mary e. pearson

I'm talking with Tabitha Olson over at  Writer Musings  about present tense, writing process, work space, and more. 

Come share your thoughts.  Or ask a question!

1.  I got some shoes to wear to the Nebula Banquet next Saturday that are not only cute, but they are COMFORTABLE too.  Really.  I am not much of a shoe person.  My favorite attire on my feet is nothing.  But last year at ALA, Amanda Jenkins turned me on to a brand I hadn't tried yet, Sofft.  Problem was I couldn't find them in any stores around me so I took a chance and ordered some online. Yikes. But they fit perfectly and I loved them.  I figure I've hit my jackpot for the month.

2  Got the UK jacket rough for The Adoration of Jenna Fox in the mail.  Very cool.  It comes out in the UK next spring.  As soon as I have the final I will post it--it does involve a very blue eye.

3.  Feeling very poor after paying taxes on Wednesday, wondering if I should return above mentioned shoes.  But they are comfortable . . .

4.  In my last blog post I talked about book ownership and the impact it had on me, and it reminded me of the programs, Rolling Readers, and First Book, that are committed to getting books into the hands of young readers--books that they can keep.  I will never forget when Robert Condon, the parent of one of my students and also the founder of Rolling Readers, asked me if he could come read to students in my classroom every week.  Even with second grade I had a packed curriculum and hesitated, wondering how I would fit it in, and then of course, I slapped myself up the side of the head and told myself, what is more important than reading?  And how wonderful that my students would get another role model reading to them besides myself.  Mr. Condon came faithfully every week and read three picture books to my class each time.  They loved it.  At the end of the semester, he gave each student the hardcover picture book of their choice.  As long as I live I will never forget the look on one student's face as she received her book.   She hugged it to her chest, smiled so wide, and very nearly floated for the rest of the day.  She was from a poor immigrant family and I knew without a doubt it was the first book she had owned, but after that day, I knew it wouldn't be her last and I secretly chastised myself for even thinking for a moment that I didn't have time for Mr. Condon to visit my classroom each week.

Can you believe it? 

But I've been looking forward to March for quite a while because the Readergirlz is letting me "hang" out with them for the month. I've been impressed with Readergirlz ever since they debuted two years ago and posted their Manifesta.

Go books!
Go strong girls!
Go readergirlz!

And they continue to impress me with things like  Operation Teen Book Drop (which is next month!)


  So I was really honored when they wanted to feature The Adoration of Jenna Fox for the month of March.  They have a million ways for readers to get to know books, authors, chat, and interact.  Well maybe not a million but close to it!

First their website with lots of info about The Adoration of Jenna Fox including some quick trivia like what my "dream book tour" would be.

Next, their Myspace Forums where readers can discuss the book and ask any questions they are curious about.

They also have a Readergirlz Blog  where they have posed the question "What are you self-conscious about?" Jenna was self-conscious about several things including the way she walked.   I remember when I was a teen . . .

You can also check in with the Readergirlz Divas at Facebook where they have more juicy things to discuss, like how far you would go to save someone YOU love?

Hope I see you there!

I am going to a birthday party this afternoon.

A very special birthday party.

A 105th birthday party!  The last party I went to for this lady was her 100th.  She wore high heels and danced--and I am not talking slow dancing.  This gal shook a leg.

What?  Is 105 the new 40?

That's me.

I am the guest blogger over at Teen Book Review today and I decided to write about the topic that makes writers squirm. Crazy woman. Masochist.

In other news, I got word that The Adoration of Jenna Fox is on Barnes & Noble's Long List . Very cool!

And in still more news, major congratulations to Laurie Halse Anderson on winning the 2008 ALAN Award. Hop on over and add your cheers: halseanderson

And I just finished Impossible by Nancy Werlin. Wow. She's done it again. When it comes out in September, get it. Read it. Thank me later.

1. Love what everyone had to say about stereotypes yesterday. I wonder if writerross has a pretty Bertha in her future . . .

2. At BEA I did an impromptu interview for School Library Journal's new online teen newsletter. I thought it was quite interesting that the interviewer, Dodie Ownes, picked up on the "grandmother theme" in my last two books. I think it is probably something you wouldn't notice if you hadn't read them back to back. hm. Do I have grandmother issues?

3. In other book news: Our own d_michiko_f has posted an interview with me on her website.
Also, The Adoration of Jenna Fox is an ALAN's Picks for the month of June on their newly redesigned site.

4. Simply awesome: JK Rowling's speech at the Harvard commencement.
http://harvardmagazine.com/go/jkrowling.html
Gives you a lot to ponder on the absolute need for imagination.

