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Working at “The Beach”

(Figuratively speaking, that is. I haven’t really traveled anywhere, except in my imagination.)

Welcome to Puckett’s Beach. On warm sunny days I can work on my tan and enjoy a good beach-read. On cool fall nights, I can turn on the hot tub, watch the airplanes in their flight plan and count a few stars. And in the winter it’s fun to run through the snow to get into the water.

There’s a song called “Up On The Roof” in which the performer says : “When this old world starts getting me down” and then goes on to comment about how being up on the roof refreshes and recharges their spirits. In a children’s book by Faith Ringgold entitled TAR BEACH, a small child can fly over a bridge and her city. Her special place is the roof on top of her apartment building. I LOVE that book!

I know why my Creative Muse Levels have dropped this week, so I’ll be spending some time at Puckett’s Beach. “Stuff happens” out here on the farm.

I’ll be fine, really. I’m just not ready to talk about it. Maybe later.

Please collect my regular mail. I’ll be back in a few days.
Thx.

The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) has within its membership our local Southern Breeze region, which includes Georgia, Alabama and part of Florida. A conference is coming this October 12th to Birmingham, AL. What a great group of speakers are coming!

I had the opportunity to ask Jennifer Echols, one of the members of the faculty for the 2013 Writing and Illustrating for Kids Conference (WIK) a few questions about her work. Jennifer writes Y/A Romances and her workshop at WIK will be on the topic: “How Hot CAN it get in Y/A Romance?” And by the way folks, her YA romance DIRTY LITTLE SECRET is available now and her romantic comedy PLAYING DIRTY will be coming Oct 29th.

Me: Jennifer, why do you write for Y/A?

Jennifer: I always try to write the book I want to read, and I truly love YA romances.

Me: What is your writing process?

Jennifer: Wow, what a mess! If left to my own devices, I just get an idea and start writing. That isn’t possible nowadays because my agent and my editors want me to write a proposal first. For me, that is like icing a cake and then baking it. I beat my head against the wall trying to do that for several months.

Then, when it’s time to write in earnest, I jot down whatever scenes come to me. Dialogue is easiest, and that tells me about the characters. Usually I’ll write some scenes at the end of the book, then the middle. I skip around like this until I have 150 pages or so and can’t find anything anymore. I make a calendar of the events in the book, then read through what I’ve got and put everything in chapters. Now I can start writing at the beginning and fill holes until I reach the end.

Do not try this at home. Believe me, I have attempted to streamline this process or just de-crazy-fy it a bit. By now I have resigned myself to the fact that it works for me.

Me: What life experiences have you had that might have influenced you in your writing?

Jennifer: I grew up in Alexander City, AL, on beautiful Lake Martin. You can see my experiences growing up there in my books: the lake itself, the small town I was dying to get out of but really wasn’t so bad, and all the fun I had as drum major of the marching band.

One nice thing about Alex City that made it very different from a lot of other small towns in the South is that all the kids in town went to the same public school. That is, there was one school for first and second grades, one for third and fourth grades, and so on. The school you attended wasn’t determined by your neighborhood. If you were in fifth grade in Alex City, you went to Radney, period. And during integration (which, astoundingly, happened only six years before I started school), the town elders asked people to keep their children in the public schools and not send them to the private schools that were popping up. People complied, and the private schools never got a foothold. As a result, I think folks I graduated with have an unusually deep understanding of what it means to get along with kids literally from the other side of the tracks. I explore those sorts of relationships in my books.

Me: What are you working on right now?

Jennifer: I’m writing a proposal. See the question above, the one where I’m banging my head against the wall. After that, I’ll resume work on my Superlatives series of YA romantic comedies for Simon Pulse, a division of Simon & Schuster. The series is about three friends at a Florida high school who are selected to represent “who’s who” categories for their senior class, and how those labels change the way they see themselves. The first novel, BIGGEST FLIRTS, will be published on May 20. You can check out the adorable cover on my web site: http://www.jennifer-echols.com/biggestflirts.html.

Me: Give us a hint about your upcoming session: How Hot CAN it get in Y/A Romance?

Jennifer: It can get EXTREMELY HOT, but it doesn’t have to! Everyone can write (and sell!) the heat level they’re comfortable with and enjoy reading. During my talk, I’ll explain why all heat levels are still okay in the current marketplace and why it’s so important to write the book you want to read, especially in romance. I look forward to seeing everyone there!

Me: Thanks, Jennifer! I appreciate the opportunity for Breezers to get to know you a little bit better. Can’t wait for this WIK conference this year, folks.

Check out her website: http://www.jennifer-echols.com

WIK is a great place to get inspired, get tips on your craft, and learn about the business of children’s publishing. It’s also an opportunity to meet editors, agents, and a wonderful network of working writers and artists.
To find out more or to register, visit https://southern-breeze.net

You can meet other members of the conference faculty by following the WIK blog tour:

Aug. 28 Author Matt de la Peña at Stephanie Moody’s Moodyviews:
http://moodyviews.com

(Look under heading: Rants, Raves and Kid Lit Bits)

Editor Lou Anders at F.T. Bradley’s YA Sleuth:
http://yasleuth.blogspot.com/

Aug. 29 Author Doraine Bennett at Jodi Wheeler-Toppen’s Once Upon
a Science Book: http://onceuponasciencebook.com/news/

Author Robyn Hood Black at Donny Seagraves’ blog:
http://donnyseagraves.com/donny-bailey-seagraves-blog/

Aug. 30 MFA program director Amanda Cockrell at Elizabeth Dulemba’s:
http://dulemba.blogspot.com/

