The Double-Edged Sword of Vulnerability (or) What is Writer's Bloc?

So, what is the double-edged sword of vulnerability? What IS writer's block, anyway? Where does it come from?

I try to answer these questions and more here at EMUSDEBUTS:

MENTOR MONDAY

Note: For whatever reason, Blogger will not let me format this into paragraphs. Therefore, I have color-coded what would have been paragraphs if the blogging Gods had been smiling down upon me today... In honor of Poetry Month, let’s extend a super-duper Mentor Monday welcome to Leslie Bulion. She is not only the author of three middle grade novels, but is also the author of some wonderful science poetry books such as, HEY THERE STINK BUG! This was one of my son’s favorites! Too bad Leslie’s wonderful new book, AT THE SEA FLOOR CAFÉ: ODD OCEAN CRITTER POEMS, (illustrated by Leslie Evans www.seadogpress.com) was not released 8 years ago; this charming book would have become worn and dogeared! This clever collection of poems describes the devious and sometimes surprising methods ocean denizens use to forage for food, capture prey, trick predators, and protect their young. The poems swim effortlessly from page to page, leading us from the snail shell home of the jeweled anemone crab on the ocean floor to a violet snail hanging upside down in its bubble house on the sea’s surface. At the Sea Floor Cafe includes science notes with details about each animal's behavior, a glossary, and an appendix explaining the forms of poetry that appear on each spread. Striking linoleum prints round out this title, which can be used across the curriculum. And……Peachtree Publishing is running a contest that I’m including as part of this Mentor Monday! Click below to win either a skype visit with Leslie or a copy of this fabulous book! http://library.constantcontact.com/download/get/file/1103596296500-87/Sea+Floor+Cafe+officialrules.pdf Also, there is a charming AT THE SEA FLOOR CAFÉ trailer on youtube that you may want to check out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILI_-UnCcoY Leslie Bulion teams a life-long love of poetry and her oceanography background in At the Sea Floor Café (Peachtree 2011), her second collection of science poetry. The first, Hey There, Stink Bug! (Charlesbridge 2006), is an award-winning book of gruesomely humorous insect poems. Leslie’s other books include the Bank Street Best Books 2007 middle-grade novel Uncharted Waters (Peachtree 2006), The Trouble With Rules (Peachtree 2008), and the Children’s Africana Book Award Best Picture Book winner, Fatuma’s New Cloth (Moon Mountain 2002). A former school social worker, Leslie has written and edited books in the education market and has been a regular contributing writer in national magazines and on the Internet. She gives writing workshops and presentations to students, educators and writers throughout the US. Visit Leslie’s website at http://www.lesliebulion.com/. Without further ado... Readers sometimes ask me if I always knew I wanted to be a writer. My answer is a resounding NO! First of all, back when I was falling in love with Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, Miss Bianca, and Taran the assistant to the pig keeper, books were magic, and authors were wizards. I was an ordinary mortal. How could I be a writer? In college I learned that you could research and rewrite a paper forever, but exams ended when you put your pencil down. This aphorism guided my course selection, save one. Tucked between my science courses was one, lonely class in creative writing. I spent that entire semester writing poetry. Why? Because of Mrs. Brownworth. My fourth grade teacher, Mrs. Brownworth, was young, enthusiastic, gentle, caring, and she loved poetry. Mrs. Brownworth read us poetry all the time. She encouraged us to listen for the music within and in-between the words. We memorized a poem and recited it in class. I chose “Sneezles” from the collection Now We Are Six by A. A. Milne. That poem has everything I still love in a poem: wonderful rhythm and meter, perfect rhyme, funny parts, invented language and a punch line. I was so proud to learn it. And I know now that reciting “Sneezles” and other poems helped me to internalize the flow and rhythm of rhyming poetry. Inspired by the poems we heard and learned, we all wrote our own poems with Mrs. Brownworth. The words flowed. Here’s one of my very early works: The grass is green, The grass is brown, The grass is waving up and down. The grass is brown, The grass is green, The grass is full of amazing things you have never seen! Mrs. Brownworth gave me feedback and celebrated my poems. I kept on writing. I wrote reams of poems that year, and every year after that. I continued to write poems for myself through the all the years I insisted I was not a writer, until one day a longtime friend called me up after reading a letter from me and said, “Yes, you are.” (Another mentor story. I have lots. The writing community is so very generous and encouraging. I’ll try not to digress.) Even after I’d written magazine stories and children’s books (skipping other mentor stories here), it took years for me to put “being a writer” and “writing poetry” together in my head. Several years ago, I was taking yet another science course when I came up with what I considered a crazy idea: to write poems about the insects I was studying. The idea seemed so off-the-wall that I didn’t even mention it to my critique group. But when I finally admitted to the group what I was thinking of doing, their off-the-charts enthusiasm encouraged me to take the leap (mentors, mentors, mentors, all). As soon as I sold Hey There, Stink Bug, I started trying to find Mrs. Brownworth. I wanted to thank her for setting me on this writing path (unbeknownst to me and while I was busy heading elsewhere). I contacted the teachers’ association in the town where I grew up. No luck. But last year I recognized her on Facebook and here’s the funny thing: she’s not so very much older than me anymore, and her first name is Barbara, not Mrs.. I am thrilled to be able to show her the impact she has had on my life since I was lucky enough to have her as my teacher back in the fourth grade. Thank you for poetry, Mrs. Brownworth!

