Farewell to Chautauqua

         I hope you've enjoyed reading the highlights of the Writer's Workshop at Chautauqua as much as I've enjoyed writing them. I thought I'd close it out with some of the quirkiness of the place.

     Do you see the large acorn on the right side of the photo? I imagine a squirrel spotting that would have thoughts of hitting the jackpot! Here's a closeup.
                                  



         Then there's this fellow. Sometimes he (or is it a she?) sat in the yard; others times you found him/her on the porch. It must have been too heat for him/her as well! 

  

        Here's an interesting creature. Wouldn't want even one of these to join me at a picnic.  


         These were fun folks!  I called them the Hall of Missions Singers and from a certain angle, their object of adoration seemed to be a pedestrian sign.To each his own Higher Power. :-)

           

Of course, I couldn't resist joining them!

   

    

                         
*drumroll* And now for the book giveaway!!!  
                              *confetti throwing*
I have 6 books to giveaway and 3 of them are autographed!

• The Complete Idiots Guide to Publishing Children's Books by Harold Underdown
• Publicize Your Book: Getting Your Book the Attention it Deserves by Jacqueline Deval
• Writing From the Heart: How to Write for Children by Joy Cowley
• Bamboo People by Mitali Perkins
• Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine  
• Gone From These Woods by Donny Seagraves   

(Hint: the 3 novels are autographed!)

Okay, here's how you can win......

1. You must be signed on as a follower of my blog   (+1 point)
   
2. Leave a comment and include your email  address.  (+1 point) 
3. Tweet a link or Facebook a link or Blog a link back to my post. (+2 for each of these)
4. Anyone who mentions seeing your tweet, FB post, or blog post gives you an additional point!

This contest runs for 10 days (Aug.10-20) and I'll post the winners on Monday, August 22nd. Now go out and spread the word, um words.

                                  Chautauqua  part 4.

     Julie Agnone, VP for National Geographic Kids, shared with us the results of market research surveys and discussion with their kid "advisory board"; what interests today's kids.

Kids say the top four "Most Important" things are: 

• Being a better person
• Being smart
• Good at making friends
• Learning about the outside world

The same kids felt it was less important to be popular or cool, have money, be perceived as smart, or play sports. 
Now that's an interesting revelation!


        Today's kids are serious, studious, curious, caring, and techno-savvy.


When kids were asked what they liked to do, their favorites were:                                                                          

• Reading books (#1 choice!)
• Watching TV
• Going online
• Visiting libraries
• Traveling
• Visiting zoos and museums

The #1 thing kids want to learn about: animals and pets.


          Julie had some suggestions on how we, as writers, can reach kids.

1. Talk to them!
2. Listen to and observe their play and conversations (but don't be creepy or stalker-like!)
3. Participate with them
4. Follow trends

What trends??  Glad you asked! 
A lot of it has to do with travel.

• Kids like to go on cruises. The latest Disney cruise has a water slide around the ship!
• Entertainment-destination trips. The movie "Madagascar" led to interest in exploring that part of the world, and The Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park in Orlando makes the books come to life.
• Theme Parks. Wherever the newest, fastest, craziest rides are, kids want to be!
• Unique hotel settings/experiences, like The Ice Hotel, a treehouse hotel, or hotels that allow and cater to pets.
• Eco-tourism or earth-friendly places.
• Road trips to unusual places or unusual sights.
• Exploring local culture, like Day of the Dead celebration  or Chinese New Year.

        Okey-dokey. Now we know where to start with our writing topic choices. But we all know even with fabulous topics and excellent writing, a rejection is still a possibility for all of us.

         Eileen Spinelli, taught a great session on coping with rejection. She shared that her first time dealing with rejection was when she asked Jerry (Spinelli) to marry her after only a few months of dating. When he hesitated and mentioned their brief courtship, Eileen said: "So is that a no?"

