giving thanks

It’s time for giving thanks, so thanks for reading my blog! Writing is a solitary profession, and it feels wonderful to know some faithful readers are with me each week.

As a reader, I am grateful for the classics I love – Little Women, Jane Eyre, Parnassus on Wheels, Charlotte’s Web. These contemporary authors whose books I don’t miss also enrich my life – Katherine Paterson, Susan Cooper, Jane Yolen, Deborah Wiles, Karen Hesse, Cynthia Rylant, Donna Jo Napoli.

Professionally, I am thankful for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators and the NH Writers’ Project. These two organizations provide immense support and incentive. Academically, I am grateful to Vermont College, now Vermont College of Fine Arts, for the stellar program that helped me find a children’s writer’s voice. Without the mentors I worked with, my student writing colleagues and the hope instilled by the many publications of VC graduates, I would not have persevered.

When asked what I write, I’m tempted to say drafts because it takes many attempts to get a story ready to submit to a publisher. To my critique buddies, both face-to face and online, I owe so much for reading and re-reading with care. Lastly, I am forever thankful to my family, all of whom put up with an absent wife, mother and grandmother more than they should have to. Their support keeps me going after the rejection letters, and they’re the first ones in line to help me celebrate acceptances.

Because writing is solitary, some writers need a network, and I’m grateful to all who make up mine.

black pearls

“We’re all working from the same dictionary.” That’s Dr. T, my dentist, commenting on the fact that English users are not all writers. I thought of this as I read Black Pearls: a Faerie Strand by Louise Hawes, Houghton Mifflin, 2008. The lyrical language of these re-imagined fairy tales is astounding. Is Hawes really working from the same dictionary as the rest of us?

The dwarf Erin falls in love with Diamonda as she waits for the fateful poisoned apple. “While the wind of envy rattled and moaned, closing its fingers around her hiding place, the two of us spent whole mornings in the blue shadows of the mountains beyond our forest.”

Rapunzel or Rampion? Snow White or Diamonda? The name changes alone signal that our beloved fairy tales have grown up. Did you wonder why Lady Godiva rode naked down Coventry’s single street? “…it was as a penitent that I dismounted, freighted with a secret treasure, at the small cottage where Ebba was being born.”

Hawes boldly travels into dark places with these tales. The surprising twists are perfectly geared to a YA, and even adult, audience. Readers who grew up with Hansel and Gretel, Jack and the Beanstalk and Cinderella will delight in approaching these familiar stories from new angles. Louise Hawes is a master writer. You can trust her to deliver stories worth reading.

finding treasure

This week I found my favorite childhood picture book. The pages are ragged. The covers are long gone. I don’t know the title or the author. But Belinda is still there traveling through the forest, swimming to the lake bottom, and ascending to the moon and sun to find a friend. It’s hard to imagine my joy when the long-lost book popped off the closet shelf, hidden under another item. For years I thought I had lost this book that has moved with me all my adult life.

What is it about a book that makes us treasure it? It can be a strong character, a theme, beautiful language or stunning illustrations. Belinda’s story is told in a late 1940’s or early ‘50’s picture book. The illustrations are tinted photographs, which were probably new in this genre. The book my have been the only one I had with these life-like, lavishly colored pictures. Belinda is Jane’s wooden doll searching for a companion, and she finally finds one back in the wood shop when Jane’s dad makes another doll, Todd. I think the theme of finding what one searches for and the illustrations both made this the childhood book I am thrilled to find. Now for the title and author!

uncovering the ghosts

My Hildegard writing has been slow, and I have decided that's okay. Today I didn't write. I sifted through my box of research begun eight years ago, looking for an article I needed. There must be a more organized way, but I haven't found it. It was time well-spent because I unearthed a scholar's debate that affects my manuscript.

On All Saints' Day, over 900 years ago,young Hildegard took the vows of a nun and was sealed in a stone anchorage. Scholars do not agree on the year. Some have thought Hildegard was age eight, some fourteen. I have leaned to age fourteen.

Now I've been reminded of a newer theory that says Hildegard was probably age ten. The case is made on the basis of monastery records stating the enclosure happened on All Saints' Day. Enclosures were allowed on certain feast days and on Sundays. All Saints' Day occurred on a Sunday in 1108 when Hildegard was ten, not when she was eight in 1106 or fourteen in 1112.

Scholarship is often a ghost hunt!