MENTOR MONDAY

A Huge Mentor Monday welcome to YA author, Jo Knowles! She is the brilliant scribe of LESSONS FROM A DEAD GIRL and JUMPING OFF SWINGS, PEARL (July, 2011) and SEE YOU AT HARRY’S (spring, 2012). Jo is, also, a freelance writer and teaches writing for children in the MFA program at Simmons College. She lives in Vermont with her husband and son.

I am always so impressed with Jo. She is so willing and able to open herself up and be vulnerable in her talks to aspiring authors in a way that inspires and encourages. I think it’s the truly brave that are able to do that and the kind-hearted that actually act on it. This post, here, is no different! In addition, I think that Jo’s post on Dearteenme.com is one of the most poignant entries there.

Jo is going to be one of our author mentors at Whispering Pines, 2012!!! I am *so* looking forward to getting to know Jo even further!

Without further ado…

Mentor Monday, by Jo Knowles

I met Lowrly Pei my sophomore year of college when I signed up for his nonfiction writing course. There were about 10-12 students in the class and each week Lowry would choose someone’s work to read out loud and then we’d all discuss the work in painstaking detail. I remember the first time my work was chosen, I made myself sick I was so nervous. But Lowry was always kind, always quick to point out the specks of gold in the rock. He made me feel like a writer. When he handed back our work, it was often accompanied by a page or more of single-spaced comments. I would pour over those comments, so grateful to have a reader. So grateful to have a listener. By the end of the semester, I was making small notes at the top of my papers, “Please don’t share in class.” Because the other amazing thing Lowry had done was allow me to create a lifeline with my words. Sophomore year was a difficult one for me. So difficult, I still don’t talk about it. And yet I had a safe place to share my secret, parallel life. Silently. With Lowry.

Poor Lowry.

I continued to keep in touch with Lowry throughout my years at Simmons and on into graduate school. He was my master’s thesis mentor (I wrote my first YA novel instead of a thesis), and he guided me through the obvious mistakes new writers make with patience and steady encouragement. I also took a course with him called Teaching Writing, which required me to be a teaching assistant in a writing course similar to the one I’d taken with him years earlier. In our weekly graduate seminars, we’d talk about how the classes were going and I joked with Lowry about what a terrible student I must have been, sharing secrets I never should have burdened him with. He just laughed, and told me I wasn’t the first. He said he often walked down the busy halls of students and thought, “Every one of them has a story. Every one of them has a secret.” That same day, I remember stepping out into the hall and watching all the young women making their way from one class to another. What’s your story? I thought, as each one passed. And I swear I could almost feel those silent secrets hitting my chest like a fist.

