t know how to use the 20 minute chunks you actually have.

21. You don’t have notebooks scattered through the house, including in the bathroom, to jot down inspiration.

Timeline is one of the trickiest things for me as an author. This may be because I don’t outline or it may be a problem for all authors and all books. For me, there were two distinct tasks involved in this.

1. Condensing events

My first draft of The Rose Throne had Issa and Ailsbet begin as pre-teens, about age 11. They met each other briefly, became friends, and then spent another 6-7 years apart before meeting again at age 17. I think I did this in part because I was used to spending a lot of time building backstory for my main characters. In The Princess and the Hound, Prince George begins as a young child and ages up through about 70 pages of the book.

But The Rose Throne was a very different book than The Princess and the Hound, in part because there were two viewpoint characters who grew up in different kingdoms and had very different views of the magic system which they actually share. But in addition to that, I think The Rose Throne is for an older audience than The Princess and the Hound. And there were other reasons for me to condense the story, which included the fact that if Issa and Ailsbet had met and become friends as younger figures, a lot of the narrative tension around their relationship was taken away from the rest of the book.

I cannot say how often I have done critiques on manuscripts in which I tell the author that the timeline needs to be condensed. It’s a major change, but increasing the tension often makes other narrative problems disappear or at least become easier to fix. It improves pacing enormously and makes the structure of the novel really pop out and make itself obvious. If you are meandering through your plot slowly, more tension will help you find your climax and move toward it more easily.

2. Day by day

So the second timeline issue was a chapter-by-chapter day-by-day issue. This happened at a much later stage in the process, at nearly the final revision before copyediting. After I had condensed the book events into one year, I needed to make sure that the seasons were right for each chapter and scene, and that events happened in the right order. You would be surprised at how often I had to shift things backward or forward in time so that one event that caused another didn’t happen chronologically after it in my narrative.

What I did to fix this problem was make a chart for each chapter and then type in a date. Now, the kingdoms of Rurik and Weirland don’t have our Roman calendar and I purposely never referred to our months or days of the week. I always feel like fantasy loses its sense of other-worldliness if it relies on our conventions too much (unless it’s set in our world, in which case, it’s fine). So instead I used seasons and day numbers. Each event happened on a given day in a given season. When I put them all together with a short one-sentence explanation of each chapter, I could glance through and make sure there weren’t any long, unexplained absences (which, of course there were, but I had to fix). I also could see whether too much happened in one stretch. This visual was a useful way to make sure the scenes were organized properly and that the events happened in a measured fashion.

I still have trouble with timeline in most books that I am working on now. Maybe one day I will figure out a way to hold it all in my head and not make a mistake. Ha!

One of the things that people in other places might be asking about the tornados that came down in Oklahoma yesterday is why the people didn't get into their cellars, like in the movie Twister? Or The Wizard of Oz?

The truth is, we don't have cellars. We don't have basements.

Lucky homeowners might have a storm shelter or 'safe', which is exactly what it sounds like:
a steel box plunked down in the middle of their garage.

Photo: Storm Safe

Although one of these can hold five people (ours supposedly does, but it would have to be five people packed in like sardines) they get hot very fast, and you can't move much. On the other hand, you're alive. Overnight, the police have reportedly dug 101 people out of shelters like this. (You file your shelter with the police dept, so they know that if your house collapses on top of it, they should start digging.)

But the clay soil in Oklahoma (and North Texas and much of Kansas) precludes building underground. The clay expands and contracts with the levels of water in the soil. So there aren't large basements or cellars here...which is why schools can't get their students underground.

Having taught in an OKC school, I know that teachers have limited options. My classroom's 'tornado location' was crouched down in the hallway outside my classroom, facing the lockers. Yes, there were glass windows nearby, but very few places in the school don't have those. We drilled a few times a year for tornado. (And Code Blue and fire and bomb threat...each had a different protocol.)

This is just a fact of life here. You do the best you can with a limited number of options.