I’m beginning to feel like a writer again! I had a low point recently when I discovered a children’s biography had been published about my subject four years ago! Where had I been? I knew about the Jonah Winter PB on Hildegard, but mine is YA, so I could deal with that. Besides, I love the picture book. But I really felt like giving up when I read the preview pages of the biography. Then I researched the publisher and learned that the book was self-published. So the author may have had encountered the same sort of publishing difficulties I have met. I any case, my book has moved from non-fiction to a combo of fiction and non-fiction to fiction. So I will keep on trying to find a publisher. Anyone know of any Hildegard devotees who also happen to be agents?
Sometimes I feel like I'm in a writing game of Giant Steps. Someone doles out my writing progress: "You may take one baby step forward." Well,okay. It's those backwards steps we need to avoid! The Concord Monitor has published my review of Black Pearls by Louise Hawes, and a magazine editor has written a positive response to my query about a short story. Baby steps! Oh well, there’s nothing like reading to feed a writer’s soul, is there?
This summer I managed to read The Greengage Summer by Rumer Godden, one of my favorite authors. I wondered how I had missed this great mystery and coming of age story. Now I’ve devoured City of Thieves and just finished Red Glass, a touching young adult novel. I’ve just bought Jeannine Atkins’ Borrowed Names. I can't wait to dive in! Next week I’ll review it here.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Back from Japan
Hello! I'm back from Japan. It's probably echoing out there since my small blog audience hasn't had any posts to read since last March! My sustainable agriculture experience was enriched by people from so many cultures. The multicultural picture books I brought for ARI's library helped in several ways.
Mary from Liberia loved Beatrice's Goat, a story about Heifer Project. She knows families that have received a heifer, just as Beatrice receives a goat. Uncle Timo, from Ghana, brought One Hen to Poultry class and asked all 29 participants to read it as an example of a small poultry project that financed micro loans to others. I read The Tree Hugger, donated by Jeanne Atkins, to my adult English class and told the story of Running Shoes to four Japanese Primary students when I subbed as their English teacher.
So I was immersed in relationships and not children's writing, though I edited lots of documents, helped write an Annual Report and wrote two grant proposals that were accepted! That was my day work. Before breakfast and before supper, you could find me feeding chickens, planting gardens, mucking out pigs, or cooking breakfast and supper!
Now I'm back to revising Hildegard and waiting for my wonderful ARI experience to ferment into rich stories and poems. The wonderful books on the shelf here are what I've read in the last week.
Mary from Liberia loved Beatrice's Goat, a story about Heifer Project. She knows families that have received a heifer, just as Beatrice receives a goat. Uncle Timo, from Ghana, brought One Hen to Poultry class and asked all 29 participants to read it as an example of a small poultry project that financed micro loans to others. I read The Tree Hugger, donated by Jeanne Atkins, to my adult English class and told the story of Running Shoes to four Japanese Primary students when I subbed as their English teacher.
So I was immersed in relationships and not children's writing, though I edited lots of documents, helped write an Annual Report and wrote two grant proposals that were accepted! That was my day work. Before breakfast and before supper, you could find me feeding chickens, planting gardens, mucking out pigs, or cooking breakfast and supper!
Now I'm back to revising Hildegard and waiting for my wonderful ARI experience to ferment into rich stories and poems. The wonderful books on the shelf here are what I've read in the last week.
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