I was so lucky to have Lowry to share my own story with. And later, my fiction, drawn from pain and joy—experienced, witnessed, and imagined. Even after I graduated, it was Lowry I sent my first drafts to for approval. Lowry whose long, detailed and honest letters I cherished and believed in. In the fifteen years since my graduation, I’m sure Lowry has mentored many, many other quiet Jo’s, slowly daring to put secrets on paper, desperate to get those words out, if only silently, from student to teacher. Who slowly learned how to find beauty in the ugly. To turn truth to lies and back again, so that some day, at long last, their words could find their way to strangers who have their own stories to tell.

Thank you, Lowry, for listening.

MENTOR MONDAY

Jennifer Thermes is the author/illustrator of SAM BENNETT'S NEW SHOES and WHEN I WAS BUILT. She has also done endpaper maps for books such as THE WATER SEEKER by Kimberly Willis Holt, and REVOLUTION IS NOT A DINNER PARTY by Ying Chang Compestine. Recent projects include cover and black & white interior illustrations for a middle-grade chapter book written by Valerie Hobbs, to be released by Henry Holt Books for Young Readers in 2011. Please take the time to go to Jen's website. Her artwork is just beautiful!

I met Jennifer when I went down to a Shoreline Arts event and heard her speak. I liked her immediately. Seeing her art work was one of those times that I longed to be an artist. I just love the colors she uses and her drawings have such a sweet quality to them. (Professional artists would talk about lines and tone and such. I just like them!) Her maps are genius! Someday, I intend to hire her to do one for me.

Based on her easy going nature, talent, and presentation, I later invited her to be our author/illustrator mentor at Whispering Pines. She agreed but wanted to know a bit more about the weekend. We agreed to a quick phone chat. Three hours later...

Needless to say, we hit it off, and I feel so very fortunate for two things tonight. (1) That Jennifer will be our author/illustrator mentor this weekend at Whispering Pines in Rhode Island, and (2) I have a wonderful, talented, funny, caring friend that I didn't have a year ago! Huzzah!

Without further ado...Here is Jen!

I can’t remember ever having had just one mentor in my life, in the traditional sense of the word. It’s been more like many. I've been fortunate.

There were teachers– the elementary school Art teacher who let me draw horses endlessly, because he knew it was my passion. (What better way to encourage creativity than to let a child follow their passion?) And a junior high school English teacher who patiently helped me revise, over and over, my telling of a traumatic event during a family trip to Maine. She taught me that writing clearly was more than scribbling words in an angsty, teenage diary: writing was in the revising.

I had an awesome Art Director and co-workers in my first job out of art school. They taught me the realities of deadlines, how to produce a magazine, and how to keep you sense of humor while doing it! The illustrators that I hired and the freelancers I met were huge inspirations when it came time to take the terrifying leap from a full-time job into my own life as a freelance illustrator.

There was the magazine editor I collaborated with on many projects. He taught me the mental game of how to stay sane through the ups and downs of working for oneself.
My first art rep was a guy with a terrific head for business. From him I learned not to fear negotiation! And then there was the editor he had worked with who loved my maps, and wondered if I wrote, as well. Her inquiry set into motion a course of combining art and words, and opened my mind to the possibilities of working in the world of children’s books.

My writing group, ever supportive, has been priceless; as have been old friends and new ones made serendipitously.

I am a confessed writing-and-art-craft book addict– if you mention it, I will buy it–because sometimes that “I get it now!” moment happens when something is explained for the hundred-and-second time.

And then there’s the Internet. Hard to imagine it didn’t exist when I first started out. It feeds my learning curve through blogs, tweets, and chat boards. Also, working on your own can be a challenge when you’re faced with a problem. But through the online community I can always find someone who has gone through something similar. Although many people I’ve met in cyberspace have become friends, most aren’t even aware of the inspiration they’ve provided.

I truly believe mentors are everywhere, if you remain open and curious. Consider this post one big thank-you to all of mine, whether you know you’ve been one or not.

Why Did the Monkey Cross the Road?

