mary e. pearson

I love quotes. I think it has something to do with being a third child. Why go through the school of hard knocks if big brother or sister can do it for you? I learned vicariously that shaving the pills off your cashmere sweater with Dad's new electric razor makes him turn a peculiar shade of red. Who would have thought? Thanks for the tip, sis. And I can thank my big brother for a few doozies too--actually more than a few. What a guy. I learned early on that observation is a good thing.

Here are a few gems I've come upon, wisdom and insights that have helped me along the way. Most here relate to the writing life, but there are many that cross all boundaries and will give you something to think about--or at least ward off a possible war over your dad's razor. Enjoy!


The gift of story is the opportunity to live lives beyond our own, to desire and struggle in a myriad of worlds and times, at all the various depths of our being.
--Robert McKee

I wish I knew how long novels took before I started them. I would have started much much earlier.
--Marlene Perez

I'm doing what I know how to do, as well as I know how to do it.
--Stephen King

Writing is like driving a car at night. You can only see as far as the headlights, but you make the whole trip that way.
--E.L. Docorow

Writing itself is an act of faith, and nothing else.
–E. B. White

You must write for children the same way you would write for adults . . . only better.
–Maxim Gorky

I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.
–Voltaire

. . . a book worth reading only in childhood is not worth reading even then.
–C.S. Lewis

There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.
–Somerset Maugham

To see things in the seed, that is genius.
–Lao-tzu

Writing is nothing if not a long-distance race.
–Betsy Lerner

This morning I took out a comma and this afternoon I put it back again.
–Oscar Wilde

A writer's voice is not character alone, it is not style alone; it is far more. A writer's voice--like the stroke of an artist's brush--is the thumbprint of her whole person--her idea, wit, humor, passions, rhythms.
–Patricia Lee Gauch

Oh, that my words were written! Oh, that they were inscribed in a book!
–Job 19:23

So this is always the key: You have to write the book you love, the book that's alive in your heart. That's the one you have to write.
–Lurlene McDaniel

What I like about a good author is not what he says, but what he whispers.
--Logan Pearsall Smith

I value my garden more for being full of blackbirds than of cherries, and very frankly give them fruit for their songs.
--Joseph Addison

There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.
--Elie Wiesel

When a train goes through a tunnel and it gets dark, you don't throw away the ticket and jump off. You sit still and trust the engineer.
--Corrie Ten Boom

To escape criticism--do nothing, say nothing, be nothing.
--Elbert Hubbard 

He was a bold man that first ate an oyster.
–Jonathan Swift

Whether you think you can, or think you can't, you're right.
--Henry Ford

The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn.
–Ralph Waldo Emerson

We can do no great things--only small things with great love.
--Mother Teresa

Nobody makes a greater mistake, than he who did nothing because he could only do a little.
--Edmund Burke

I think . . . I think it's in my basement. Let me go upstairs and check.
--M. C. Escher

1. I can't believe summer is almost over. Where did it go?

2. I finally got a review from Voya for The Adoration of Jenna Fox. (Or maybe it's been out for a while and I just now saw it?) They said some very nice things, like "Pearson creates an extraordinarily fine novel." It's a mouthful but I like it : )

3.
"A goal without a plan is just a wish."
--Antoine de Saint-Exupery

hm. I needed that right now. I am so between ideas.

And not moving around too much. Lots of humidity in the air today. Every now and then a swirl of thin clouds passes over.



These clouds come from the south so it is probably the edge of a monsoon from Mexico. We seem to get more of these than we used to. The plants love it. Our acacia tree is blooming like crazy. We've only had this tree in for a few years and this is the first year it seems to be really happy.



The individual blooms are breathtaking. I'm happy that the tree is happy.



So yes, I have been using a good part of this very humid day to revise. The thoughts of Robert Cormier on revising, particularly amuse me right now:

"The beautiful part of writing is that you don't have to get it right the first time, unlike, say, a brain surgeon. You can always do it better, find the exact word, the apt phrase, the leaping simile."