Illustrator Prescott Hill at Gregory Christie’s
G.A.S. : http://www.gas-art.com/

Aug. 31 Author Heather Montgomery at Claire Datnow’s Media Mint
Publishing: http://www.mediamint.net/page7/page7.html

Editor Michelle Poploff at Laura Golden’s Just Write:
http://authorlauragolden.blogspot.com/

Sept. 3 Author Nancy Raines Day at Laurel Snyder’s blog:
http://laurelsnyder.com/?page_id=4

Author Jennifer Echols at Paula Puckett’s blog Random
Thoughts from the Creative Path: https://paulabpuckett.wordpress.com/

Sept. 4 Editor Dianne Hamilton at Ramey Channell’s The Painted
Possum: http://rameychannell.blogspot.com/

Author Janice Hardy at Tracey M. Cox’s A Writer’s Blog:
http://traceymcox.wordpress.com/

Sept. 5 Author / illustrator Sarah Frances Hardy at Stephanie
Moody’s Moodyviews:
http://moodyviews.com

(Look under heading: Rants, Raves and Kid Lit Bits)

Agent Sally Apokedak at Cheryl Sloan Wray’s Writing
with Cheryl: http://writingwithcheryl.wordpress.com/

Sept. 6 Agent Jennifer Rofe at Cathy Hall’s Blog: http://c-c-hall.com/

Author / illustrator Chris Rumble at Cyrus Webb
Presents: http://cyruswebbpresents.blogspot.com/

(If these links aren’t working, please try to hold the Control key and click at the same time. Thanks!)

I’ll be going to an alpaca fiber festival as a vendor in a few weeks. Yes, I turn alpaca fiber into yarn, but trying to get everything accomplished in such a short amount of time could make my HEAD spin! I’ve been photographing the alpaca, creating framed pieces, listing handmade items for sale on my Etsy shop and creating promotional materials.

Coming soon!

I have the opportunity to interview author Jennifer Echols, who will be presenting at the annual SCBWI Southern Breeze Writing and Illustrating for Kids (WIK) Conference in Birmingham, AL on October 12th.

WIK is a great place to get inspired, get tips on your craft, and learn about the business of children’s publishing. It’s also an opportunity to meet editors, agents, and a wonderful network of working writers and artists.

To find out more or to register, visit https://southern-breeze.net

I am visited by an old friend when August comes around. Goldenrod! First, I’ll notice a few tall stems growing straight up towards the sun. Some stragglers will find their way to the fence beside the dirt road or along the path to the creek. They’ll make their appearance in the thicket where the blackberries used to grow. Soon I’ll see yellow clusters of flowers and I know Fall is not far behind.

I look for goldenrod every year, not only for the burst of color it will provide, but for the pleasure of its company. Goldenrod is SO much more than a “weed,” and is not responsible for the bad reputation it has gotten as a cause of misery for sufferers of hay fever. (That’s probably ragweed!) The pollen from goldenrod is too heavy to be spread by air and relies on insects and butterflies to get around.

Solidago, commonly called goldenrod, has at least a hundred different varieties and many different uses. It can be dried and used in decorations. It has been used for teas and herbal medicines. It attracts wildlife: among my favorites are Monarch butterflies, honey bees, chickadees, eastern cottontails and white-tailed deer. Goldenrod is the state flower of Nebraska and Kentucky, and is the state wildflower of South Carolina. Even inventor Thomas Edison was said to have experimented with goldenrod to try to produce rubber. His work utilized the leaves of the plant, not the stems or blooms.

Goldenrod can also be used as a natural dye and works well for alpaca, cotton, wool, silk or linen fibers. Depending on how the plant is processed, it will yield colors which range from light yellow to a dark olive-green.

I cut the flowering clusters from the stems and separate them, while a pot of water begins to boil. I add a touch of alum and vinegar to the pot of hot water. I put a handful of alpaca fiber into a net bag to keep most of the plant matter out of it. In a few minutes, most of the plants will have boiled, so I turn the heat down to simmer and put the bag of fiber into the pot, too. The fiber bag will simmer on low heat until most of the color has been absorbed. Then I remove the pot from the heat and let everything cool. I’ll wash the fiber in clear water and let it dry.

When the fiber dries, I can comb or “card” the fiber, spin it into yarn, and have another wonderful memory of goldenrod!

I am afforded the privilege of eating home-grown vegetables because we garden. I love to put seeds or plants into the ground: water, nurture and watch them grow. We plant corn, peppers, okra, tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, potatoes and squash in either the “big” garden, or the “little” garden. My husband prefers the “tilling” method and breaks ground several times before planting. He weeds more often than I do. I put in some herbs, butternut squash and added an experimental section to the garden as well.

I say experimental, because I wasn’t sure if what I was trying to do would actually work. My plan was to lay out an additional small space without tilling it first. I put out newspapers and cereal boxes, topped it off with layers of hay, organic mulch and fertilizer, alpaca fiber and grass clippings. I chopped up small sticks and used them as a path between what would eventually become two raised growing areas. I covered the area with dark plastic and left it alone for several weeks. During that time I checked on the garden-space-to-be and yes, the earthworms seemed to be thriving. I hoped that would be a good sign for planting.

Now we are in “harvest mode.” My kitchen counter tops have garden produce covering them and only because of our staggered planting schedule am I able to keep up with preserving. I’d like to mention that our harvest has come as a result of both of our efforts: he likes his way of working, and I’ll most likely keep my additional garden space because I discovered it works for me.

This reminds me of a favorite poem I’d like to share:
Robert Frost (1874–1963). Mountain Interval. 1920.

The Road Not Taken

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I think this poem has come to represent a good many things for me–not only with my choice(s) of gardening methods or vegetables to be grown, but in the choice of a creative path for writing and illustrating.

What will you choose to do today, and how will you do it?