So, everyone is all a twitter (literally!) about online marketing! Here are some things, however, that prospective and dubut authors should consider *beyond* online promotion:

Head on over to EMU's Debuts to read my post: Why Did the Monkey Cross the Road? Because the Other Side Had Paperback and Foreign Rights.

MENTOR MONDAY

A gigantus MENTOR MONDAY welcome to Laura Resau, author of six novels including RED GLASS, WHAT THE MOON SAW, RUBY NOTEBOOK, and the newly minted, THE QUEEN OF WATER (co-authored with María Virginia Farinango). This novel, which is based on a true story, begins in an impoverished Andean village where seven-year-old Virginia is taken from her indigenous family to be an unpaid servant. For the next eight years, she struggles to hold on to her spirit and humor in the face of oppression. But once she's found her freedom, will Virginia - now a teenager caught between cultures - also find a place where she belongs? I have my copy—can’t wait to dive in!

* "[A] riveting tale... by turns heartbreaking, infuriating and ultimately inspiring." - Kirkus, STARRED

"A richly described coming-of-age story set in a culture both foreign and and familiar ...by turns shocking and funny." - VOYA

"A moving, lyrical novel that will particularly resonate with teens caught between cultures." Booklist STARRED review

Feel free to go to Laura’s website page to read an excerpt from THE QUEEN OF WATER, as well as the poignant inspiration for this wonderful book.

I first met Laura as I arrived as a wide-eyed, freshman member of the Gangos (Erin Murphy Literary clients) who traveled out to Portland, OR., for an agency retreat back in 2009. I was actually awed enough to be quiet for two hours. From reading Laura’s work, I knew she was a fabulous writer. She also had all of these wonderful stories of her travels and how her adventures fed her written stories. Fascinating. Beautiful. Sad. Inspiring.

However, the strongest impression that I came away with of Laura, was that she has a “steeped in wisdom” quality about her. (Remember those EF Hutton commercials? Well, when Laura spoke, I’d stop to listen.) About writing, about marketing , and about the writing life. When I expressed some nervousness about school visits down the road (before my ms had even been submitted to editors), she looked me in the eye and told me that I was a natural story teller and that I had nothing to worry about. And you know what? I believed her! I was instantly at ease with the whole thing. Speaks to the power of words and small kindnesses, doesn’t it? So, I guess, Laura mentored me that weekend!

Without further ado….

~~Laura Resau – Mentor Post~~

My mentor came on the scene later in my writing journey, but at what turned out to be the perfect time. Mentor-less for many years, I'd managed to bumble my way through writing and revising my first YA novel, What the Moon Saw, thanks to a smattering of enthusiastic teachers and writing group members (and my mom) who gave me guidance. Of course, it would have been wonderful (and time-saving!) to have had a mentor during the five years it took me to write the book. But a mentor-of-sorts did come along, just in time to help me navigate the rough waters of the publication process and beyond.

Lauren Myracle (of the Luv Ya Bunches and TTYL series) became an invaluable (and supercute, superfriendly, supersmart) resource for me. She'd always been supportive of me and other prepublished writers when I saw her at events in Fort Collins (where we both live). So, when I got a voicemail message from an editor at Delacorte saying she was interested in my manuscript (but that she would be out of the office for vacation and wanted me to call her back after one torturous week), I called up Lauren for advice. I was agent-less at the time, and Lauren was the only industry expert I knew who felt approachable. She squealed and congratulated me and cheerfully told me that if the editor made me an offer, to bump it up a few thousand dollars, since that's what they expect.

A week later, I called the editor back, my hands shaking, my throat parched, nervous sweat gushing from my armpits. She offered me a typical debut literary novel advance—about the price of a small, used car. "Yes!" I said. "Yes! Thank you thank you thank you!"

She paused. "Are you officially accepting the offer, then?"

Terrified that she would suddenly change her mind, I said, "Yes, yes, officially, yes! Thank you!" (Oh, if only Lauren had been right there with me on speaker phone…)

After the discovery that I was terrible at negotiating book contracts, I called Lauren. I told her the good news and, a bit embarrassed, said that I suspected it would be a good idea for me to get an agent. ASAP.