Oh thank God I am not a brain surgeon. The patient would have died. Or been severely maimed. As it is, I am loving the pushing, the shoving, the deleting (oh yes, lots of that), and the rethinking. I could do this forever.

1. Some of you may remember my flower pot dilemma. Well I am happy to report that watering hasn't been a problem, and besides laying a fourth egg, we now have babies! They are so tiny they are not even poking their heads above the nest yet. Hunter has taken to being the "bird guardian" standing below the flower pot, which is fine with me because he keeps the ravens away.

2. Speaking of ravens, they are creating a racket outside even as I type and the kids in the neighborhood are cawing right back at them. Why do I find the kid's cawing cute and the raven's annoying?

3. A Publishers Weekly blog ran a piece that Erma Bombeck wrote years ago titled If I had My Life to Live Over. It concluded with: "Seize the moment. Remember all those women on the 'Titanic' who waved off the dessert cart."

Good advice, Erma.

This weekend, don't wave off your dessert. I'm not. I might even have two.

"When considering a book's worth, think about the quality of the writing and the story that is told, not the section it's shelved in or the label on its side—or the stigma or the hype or the cover, for that matter."

This quote is from an interesting article written by Little Willow slayground over at The Edge of the Forest about prejudging YA books. Check it out.

I am still mystified why someone who would read The Secret Life of Bees which is shelved in the adult section, would not read Surrender by Sonya Hartnett which is shelved in YA.

I have been submerged of late, trying to meet an end of January deadline goal for my next book. It’s true, writing begets writing. I’ve been on a roll.

But then there are the distractions. Like the ALA awards. Since I surfaced yesterday and have been caught up in a few other major distractions (good ones!) I thought I’d do a bit of catch up.

One thing, for those in the midst of writing their own books and struggling through middles–or any part of the book for that matter--I thought I would share something.

When I finished A Room on Lorelei Street and was ready to begin my next book (which became The Adoration of Jenna Fox) I decided to keep a writing journal recording my ups and downs so I would have a visible record (and reminder!) that when I am pulling my hair out and thinking all is lost, and oh god what am I going to do, that I have been on this path before, and I was able to finish the story after all. The wandering through the desert is part of the process. Here is an excerpt from one of my entries:

“I am stuck. Hopelessly. I cannot move forward. I fear I have forgotten how to write. . . if I ever do finish this story through some miracle, I will never do this again!”

And this: “Do I know what the hell I am doing? It feels pretty iffy. Just once I’d like to burst with confidence. It would be nice.”

But then this too: “I’m in a good place. A very good place . . . I am starting not to question my progress . . . the dead times seem almost necessary . . . I like it!”

This roller coaster process is part of every book I write, and yet it always feel like the first time when I am in the midst of it. Now I have visible proof for myself that it is not. Just keep writing, Mary. Onward.

In other book news, a few very nice reviews for The Adoration of Jenna Fox:

This one from Goddess Librarian, Teri Lesesne aka professornana: I Adore Jenna

And this from Teen Book Review

And this one from an unknown bookseller who explored the crossover aspects of the book: Crossing over

All a very nice boost to get me throught this current roller coaster. Back to submersion, and hopefully fast fingers . . .

It's Teen Read Week. Of course, every week is teen read week I would hope, but this is a week of special events at bookstores and libraries to highlight books and reading for teens. So why is reading so important? Here are a few thoughts:

Reading makes immigrants of us all. It takes us away from home, but more important,it finds homes for us everywhere.
--Hazel Rochman

You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture.
Just get people to stop reading them.
--Ray Bradbury

Reading is important to me because it offers me nothing less than all the world of human thought. It is one of the great gifts and helps to balance this life.
--Tyne Daly

I can't say it any better.

And I can't show it any better than this:



Over at Get Caught Reading they have free posters that you can download of famous folks reading. I think that is one of the best things we can do--let others see you reading. Take your books with you this week. Everywhere. And if you are lucky enough to get a picture of it, post it on your blog.

