Compare Yourself and Weep--or Laugh 08/22/2011
No good comes from comparing yourself to other writers. We all know it, but we still do it. Even Shakespeare did it. Witness Sonnet 29. …I all alone beweep my outcast state… And look upon myself and curse my fate, Wishing me like to one more rich in hope, Featured like him, like him with friends possess'd, Desiring this man's art and that man's scope…  Though he comes around in a mere fourteen lines to recognize the wealth of being himself, we have no idea how long in actuality he might have stewed in this bitter brine of discontent. Or how often. But the man shows us how to diminish this demon when it appears, as it is bound to do time and again. In simply recognizing he’s comparing, Shakespeare remembers his true self. I imagine him laughing for a moment about the absurdities of human nature, picking up his quill and getting back to work. Add Comment Hidden Depths Await Us All 08/19/2011
I didn’t have much time on my visit to the Getty Museum. I bypassed the tours, wandering through the gardens, then quickly through the exhibit of Medieval and Renaissance Sculpture and Decorative Arts. Not much taken with that; I thought, maybe I’m just not a visual person. Being a journalist by trade, maybe the 19th and 20th-century photographs would be more to my taste, but I got lost in the West Pavilion among the Impressionist paintings. I liked Van Gogh’s Irises, and Monet’s Rouen Cathedral in Morning Light. and Wheatstack in the snow. As I moved on to Monet’s Still Life with Flowers and Fruit an unexpected emotion filled my chest and throat. Tears rose to my eyes. The white flowers in the center of the painting, the depth of the fruit in the foreground, what was it about those everyday images that pulled me and held me still. I sat on a bench to view the paintings one by one, brush strokes of light drawing me in as though I might find all the meaning I’d ever sought. Not a desperate seeking, rather in the blue shadows behind the wheatstack I paused, drinking in the wonder that overflowed the cup of the unknown. Savoring the mystery more powerful than all the answers I might chase on another day. Though my cheeks grew wet as people came and went, I stayed as long as I dared, leaving with only a few moments to scan the exhibit of photographs taken before, during and after Cuba’s 1959 revolution. I tried to memorize the candids of Che Guevara, so I could describe them later to my teenage son. This boy, a reluctant reader with no interest in history found something in Che that induced him to read a book one summer vacation. The hidden depths in all of us wait to be awakened. How A Single Moment Matters 08/17/2011
 History can turn on a moment of perfect timing. Such is the story of Isaac Murphy, one of the greatest jockeys in the history of American horse racing. Isaac’s record—winning three major stakes races in a single week—still stands one-hundred and fifty years later. It’s the kind of story I love. A boy born into slavery grows up confronting the odds of grinding labor and poverty, until one day he sees his chance and takes it. The world of horse racing changes forever. But I’d never heard of Murphy before I happened upon his biography by Kentucky author Patsi B. Trollinger. PERFECT TIMING is written in lively fashion for young people and illustrated with arresting earth-tone paintings by Jerome Lagarrigue. The author lives not far from the first track where Isaac Murphy raced. Come back next week to hear how she discovered this amazing story. Too Much To Do? No Time to Do It? 08/15/2011
Life can overwhelm you if you let it. Tiny moments of decision throughout the day determine the weight of the burdens we carry. Like this morning, when I noticed the smudge of whipped cream vanilla frosting on the inside wall of my refrigerator. That frosting came from one of six dozen cupcakes, chocolate or lemon, I baked for my daughter’s high school graduation party. In two weeks, my daughter will start her third year of college. You can stop reading now, if you’re too grossed out imagining the state of my kitchen appliances. But one day, I’m going to die. When that day comes, I will not have spent a precious moment feeling badly about myself for not being a better housekeeper. You Need a Book Trailer 07/10/2011
Not long ago, if you heard the phrase book trailer, you might picture something like a bookmobile that drives around offering books in areas remote from the library. But bookmobiles have been cast aside like card catalogs in this technology revolution. A book trailer is something your publisher says you have to have, along with your website, blog, Facebook, Twitter.... A writer would have to clone herself to do all the marketing and promotion necessary and still continue to write. Or hire me and my new company to do it for you! Here's the first book trailer produced by Get Kdz Lit Media. You can find us at www.Getkdzlit.com. I'm giving you a heads-up so you won't be caught empty handed on Mother's Day. Look at this loaf! I made it Easter morning with very little time and effort, and I promise you can whip it out, too. Yeast breads are much easier than they look.  