And being the generous soul that she is, Lauren gushed excitement, then gave me her agent's phone number. He ended up referring me to my unbelievably wonderful agent, Erin Murphy (who is also Lynda's agent!) Erin proved to be worlds better at contract negotiations than I could ever dream of being.

Lauren continued to be a wise (and adorable) guide for me through the publication process. She explained authorly etiquette (like asking for blurbs), introduced me to other YA authors, and gave a beautiful, from-the-heart quote for the back cover of What the Moon Saw (which several people have told me made them buy the book). When I had questions about appearances at librarian and teacher conferences, she was the first person I asked (her advice: be generous and wear a cute dress). And when she had to turn down author appearance invitations for local events, she passed along my name, which helped spread the word about my book. It feels so reassuring to have someone like Lauren helping me figure out the YA book industry. (Even after six years, I still call her for advice.)

Thanks for reading! May you all find the perfect mentor at the perfect stage of your writing journey!

MENTOR MONDAY

Anyone who’s been seriously writing for children knows the name, Emma Dryden. She’s been in publishing 25 years and shows no signs of slowing down. During a nineteen year career with S&S, she earned the titles of Vice President and Publisher of both Atheneum Books for Young Readers and Margaret K. McElderry Books.

Emma has edited nearly 500 books and has worked with children’s literary stars such as Ellen Hopkins, Karma Wilson, Alan Katz, Kathi Appelt, Holly Black, Louise Borden, Lorie Ann Grover, Chris Demarest, and Shelia Moses. The list of major awards her books have garnered is staggering. A shock wave went through the children’s publishing world when she was laid off as part of a cost-cutting maneuver by S&S. I still remember thinking the person who’d told me the news had the wrong name.

Emma Dryden still continues to give the children’s publishing industry her very best. Enter…Drydenbks, a multi-platform venture through which she will provide editorial and creative services to children's book authors, illustrators, publishers, and agents. She will also conduct workshops and act as consultant to those seeking to break into or expand their presence in the children's publishing arena. Emma also does some writing (mostly poetry), and keeps a blog.

I first met Emma Dryden as a wide-eyed newbie at Whispering Pines Writer’s Retreat about 8 years ago. I remember her as being kind, quick to laugh, and having some darn cool sweaters. I also remember that during a first pages activity, she made some comments (along with author, Nancy Hope Wilson) about my work that changed the direction of my writing. I’ll be forever grateful for that, as that “direction” is now under contract.

Below, Emma writes about her blessing of having multiple professional mentors. Following the first piece, she writes a short piece about luminary, Margaret McElderry, and a humorous, fateful day twenty years ago. It seems that both Emma and Margaret were blessed on this frenzied August day….

Thanks, Emma, for your generosity in sharing these pieces with me.