Get caught! I plan to.

If You Want to Write by Brenda Ueland.

It is a book about writing--a very old and classic one. It was published in 1938 and it is interesting for me to see how some things have changed in the writer's world, and how some things have amazingly stayed the same, most notably, doubt. It was a staple then, and a staple now. Isn't that reassurring? I think every writing book has at least one chapter devoted to it--if not the whole book.

One thing I like about Ms. Ueland's book is her passion and protectiveness of the writer's imagination. I wouldn't want to be a naysayer walking across her path. She is fierce in a sweet, motherly way.

She is also passionte about writing everyday--even swearing that it will cure colds. That is one I haven't heard in a writing book before.

Here is a bit of encouragement from her:

"I want to assure you with all earnestness, that no writing is a waste of time--no creative work where the feelings, the imagination, the intelligence must work. With every sentence you write, you have learned something. It has done you good. It has stretched your understanding."

I can say that is true for me. I have learned something from everything I have written--both published and unpublished. I think we always struggle, trying to get our vision to match our execution. Sometimes we are closer than other times. But all those drafts, manuscripts, and deleted passages sink into us and broaden our understanding of writing and the creative process. It may be an internalized kind of "knowing" and not one that we can put to words, but it is there nevertheless.

I wish all my writing friends many, many words today. Nothing is wasted, and besides, as Ms. Ueland says, it just might cure your colds, too.

Do you hear voices?
Come on. Admit. You do. Well at least some of you do and it's not because you forgot to take your meds.

A couple of weeks ago I was a guest at the ALAN Book Club chat and someone asked me how I first got the idea for A Room on Lorelei Street, and I explained I heard a voice and saw am image (egads, now I'm seeing things too) and from there I listened to the voice to find out what the character's story was.

I know there are a lot of authors who have worked on stories this way and I think virtually all authors at some point have had to pull over while driving and write dialogue down on a napkin because a whole string of voices started talking when they least expected it.

When I was rereading Art and Fear recently I came across a passage that speaks to this:

"Many fiction writers, for instance, discover early on that making detailed plot outlines is an exercise in futility; as actual writing progresses, characters increasingly take on a life of their own, sometimes to the point that the writer is as surprised as the eventual reader by what their creations say and do."

To which I can add a hearty, yes.

So the question came up from one of the chat guests, "Do you think students can be taught to hear voices, too?" I had lots of thoughts on this both at the chat and afterwards, but my feeling was yes. You can teach students to hear voices. After all, don't we in a sense teach ourselves over time to be sensitive to those whispers?

What are your thoughts? Do you hear voices? Is it possible to teach this approach to writing? Or is it just a matter of either you are a hearer of voices or you aren't?

Anyone else grow up in the 60's? Hop on over to the YA Authors Cafe and check out the interview of Kathleen O'Dell about her new book BAD TICKETS. Love the cover, too. It reminds me of the school right across the street from my high school where the "good girls" went.

On another note, shall we all send this poor judge a pair of pants? Good grief.

And a quote from Art and Fear which I am currently rereading:

"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."

So, no matter what your art is, keep going.

I found young adult author Melissa Marr’s response to a question posed to her at the Café very interesting. Paula Chase Hyman asked her:
“Because you come from a literary background, as a lit instructor/prof, I'm curious - where do you believe literary snobbery stems from?"

Melissa gave a very articulate and thoughtful response including this:"Literature is what speaks to the soul. If one readers' soul seeks Chaucer and another seeks Tupac, so be it. My soul is moody. I like both.”

She also posed that the way we tend to value one type of “text” over another is akin to basic sociology principles and how we define ourselves by our social groups. "It's not so different than cliques in high school: each exclusionary group is defining their way/music/art/clothes/stance as the superior choice."

