Thought for the Day:
“A writer is
someone for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people.” ~Thomas
Mann~
Some Gifts for My Writer Friends:
Interesting post on The Editor’s Blog can be found
HERE on keeping the words flowing.
This post from The Editor’s Blog was exactly what
I needed at this moment in time. Click HERE for her article on Building Anticipation in Fiction.
Amazing post on creating character can be found by clicking HERE.
Last time I posted, I offered a chance to win The Day My Father Became a Bush by Joke van Leeuwen with extra chances for helping to get the word out. Sometimes those extra chances pay off. It did this time for Akossket. Congratulations, Akossket!. I will be getting the book in the mail to you this week. If you weren't the winner, stay tuned to the end. I have a DOUBLE giveaway this week.
I have been reading a lot of poetry lately because my writing partner, JaNay Brown, and I have a poetry collection we are beginning to shop around. We are fine tuning things and it is very instructive to look at other collections. I have run across two collections recently that have just knocked my socks off, and I want to be sure you know about these two wonderful books. I think both are middle-grade or older. I truly believe every adult will enjoy these as much as or more than the kids.
The first book is Sketches from a Spy Tree by Tracie Vaughn Zimmer, illustrated by Andrew Glass. I picked this book up from my local library, but as soon as I closed the cover, I ordered up a spanking new hardback for me to own. I LOVE this book. It has some of the most nakedly personal and
Tracie Vaughn Zimmer
powerful poems about being a kid I've ever read. In just more than three dozen poems, I felt like I knew young Tracie and all the pain and exhilaration and fullness of a girl coming through the loss of her father through divorce and the rebuilding of a complete family on the rubble left by that occurrence. Some of these poems are simple and sweet. Some sneak up on the reader and knock the wind out of him or her. All together they paint a lively, honest picture of a certain girl of a certain age in a certain neighborhood in America.
| |
| Tracie Vaughn | Zimmer |
When he left
just three nights before
Mary Anne and I turned nine,
I took the clippers and chopped
those roses back to the soil,
yanked down those long arms
from their trellises.
When I finished,
the yellow petals
looked like shattered glass
scattered against the black night
and me
like I'd wrestled every cat
at Miss Emory's house.
 |
| Joyce Sidman |
Don’t come close, dark.
Don’t brush my face with your
sticky hands.
Stay as cool and distant as a
train whistle.
Don’t single me out,
don’t make me answer your
questions.
Let me curl here, safe in my
circle of light.
I promised you a double giveaway and here is the deal. I have a gently-read hardback of Mouse, Bird, Snake, Wolf by David Almond and illustrated by Dave McKean. If you like myths, you will love this unusual book. You can see the review I wrote for 3rdgradereading.net by clicking HERE. I am also offering an ARC of Jumpstart your Creativity by Shawn Doyle and Steven Rowell. You can see the review I wrote for San Francisco/Sacramento Book Review by clicking HERE. When I do my next post, I will put names in a hat of those who are followers and leave a comment. If you want more than one chance, please pass the link for this post along through your favorite form of social media and let me know. You will receive extra chances.
Don't forget to find many more Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday reviews by going to Shannon Messenger's wonderful blog by clicking HERE.