5. Sun is shining. I love summer.

I spent almost the whole day outside yesterday working in the garden. Lots of chores to catch up on. I'm feeling a little stiff today. Toting those bags of dirt and heavy pots has a way of catching up with you. Usually when I work in the yard, my thoughts go to the manuscript I'm working on, and a lot seems to get worked out in the physical labor of weeding, digging, and trimming. But right now I don't have a work in progress--I have one book about to be released and another finished draft that I am giving some sitting time so I have distance before beginning a revision.

So instead, as I worked, my thoughts drifted to writing and thinking about the whole process. You'd think by now I would understand it fully and completely, but just as my yard is an ongoing process, established plants rooting out others, new varieties thriving where other plants have continually failed, and annuals that are not meant to live past a season needing to be replanted, my process changes with each book too. Maybe that's what is so enticing about the whole affair in the first place. I never really own it, I just get to go along for the ride. Yeah, complaining a bit at times (like I moan about my back right now) but I'm also completely captivated by the trip once it's done. I guess that's why I go back for more.

I've been asked a lot lately about inspiration (and of course I am hoping some will hit me soon so I can dig in on another. Should I worry?) but one thing I was thinking about yesterday as I was digging and planting is the quote from C.S. Lewis, "We read to know that we are not alone," and I thought about my process in hindsight, and I can't help but wonder if we write to know we are not alone too. We are seeking connection on some level, that our questions are someone else's questions too? And that is usually all I have. Questions, not answers.

More to do in the yard today. But easier stuff. My back needs some distance too. And maybe inspiration will hit me when I'm not looking. It usually does.

I’ve been in my office today . . . cleaning. My god, what a mess. It looks like somebody has actually, er, been working in here. I sent a finished draft (well, you know finished is a relative term) of my manuscript off to my editor on Saturday, so now it is time to regroup–and clean before the next round of revisions start. I’ve mostly got all the research stuff off the floor now and piled semi-neatly, uh, back on the floor. But at least it is only one pile now. And my desk is clear enough that I can see all the interesting little patterns of dust that have accumulated. And I am closing files on my computer that have remained open for ages too. One of them is a file of pictures I took for my wip. A few scenes in my story take place at the Mission San Luis Rey.


It is a gorgeous mission in Oceanside, California, my favorite of all the missions actually. When I went there on this particular day to shoot photos, I’m sure I looked like a tourist, but I probably took a lot of odd photos that most tourists never take. Here is one I thought might end up in the story, but never did. It’s on the wall as you enter the cemetery. Cheery, huh?


Now here is what is on the other side of that wall. And surprisingly, even though it is a cemetery, it does have a cheery side to it. Lots of history here, monuments to the Luiseno Indians who were the original inhabitants here, graves of rancho owners who were awarded land grants by Mexico, even my parents are buried here. It is not just an historical cemetery, but an active one too.


The grounds of the mission are beautiful but the inside of the church is pretty awe-inspiring too:


Here is another shot about midway in the church. This doorway leads to a small courtyard, and if and when this book ever gets published you will see this scene in the story a couple of times.


Since this is travel season, if any of you are out San Diego way, I recommend taking a walk through this Mission and its grounds. Don’t miss the lavendaria too–a small hike, but very cool.

And now, back to cleaning . . .

"How important it is for us to recognize
and celebrate our heroes and she-roes!"
--Maya Angelou

Here is our final collected list of strong women we admire. I think we had about 20 contributers and our strong women run the gamut--from politicians, to hip-hop artists, to journalists, to aviators. Hurray for diversity!

I think it is so important for all of us--and especially young women today--to have strong role models to inspire them. These women certainly do that in spades.

If you know any of these women, let them know their strength is admired and celebrated. Here they are in semi-alphabetical order:


1 A.M. Jenkins, Author
2 Amber Benson, Actress
3 Betty Ford, Former First Lady
4 Billie Jean King, Tennis Player
5 Beverly Sills, Opera Singer
6 Betty Friedan, Women's Activist
7 Barbara Boxer, Senator
8 Condoleeza Rice, Secretary of State
9 Cynthia Leitich Smith, Author and literacy advocate
10 Christiane Amanpour, News Reporter
11 Carol Burnett, Comedienne and actress
12 Carol King, Singer and songwriter
13 Carly Fiorina. CEO of a major tech company
14 Cindy Sheehan, Activist
15 Cecil Castellucci, Author
16 Dianne Feinstein, Senator
17 Deborah Voigt, Opera Singer
18 Debbie Wasserman Schultz, US House of Representatives
19 Evelyn Glennie, Solo percussionist
20 Gloria Steinem, Women's rights activist
21 Geraldine Ferraro, First woman to run for Vice-President
22 Holly Morris, Author of "Adventure Divas"
23 Helen Reddy, Singer
24 Hillary Clinton, Senator
25 Helen Mirren, Actress
26 Judy Blume, Author
27 Judith Krug, Director of ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom
28 Joni Mitchell, Singer, songwriter, and activist
29 Jamie Lee Curtis, Actress and author
30 Jane Goodall, Primatologist
31 Jane Yolen, Author
32 Julie Andrews, Singer, Author, and Actress
33 Jerrie Cobb, Aviation Pioneer
34 Keiko Abe, First woman in Percussive Arts Society Hall of Fame
35 Katie Couric, Today Show host
36 Laura Bush, First Lady
37 Madeleine Albright, First female Secretary of State
38 M.E. Kerr, Author
39 Marian Wright Edelman - Head of the Children's Defense Fund
40 Mary J. Blige, Hip-hop artist
41 Maya Angelou, Poet and Author
42 Madeline Kunin, Former governor of VT
43 Michelle Malkin, Journalist
44 Meredith Viera, Newswoman and TV personality
45 Maxine Waters, Congresswoman
46 Maureen Dowd, Columnist, writer
47 Natalie Maines, Singer
48 Norah Jones, Singer
49 Oprah Winfrey, Actress, Businesswoman, TV host
50 Olympia J. Snowe, Senator
51 Patty Campbell, Pioneering YA librarian
52 Randi Rhodes, Air America radio host
53 Rita Moreno, Actress, Dancer
54 Robin Lechevalier, Asperger Syndrome Camp Founder.
55 Sally Ride, First American woman in space
56 Susie Bright, Author/advocate of positive sexuality
57 Winona LaDuke, Activist and Environmentalist
58 Teri Hatcher, Actress/speaking out on childhood sexual abuse
59 Tina Turner, Singer
60 Toni Morrison, Author

I read Liz Burns blog, A Chair, A Fireplace and a Tea Cozy whenever I can, and a few days ago she blogged about 200 Cool Girls from Children’s Literature, a list compiled by Jen Robinson.

So I hop over there to see what cool looks like and I see that Jen says:
"Here is what I specified for 'cool' criteria: they should be smart and strong and independent, people who would make good role-models for girls today."

Wow, I love that definition of cool. Smart, independent, and strong. Jen, you're my hero.

I think girls and women need these role models. I think we so often reward men for being independent, strong, outspoken–even opinionated (why don’t we have any female old codgers on prime time like Andy Rooney?)–but women who exhibit the same attributes are often seen in a different light.

It would be great if we could follow in Jen’s footsteps and create a list of real live women whom we admire. We don’t have to agree with all their views, but we admire them for being strong in one way or another. Let’s keep the list to living women that we mostly all know.

Here are a few that quickly come to my mind:

1. Oprah Winfrey
2. Condoleezza Rice
3. Hillary Clinton
4. Katie Couric (hurray for bravery and televised colonoscopys)
5. Jamie Lee Curtis (her unretouched photo forever stamps her place among strong women)

Who would you add?

Like Jen, I will compile a final list.

These pictures remind me of writing. Writers have to get up close and personal, showing detail that is sometimes lovely and surprising. . .



But also showing details that are sometimes scratchy and uncomfortable . . .



My sister, Susan, recently took up photography as a hobby and she is always surprising me with her amazing or beautiful photos. But I confess, the spider gives me the creeps.

I think I'd rather write about uncomfortable, scratchy details, than get up close enough to touch their buggy little eyes.

She gets an award for bravery (and amazing photos)

I recently began reading the Believer Book of Writers Talking to Writers, where 23 writers interview writers they admire. I read this gem from Paul Auster:

“Over the generations countless people have predicted the death of the novel. Yet I believe written stories will continue to survive because they answer an essential human need . . . the novel is really one of the only places in the world where two strangers can meet on terms of absolute intimacy. The reader and the writer make the book together. You as a reader enter the consciousness of another person, and in doing so, I think you discover something about your own humanity, and it makes you feel more alive.”

I love this description of a novel and what reading and story are.

I’m looking forward to reading the rest of the interviews. I’m intrigued with the idea of writers interviewing writers they admire. I am very fortunate in that I am on some writers lists with some phenomenal YA writers, whom I can “interview” all the time : ) Lucky me. But--sticking with YA, since I write YA--I was trying to think of YA writers that I don’t know who I would like to interview. I looked through my bookcase for a few ideas. Maybe Sonya Hartnett? Chris Lynch? Melina Marchetta? Sue Monk Kidd? Jodi Picoult? (The last two are not technically YA but they write about the teen experience.) Who would you want to interview?