This is interesting stuff. I know that on more than one occasion I have felt the need to “defend” YA literature–or my turf–but it is usually when a condescending remark has been made regarding it at a cocktail party where the offender is a member of another gang–er, I mean, has another reading interest. (You know the kind of remark: “When are you going to grow up and write an adult book?”)

But conversely, I wonder, when someone makes a disparaging remark about one genre, are they only trying to justify or elevate another that they belong to or want to belong to? And of course, even in the world of YA there is “genre turf,” endless subgroups of “texts” that are ready to rumble. Well, not really. All YA authors are nice. (Defending my subgroup of course.)

Is there one type of literature that is really “better” than another? Or is the one that “speaks to the soul” at one particular moment in time, the best one of all?

I am not asking this in a philosophical or idealistic way. I am asking it sincerely. Literature is word upon word, spun together to create an effect. Sometimes the effect is laughter, sometimes it is recognition, sometimes it is revelation, or maybe it is one of those other trace elements that fortify the soul. Can one spinning nourish better than any other?

What are your thoughts on literary snobbery–or the turf wars?

To wrap up Teen Read Week I asked teen authors:

For you, what is the best thing about reading?

Here is what they had to say . . .

"Losing myself in another world. Reading a good book is like the best possible combination of exotic travel and a long, deep conversation with someone you like. "
Elise Broach/Desert Crossing

"Picking up new information and learning about new people."
Catherine Atkins/Alt Ed

"I get lost in a story."
--E. Lockhart/The Boy Book: A Study of Habits & Behaviors, Plus Techniques for Taming Them

"The connection I feel to other lives and other worlds. Being reminded of how similar we are even when our worlds and experiences appear to be very different."
Jennifer Jacobs/Stained

"Stepping into someone else's shoes; experiencing the world (or another world) with a fresh and often surprising set of eyes."
Tanya Lee Stone/A Bad Boy Can Be Good for a Girl

"Same as the best thing about writing, when you get into the zone and you forget where you are because you're totally immersed in the world and the characters."
A.M. Jenkins/Beating Heart

"Getting involved in the lives of the characters I'm reading about. When I was a teen, I used to think up sequels and prequels and alternate endings in my head."
Alex Flinn/Diva

"I love to get lost in a fictional world with characters I've fallen in love with."
Debra Garfinkle Storky: How I Lost My Nickname and Won the Girl

"That sense of being swept away by another world, another life and yet
feeling that you are looking through the eyes of the characters, feeling
what they feel, a kind of transmutation that opens your own eyes to other
experiences."
Melissa Wyatt/Raising the Griffin

"I learn something new in every book."
Gail Giles/What Happened to Cass McBride?