Without further ado…

~~~~~~

Emma Dryden:

I have been blessed to have had several mentors in my professional life. I have been blessed by some people older than myself who by example instilled in me a regard for and understanding of not only the business of a business, but the humanity of a business; people who by example inspired me to learn from my mistakes, care about my reputation, conduct myself with honesty and passion, and strive to become a decent citizen of the world. By example, these people taught me, helped me, challenged me, and expected the best from me as they expected the best from themselves. They made me cry because they were tough. They made me laugh because they were playful. They made me think because they were thoughtful. They made me care because they were careful. And in the process, as I grew from being an assistant to a colleague to a peer, we became friends because we shared a deep mutual respect for our business, for one another, and for the future.

As I walk along the paths of my life and my work, I don’t always take the time to think of and thank these people who themselves never thought they were remarkable in any way, just doing their job, just doing what came naturally, just doing what was right. I stop now to think of them and thank them, for they were most remarkable indeed. Remarkable for inviting me into their offices and homes to witness them doing their jobs, doing what came naturally, doing what was right. To witness. And to embrace all that would become essential to my own growth into someone of whom I can be proud. A businesswoman, a colleague, a person of whom I sincerely hope they would be and are proud.

It is a wonder how deeply one person can touch another simply by being present. By listening. By suggesting. By living fully. And by laughing. Oh, the laughing! Would that everyone be as lucky as I’ve been to enjoy but one older person in their life by whose example they can be inspired in their work and their life.

In honor of Dilys Evans, Linda Hayward, Richard Jackson, Margaret K. McElderry, Ole Risom.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My mentor and friend, Margaret K. McElderry, passed away at the age of 98 on February 14, 2011. Valentine's Day. A day on which we celebrate and express love. And a day somehow wholly appropriate on which to say farewell to a woman who was full to overflowing with a passion for imagination, story, a beautifully crafted book, laughter, friends, fine wine and delicious food, blue skies over sparkling oceans, the quiet revelatory conversation and the raucous celebratory gathering—a woman so full of love and enthusiasm for all life has to offer professionally and personally.

Where our work ended and our friendship began, where our friendship ended and our work began, it’s hard to say. I suppose though, the working friendship and friendly working began the day in early August 1990 when I tried to reach Margaret to tell her I was accepting her job offer. Margaret was leaving that day at Noon for her annual vacation on Nantucket and we’d agreed I’d call her at home with my “Yes” or “No.” I made my decision. It was going to be “Yes.” That morning at eight o’clock, I called. No answer. I called again. No answer. I waited a half-hour and called again. No answer. I called over to Margaret’s office at Macmillan to confirm I had the right number. No one was in yet and I left a message to say I was doing all I could to reach Margaret to tell her I wanted the job and would they please let the HR folks know. I called Margaret again. No answer. I was getting on the subway to go to Random House where I was working at the time. I found a payphone to call my partner and my mother to ask them to please keep trying Margaret McElderry’s phone number while I was on the subway. They did. No answer. I got to Random House, called again. No answer. I left another message with Margaret’s assistant. I decided to come clean and tell Margaret’s friend, Knopf editor, Frances Foster what was going so she could confirm I was dialing the right number. I was.

Now I’d not only essentially given notice to Random House without actually accepting the job offer from Margaret, but it was getting on towards 11:00 and I was frantic. I knew darn well you don’t promise Margaret McElderry you’ll call her and not call her. I called Macmillan again and was told my messages had started to set off great concern. Publisher Judy Wilson was putting McElderry Books’ art director Barbara Fitzsimmons into a taxi at that very moment to send her down to Margaret’s house on Washington Square to see if everything was alright. Oh, and by the way, Judy Wilson was delighted, I was told, that I wanted the job. I called again. No answer. And then, just before Noon, my phone rang. Judy Wilson was on the line to tell me it seems Barbara got to Margaret’s house in a progressively nervous state, and was pounding on the door and holding her finger on the doorbell – only to have a rather put-out Margaret McElderry open the door, take one look at Barbara’s pale face, and say something to the effect of…”What are you doing here? Did you all think I was dead?” Well, in fact, yes we did. And, in fact, while Margaret McElderry was clearly very much alive, her telephone line was completely done for. It seems not three minutes before Barbara arrived, she’d just figured out what was happening when she’d quite irately picked up the receiver to call Macmillan’s HR department to tell them QUOTE “If that Emma Dryden doesn’t have the common decency and courtesy to call me at the time we arranged for her to call me, I don’t want her working for me anyway.” UNQUOTE.

Margaret and I never did speak that day, but I started as her associate editor on September 19, 1990, a week or so before she returned to the office, tan and energized, from Nantucket. And when we saw each other, we hugged and laughed and had some rather choice things to say about AT&T. The rest is history and we told and retold that story over and over again because it said something about our partnership and it made us laugh. Such a remarkably unexpected beginning to a remarkably unexpected friendship and collaboration. I’d give anything to call you right now, Margaret, to tell you how much it all meant to me—professionally and personally—to accept that job offer, to accept that gift. And this time, we'd use our cell phones.

~~~~

Publishers Weekly has a wonderful tribute, written by several kid lit professionals (including Emma Dryden) who knew and loved Margaret McElderry. Reading their pieces makes me wish that I’d been able to meet this one-in-a-billion woman! Her loss is a loss for everyone that loves children’s literature.