I will leave you with this other little gem from Paul about his writing habits:

“I certainly don’t walk into my room and sit down at my desk feeling like a boxer ready to go ten rounds with Joe Louis. I tiptoe in. I procrastinate. I delay. I take care of business that I don’t have to do at that moment. I come in sideways, kind of sliding through the door. I don’t burst into the saloon with my six-shooter ready. If I did, I’d probably shoot myself in the foot.”

Oh yeah, I've done that a few times. Ouch.

Sliding through the door . . .

I had a good writing day yesterday. I had been struggling, feeling like I had reached a dead end (you know, one of the hundreds we all reach when writing a novel and we are sure that this is the REAL one.) Anyway, a friend suggested reading Art and Fear, which I happened to have but hadn’t opened yet. Dumb me. It’s an amazing book. Lots of good things to ponder, like this:

“The lessons you are meant to learn are in your work. To see them, you need only look at the work clearly–without judgement, without need or fear, without wishes or hopes. Without emotional expectations. Ask your work what it needs, not what you need. Then set aside your fears and listen, the way a good parent listens to a child.”

And this:

“The truth is that the piece of art which seems so profoundly right in its finished state may earlier have been only inches or seconds away from total collapse.”

I like knowing that all my stumblings are well-treaded ground. I’m not unique. And when I thought my story was on the edge of collapse, I took heart in that quote and forged ahead. And the strange thing is, it was a very simple fix. I had written a scene with the wrong emotional beat–very conflicted–and when I changed it to a “quiet” scene a lot of emotional growth took place. The less dramatic scene actually pushes the drama forward. I’m back on the trail . . .

So while I have the right mindset, I will be submerging for a few days–or weeks. If any of you are struggling with your art, I encourage you to pick up Art and Fear. It will reassure you that you are not unique in your struggles.

Carry on!

I was cleaning the bulletin board over my desk this morning. It accumulates an amazing amount of clutter so fast. And I needed to make room for more clutter. But there are a few things that are never taken down. One of those “things” is a card I was given by a man I didn’t really know. I briefly met him on the streets of San Diego–one of the not so nice streets. My daughter was in an art show and since preemerging artists don’t exactly get the prime locations for their art, the show she was participating in was in a less sparkly part of town in an old building. The art inside was amazing, but there was an art show of sorts on the outside too–a homeless man and his friends on the sidewalk, who waved me over to see his art. He reeked of alcohol, but he did indeed have his tools of the trade ready to go: paper, markers, and some water to smear them. We chatted for a few minutes while he made my card, and I praised his artistry. He drew three blue flowers in a vase. And then he asked me about what I did. I told him I was a writer, so he wrote this inside:

Words are just words
The trick is to take them
out of the book (Websters)
and put them in the
Right Order.
Then They Make Sense!
Maybe.

Ha! This man must have been a writer too!

I gave him some money for his artwork, hoping (perhaps naively) that it would go for food, but I think more importantly, the praise of his work nourished him almost as much.

Today is National Day of Prayer, and being the praying type, my prayer is that struggling, obscure artists everywhere, whether they work in the medium of words, paint, clay, music, dance, or the hundreds of other creative endeavors that nourish our souls–that these artists will meet with a kind word, praise, or encouragement today.

I shudder to think of a world without art.

Now to go see if I can put those words in the right order . . .

I came across the following words about the creative process by Barry Moser a while back and I was recently reminded of them:

"...What else? Experiment and fail. Move on. Always keep in motion and finish the job, even if it's not exactly what you hoped it would be or not as good as it could be. The fact is that it will never be as good as it could be, and that's okay because it's all part of the never-ending, self-perpetuating growth process--and failure is the foundation of that process. I've done over two hundred books and not one of them is perfect. But I'll tell you this: I would rather have the two hundred and fifty-six imperfect books that mark the vectors of my journey through my art form than to have one perfect book that marks nothing but its own perfect self."

The words that keep resonating with me, is "mark the vectors of my journey." It is a positive way of looking at where we have fallen short or even our utter failures. We learn and grow from all these experiences, not just in terms of writing but life itself. I wouldn't erase the lows of my life anymore than I would the highs. They mark who I have become. They're my history, and honestly, without some of those lows, failures, and stumbles, I think I would be a very lonely person. Who would I need to help this "perfect" person along?

I think in our society, failure is not acceptable on most levels, but in the creative world, isn't it a necessity? If we don't push, experiment, and try the unknown--and sometimes fail--aren't we sentenced to recycled art? I always admire an author who is maybe on a hazy new edge of storytelling or writing style--not when I can see that they are being gimicky--but when I see they are genuinely trying to cut deeper to the truth of a story. Even if it doesn't quite "get there" I have to hand it to them for trying. All of their attempts "mark the vectors" of my journey too.