        Eileen started with that example to show that everyone who writes gets rejections. She believes you need to be gentle with yourself after a rejection and don't "cocoon yourself" away. It's alright to feel badly (for a short time) but don't allow those feeling to attack your spirit. You must always keep your spirit strong.

         Eileen suggested to not get hung up on one piece of work; try working on several manuscripts. Also, send out several pieces at a time so you're not wasting time waiting for a response.

         Eileen emphasized thinking outside the box. Just because a publisher says they won't accept unsolicited manuscripts doesn't mean you can't send one! She mentioned going to conferences, workshops, lectures- anywhere that agents or publishers speak. Often a condition of their appearance is that they will accept unsolicited manuscripts for a period of time. But be sure to write the name of the workshop or conference and "solicited material" on the envelope.

         DON'T let editors or publishers crush you! Remember, they are just people who get busy. have families, forget things so send them a reminder. Be tactful, not pushy. 
                                                        

        Two editors/publishers who were also in the session (as participants, not speakers) suggested if you haven't heard anything from an agent or editor after 6 months, send a note stating that they are welcome to continue considering the piece but you now plan to submit it elsewhere, and thank them for their time and consideration. Both of these editors/publishers said they get rid of the "no chance" manuscripts immediately but the ones they want to review and think about, frequently go in a pile on the desk. Sometimes (usually) they get covered with other manuscripts and other to-do items. They really appreciate getting that reminder note because it lets them find your manuscript in the pile, pull it out, and reread it. Bottom line: be brave and follow up. Disclaimer: be sure to check the online submission guidelines first. Some agencies and publishing houses state that if you haven't heard from them in 6 months, assume the answer is no thanks.

           Tomorrow one last look at Chautauqua and *drumroll* a book giveaway!!! Some are even autographed! Catch you tomorrow.

                                      Chautauqua, part 3.

Think I'll start with a few random bits...
This is a picture of the infamous Hall of Christ (THOC) where I was unfairly locked in !  

             
         This is the battery operated fan I brought with me to Chautauqua that saved my life during the 16 hours of no electricity and the hottest temperatures the area had in years! Although it was small, it packed a mighty punch, uh wind. It was suggested I might like to auction it off at the Thursday Night Auction, since the benefits went to the scholarship fund. I politely declined.  (I wasn't letting this little guy out of my sight!)

Okay, back to writer business.

         Kathi Appelt, author of The Underneath and Keeper,   was right in line with Patti Lee Gauch's theme of digging deep for emotional connection. In her workshop, Singin' the Blues, she discussed the wealth of emotion expressed in the lyrics of many blues songs. These songwriters often took the seeds planted in their own life stories and turned them into song. They used the writing to help fill holes in their hearts. An example was an old video clip of Janis Joplin singing "Cry Baby". As you can imagine, it was raw, intense, gut-wrenching, heart-felt, and real. Kathi suggested using the same intense longing, yearning, crying out of the soul-like the blues- in your stories and characters. Listen to the music, get the mindset, then write.
    Kathi said it's easy to write about the things you love. But her advice, given to her by author M.T. Anderson, was "write what you fear or what you think you can't."   

      Kim Griswell spoke on the topic of plot. She sited as a reference  The Writer's Journey by  Christopher Vogler. It's based on Joseph Campbell's work on a hero's journey. Kim went through the 12 stages. She also handed out an extensive list of picture books and novels that exemplify a hero's journey. Here's a sampling:

• Ferdinand by Munro Leaf
• Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
• The Wolves in the Walls by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean
• Holes by Louis Sachar
• The Giver by Lois Lowry
• Wringer by Jerry Spinelli
• Coraline by Neil Gaiman
• The Hobbit by J R R Tolkien
• The Tale of Despereaux by Kate diCamillo
• Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
• The Book Thief by Markus Zusak 
• Hatchet by Gary Paulsen     

That's only a third of the list!

       I think I'll wait until the next post for Julie Agnone, along with Eileen Spinelli's talk on dealing with rejection. Stay tuned!                                