"The power of a good book to take you inside another soul."
Nancy Werlin/The Rules of Survival

~~~~~~~
For me, the best thing about reading is that while I am reading a story, I feel like I am "let in" to someone's private world. All the social taboos of communication and distance are gone. I get to intimately know their life. And maybe in the knowing, I understand more about my own.

How about you?

What was a favorite book you read as a teen? Do you have one word to describe it?

"The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo. Dark."
Alex Flinn/Diva

"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams. Raucous. "
--E. Lockhart/The Boy Book: A Study of Habits & Behaviors, Plus Techniques for Taming Them

"Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. Conversational."
Catherine Atkins/Alt Ed

"It's hard to pick out one in particular, but then and now, I adored JANE EYRE. One word: mesmerizing."
Nancy Werlin/The Rules of Survival

"Frenchman's Creek by Daphne du Maurier. Breathtaking!"
Elise Broach/Desert Crossing

"'Teen' covers a period of seven years, to it's hard to single any one book out. I read everything from Victoria Holt to Stephen King to Ayn Rand. I also kept rereading my favorites from when I was younger--still do, as a matter of fact."
A.M. Jenkins/Beating Heart

"CATCHER IN THE RYE. Honest."
Debra Garfinkle/Storky: How I Lost My Nickname and Won the Girl

"It's so hard to pick just one, since that was a time of such delirious discovery. But I'll go with THE PRINCESS BRIDE. It showed me that depth could be great fun,that wit could be warm, that an author could invite a reader to follow him into an absurd world and yet invest as if it was as real as waking life. Goldman even tells you flat out 'This isn't real.' He warns you not to get too swept away and yet he knows that you will and that is the great joy of reading. Oh! I was supposed to keep it to one word. How about "delight?"
Melissa Wyatt/Raising the Griffin

"THE LORD OF THE FLIES. Brilliant."
Gail Giles/What Happened to Cass McBride?

"I'm afraid I'm becoming a broken record, but it was Forever. One word? Honest, with a capital H."
Tanya Lee Stone/A Bad Boy Can Be Good for a Girl

"Mister God, This is Anna by Fynn (not to be confused with a similar Judy Blume title). Provocative."
Jennifer Jacobs/Stained

Do you have a favorite from your teen years?

What was the best thing anyone ever did to encourage you to read?

Wow, we have quite a range of answers to this question today--from great booktalks to garage saleing. I came from a household of modest means, meaning, after putting food on the table and shoes on three kids there wasn't a whole lot left over for extras, but my mother somehow managed to have two sets of encyclopedias in our house--the grown-up set and the illustrated kids version which I thought were pure treasure, randomly opening them up and discovering another world each time. Besides the encyclopedias in my parents bedroom, wedged in our narrow little hallway, was another small bookcase with a variety of books--children's and adult--which if you wanted to go anywhere in the house, you had to pass by. Books were always in our face. I wonder if that was my mom's reasoning in placing it there? (It worked, Mom.)

Here is what some other teen authors have to say:

"I remember a booktalk from the school librarian when I was in first grade. She described the books in such an exciting way that when she was done, kids raced for the shelves to be the first to check the books out. I remember getting one of them and feeling like I'd really won something."
Catherine Atkins/Alt Ed

"My parents made books available in a steady stream. And the public librarian in my town was always happy to pile books in my waiting arms. Sometimes I couldn't see over the stack!"
Tanya Lee Stone/A Bad Boy Can Be Good for a Girl

"When I was 7 years old, my second grade teacher, Mr. Gross, handed me a copy of Beverly Cleary's Ellen Tebbits and said, 'I think you're ready for this.' I felt so honored and read the book several times."
Alex Flinn/Diva

"Expose me to lots of wonderful books. We had regular family trips to the library, and my parents read aloud to my brother, sister, and me at night from The Little House books, The Secret Garden, The Great Brain, and many others until I was 8 or 9."
Elise Broach/Desert Crossing

"I don't know. I just always wanted to. I loved made up stories of other places that weren't my home."
Gail Giles/What Happened to Cass McBride?

"I didn't need encouragement to read, so what I most appreciate is that my parents didn't try to stop me. There was none of that silly, "Go outside, get some fresh air, do something active." They took me to the library for more books."
Nancy Werlin/The Rules of Survival

"My mother read aloud to me every night until I was a teenager."
--E. Lockhart/The Boy Book: A Study of Habits & Behaviors, Plus Techniques for Taming Them

"Read to me."
Jennifer Jacobs/Stained

"My fifth grade teacher, Mrs. Cochran, read out loud to us, a chapter every day. I was already a big reader, but she introduced me to authors I never would have known about on my own: Kate Seredy, Zilpha Keatley Snyder, Carol Ryrie Brink. She'd start a book and then I couldn't stand not knowing what happened next, so I'd go get it from the library and read the whole thing as quick as I could. Then I'd read everything else I could find by that author. God bless Mrs. Cochran!"
A.M. Jenkins/Beating Heart

"My parents let me read whatever I wanted, so books came to signify freedom for me. I remember in sixth grade, I read very adult books like THE HAPPY HOOKER and sweet children's books like LAD, A DOG. I'm still an eclectic reader and still love the freedom to explore all kinds of different worlds."
Debra Garfinkle/Storky: How I Lost My Nickname and Won the Girl

"Provide me with books. Books and reading were not represented as important in the household I grew up in. If anything, reading was considered a frivolous, odd and even suspect activity. But my mother could never pass up a bargain and used to buy up boxes of books at yard sales, with the intent to resell them. But before that happened, we were allowed to pick through the boxes and take what we wanted--without supervision. That resulted in some widely varied reading experiences, not always age-appropriate. (When you read FOREVER AMBER at age ten, you miss some crucial subtext. I never could understand why everyone was so mean to Amber.) But some of my very favorite books came out of those boxes, from PRIDE AND PREJUDICE to THE PRINCESS BRIDE."
Melissa Wyatt/Raising the Griffin

What was your best encouragment?

Where is your favorite place to read?

My favorite place to read is in my backyard with my feet propped up on the patio table. I love being outside, hearing the wind blow through the trees and chirps from nearby birds, who I am sure are trying to get a peek at what has me so engrossed. But I can read anywhere, and do. Even at a red stoplight, which of course is never red long enough when you are absorbed in a good book.

Here is what some other YA authors had to say about their favorite places to read:

~~~~~~~

"At the table, during meals. I'm great company, let me
tell you."
A.M. Jenkins/Beating Heart

"I can read anywhere. The leisure to read is more important than the place. But ideally, I like the corner of a comfy sofa by a window that looks out on quiet green."
Melissa Wyatt/Raising the Griffin

"In bed"
Gail Giles/What Happened to Cass McBride?

"I sometimes sneak into the bathroom and read when I'm supposed to be doing something else."
Alex Flinn/Diva

"Oh, I can block out the world with a good book almost anywhere. But a comfy chair where the light streams in is my fave."
Tanya Lee Stone/A Bad Boy Can Be Good for a Girl

"By the fireplace."
Jennifer Jacobs/Stained

"Bed. But I also love listening to audiobooks at the gym."
--E. Lockhart/The Boy Book: A Study of Habits & Behaviors, Plus Techniques for Taming Them

"in bed."
Nancy Werlin/The Rules of Survival

"The wing chair in the living room or the big armchair in the playroom, both of which have footstools and little tables nearby for my cup of tea."
Elise Broach/Desert Crossing

"On the beach. Preferably Maui, with a strawberry daiquiri in hand."
Debra Garfinkle/Storky: How I Lost My Nickname and Won the Girl

~~~~~~~

I love these. Yes, I've snuck into the bathroom but never would admit it before! Thanks, Alex.

So how about you? Where is YOUR favorite place to read?

Today is the first day of Teen Read Week sponsored by YALSA

I'll confess right here, I am a former teacher who used to teach reading so I am a little biased when it comes to this "reading thing," but when you have seen a child who is struggling with reading, I mean, they love books and love listening to stories but haven't crossed that bridge yet where they can read them on their own and experience the wonder of savoring a story privately and on their own terms, and you can see in their eyes how desperately they want to have this treasure, you realize how much you, yourself, and so many others take the enormity of reading for granted. My god, a few squiggles on a page convey to me a human experience that cannot be witnessed in any other way! It is a miracle really, when you think about it, and one, if we wish to, we can experience every day.

Oh! And another miracle! We have these things called libraries and they are filled with books that you can--get this--read for FREE. I kid you not. And they have every kind of book you can imagine. Can you see me walking into Starbucks and saying I'd like a latte for free? And even if, by some miracle, they gave me one, it wouldn't stick to my ribs for a lifetime the way a book would.

So I love Teen Read Week, not just because it encourages teens to read, but because it reminds old fogeys like me, what a true gift reading is, and maybe when a teen is asking for a lift to the library to check out this "Teen Read Week thing," they might even get their parent to peek inside too. Spread the miracle.

Alice Hoffman says, "Books may well be the only true magic." To which I add, "Amen."

To celebrate Teen Read Week, I have asked some teen authors to share their thoughts on books and reading. Each day I will post a new question and their answers. I hope you will join in too, with your thoughts. To kick off the week, I asked them:

What is your favorite quote on books, reading, or writing?

Here is what they said:

~~~~~~~

submitted by: Jennifer Jacobs/Stained

"I suggest that the only books that influence us are those for which we are ready, and which have gone a little farther down our particular path than we have yet got ourselves."
~E.M. Forster, Two Cheers for Democracy, 1951

~~~~~~~~

submitted by: Alex Flinn/Diva

"We read to know we are not alone." ~C.S. Lewis

~~~~~~~~

submitted by: Catherine Atkins/Alt Ed

"A great book should leave you with many
experiences and slightly exhausted at the end.
You should live several lives while reading it."
~William Styron

~~~~~~~~

submitted by: Nancy Werlin/The Rules of Survival

“Whether it is done quickly or slowly, however splendid the results, the process of writing fiction is inherently, inevitably, indistinguishable from wasting time.”
~Deborah Eisenberg, in The Eleventh Draft

~~~~~~~~

Submitted by: E. Lockhart/The Boy Book: A Study of Habits & Behaviors, Plus Techniques for Taming Them

:Writing is turning one's worst moments into money"~ J. P. Donleavy

~~~~~~~~

submitted by: Elise Broach/Desert Crossing

"A book should be an ice-axe to break the frozen sea within us."
~ Franz Kafka

~~~~~~~~

submitted by: Gail Giles/What Happened to Cass McBride?

"We read to know we are not alone." ~C.S. LEWIS

~~~~~~~~

submitted by: A.M. Jenkins/Beating Heart

"Outside a dog, a book is your best friend. Inside a dog, it's too dark to read."
~Groucho Marx

~~~~~~~~

submitted by: Tanya Lee Stone/A Bad Boy Can Be Good for a Girl

"The difference between fiction and reality? Fiction has to make sense."
~Tom Clancy

~~~~~~~~

submitted by: Melissa Wyatt/Raising the Griffin

"A book is not an answer; it's a question." ~Richard Peck

~~~~~~~

How about you? Do you have a favorite quote about books or reading?

"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

On my website, I have a page of quotes and one of them is from Marlene Perez marperez in the tradition of Alice in Wonderland or MC Escher, about writing a book:

"I wish I knew how long novels took before I started them. I would have started much much earlier."

oh, me too, Marlene!

But finallllllllly I finished my latest book. Well, the first draft anyway. But what a relief. Even though it still needs lots of work, when I wrote that last paragraph, I was giddy with that joy that is purely the joy of writing. It has nothing to do with publishing, or reviews, or deadlines, or any of the paraphernalia that go along with writing. I was in my tight little circle, feeling like I did when I wrote my first book--a story was finished. Complete. I knew what happened. Of course, everyone thinks, you're the writer, of course you knew what would happen. Maybe. I suspected. But not ever really for sure. It is almost the same as reading a book. Even when you write and you think you know where you are going, a twist or turn pops up. A character surprises you. It is more like you are listening to the story and writing it down instead of making it up as you go. And then there are times where you ARE taking control and forcing it in the direction you want it to go, and it just doesn't work because you are making your character do things they simply wouldn't do and then you have to erase all these "precious" words you sweated to get down and are "oh so clever" and it is painful to axe them. But you do. And it is these times you think, maybe this story will never get written. Maybe I will never know. But you keep coming to the computer because you have been through this before and you hope that this time it is going to work out again. You hope. And then suddenly you are getting close to the end, you can actually see the finish line, and you become a marathoner, and though you should be tired from the long haul, you get a last burst of excited energy and when you cross the line, it doesn't matter how many have crossed before you or after you, you only know that you hung in there for the whole thing. And it feels good.

Betsy Lerner, in The Forest for the Trees, also compares writing to running, saying, "Writing is nothing if not a long-distance race."

Soon, on to revisions which will be my 5K. I can hope? : )

But right now, I am still savoring my small circle of satisfaction and the wonder of a story finished.

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!