Raspberry Almond Braid Bread Step 1--You will need to take some initiative and find a sweet bread recipe. If you don't have a basic cookbook, google "sweet bread recipe". Make sure it calls for butter, eggs and sugar or honey. If it doesn't, google again. Step 2--Follow the recipe, doubling the amount of yeast, and make the dough the night before Mother's Day. [I'm giving you this extra weekend, in case you feel the need to practice. You won't regret having a loaf to eat yourself.] Put the dough in a bowl covered with plastic wrap and leave it in the fridge overnight. Have on hand, a jar of raspberry jam, a can of almond paste and a cup of fresh or frozen raspberries. Step 3--Mother's Day morning you need to get up and take the dough out of the fridge at 6AM, then go back to sleep for a couple hours. Then, get up about two hours before you want to serve the bread hot from the oven. Dump the dough onto a flat clean surface and roll or press into a rectangle about 9 X 13 inches. With a knife point, draw two lines marking the dough into three long, even sections. Spread a layer of jam down the center section. Slice the almond paste into flat pieces and lay along the top of the jam. Sprinkle the raspberries evenly on top the almond paste. With scissors or knife, cut 1/2 inch horizontal strips in both outer sections of dough, running from the edge almost to the jam. Fold one end up slightly so the filling won't run out, and begin crossing the strips over one another until you reach and seal the opposite end. Lift the braid carefully onto a baking pan and let raise in a warm place (70-90 degrees) for one hour. During this time you can relax, drink coffee, read the paper or mop the kitchen floor. After about 45-50 minutes pre-heat the over to 350 degrees. While the oven is heating take one egg white and mix it with two tablespoons of water. Then in a separate bowl, mix half a cup of powered sugar with a tablespoon of milk or cream to make icing. When the bread has risen for one hour, very, very gently brush the egg white mixture over the top of the loaf with the corner of a paper towel. Bake the braid on the middle rack for 30 minutes.You can tell it's done when it's nicely browned on top and sounds hollow when you knock it with your knuckle. Take it out of the oven and drizzle it with icing. Serve immediately. I guarantee your mother and/or mother-in-law will be impressed. Now wasn't that easy? One School + Two Moose = Great Day! 04/22/2011
 Great visit with the students of Onion Creek School. Wrote stories with the 6-8th graders. Impressive young people.  The younger students enjoyed my historical mining artifacts.  And on the way home--I saw two moose.   I know it looks like one moose twice. But, honest...it's two unique moose! Does History Sell? 04/13/2011
 At a recent gathering of writers from around the country, I talked to more than a few bemoaning the difficulty in selling non-fiction on historical topics. One reported being told by an editor, "Well, we have Russell Freedman." Another editorial comment, "It's so labor intensive. We just can't take on very many projects." Biographer Brandon Marie Miller believes we're in a golden age of history books for kids. She says, "Books are more inclusive of peoples and cultures. They have lovely illustrations, photographs and prints. Many have maps, sidebars and helpful back matter—time lines, glossaries, places to visit, bibliographies and source notes."  Brandon writes for Chicago Review Press. "I’ve proposed my own ideas for all my books—although I’ve had an “in” with editors I’ve already worked with and I was able to bounce ideas off of them before submitting a written proposal or outline for the selection process." I'd be interested in hearing from others writing history for kids. How do you see the market? What factors most influence the whether an book proposal on a historical subject will sell? Are You Connected? 04/10/2011
To write from the heart, one must feel a connection to the whole of life. Yet the writing life itself offers so many enticements toward separateness and disconnection. When six weeks have passed with no word from my agent about my most recent manuscript, acceptance of the whole of life is difficult. When months have passed, it can become almost impossible. To continue working, writing the next story, a way must be found to accept disappointment and rejection. Not simply to resign oneself to it, but to embrace it as a given part of the process, no less important than its opposite. For me, the first step is recognition that I am running away as fast as I can from these painful feelings. I need something to stop me in my tracks and make me pay attention. Often it’s OHM. OHM is the most often chanted sound of all sacred chants on earth. It is the sound of connectedness with all of life. I’ve noticed sometimes when I begin meditation I feel a resistance to chanting the OHM. I feel a draw to maintaining my separateness. Tara Brach explains this tendency to separateness by telling a funny story. My first inclination is to judge this tendency toward separateness as petty and self-absorbed. Looking more closely, I can find compassion for myself . This pulling away is a natural human reaction to pain, and has been an important part of the evolution of humankind. In past generations, it was necessary to flee from pain in order to survive. In the present, survival depends upon connection. Turning away from the perception of separation to write from the heart is my small contribution. So Quickly Things Change 03/10/2011
 Yesterday snow falling, today sun shining & crocuses blooming.    | About Me
I am an author of books for young people,
and an occasional journalist. I blog about dealing with demons and other dark holes of the writing life, also about literature, history, food, gardening, nature, stuff I like. 
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