                                                        Chautauqua, Part 2.
          
         This post is about some of the wonderful advice we received from authors and editors in our workshop sessions.

       Patti Lee Gauch, author and editor,  started us with a phrase that echoed throughout the week; go to the well when you write your characters. Dig deep and draw from your internal thoughts and feelings. [Example: The Wednesday Wars by Gary Schmidt- used his middle grade self as a model]

         She said it's crucial to draw the reader into the story. Your characters expressing emotion, or using sensory imagery, that will connect the reader.[Example Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool]. Going to the well allows stories to rise and fall with the lives of the characters  and reach a profound level.

         When writing a picture book, add a little sassiness to your characters. It adds to the humor and kids (and adults) can relate to it. [Example A Baby Sister For Francis by Russell Hoban]

                                               Other books used as examples included:
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
Mockingbird by Kathy Erskine
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace lin
Charlotte's Web by E.B. White
Lily and the Purple, Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes

Candy Fleming, author of Muncha,Muncha, Muncha and Our Eleanor, spoke on writing nonfiction picture books. Her main points were:

• Think like a kid
• Start with something unexpected, unusual, weird, or the coolest facts about your person.
• Narrow your topic- don't try to cover the person's entire life
• Use reliable sources- primary sources if possible. Forget about Wikipedia!!!
• Try an unusual format- an almanac, a mystery, a play. Be different.
• Think about including back matter. This allows you to still tell about your person, but it doesn't have to go into the text portion.

An example to read is Sky Boys by Deborah Hopkinson

Next post I'll share words of wisdom from Kathi Appelt, Julie Agnone, and Kim Griswell. So many mentors, not enough time, and tired fingers.




            

                                        The Charm of Chautauqua

Lake Chautauqua at sunset. 

       People told me Chautauqua changes you. They're right. It's an incredible place; think Brigadoon meets the Land of Oz. 

       Walking around on the first afternoon, it felt like being in an enchanted village. No, not Harry Potter-esque, more like strolling through a sea of Victorian, gingerbread houses with lush gardens everywhere. The first thing that struck me was how quiet the place was. People automatically just whisper, nodding hello rather than speaking. Even the dogs don't bark aloud! Seriously. (How do you suppose they manage that?)

      The main path through Chautauqua is a red brick street ( kind of reminds you of Oz's Yellow Brick Road) It took me a day or two to master the path because it's uneven, bumpy and full of posts with reminders that it's for pedestrians only. Not to mention the kids riding bicycles and the older folks riding along on their scooters.

      Chautauqua, having begun as a place for religious training, has appropriately named buildings and homes: The Hall of Christ, The Hall of Missions, The Methodist House, The Lutheran House, The Presbyterian House, The Baptist House.... you get the picture. A little unnerving for a Jewish kid! So you'll appreciate the irony when I tell you that I got locked in The Hall of Christ one morning. And according to Kent Brown, Executive Director of Highlights Foundation and Christine French Cully, Editor-in-Chief of Highlights Magazine no one, in the  26 years of the Writers Workshop at Chautauqua, has ever been locked in there. Leave it to me.

     Okay, okay, I'll tell you the story. Being a visually impaired individual, I decided it would be easier for me to pull a rolling book bag than carry a heavy one on my shoulder. [Highlights Foundation gives you about a dozen novels/picture books/how-to books in a canvas bag upon arrival. The route to The Athenaeum Hotel- where breakfast was served daily at 7:30AM- was downhill. That meant after eating, going uphill to get to class, at a rather steep grade I might add. I didn't want to pull my rolling bag back uphill, so I decided to take it over to The Hall of Christ [THOC] before breakfast to save a seat near the front where I could see. It was just a little after 7AM when I dragged the purple wonder [bumpity-bumpity-bump] up the 12+ stairs at THOC. The door was unlocked, I went in, but there was no light. Undeterred, I used my cane to feel my way up the aisle to the second row. I pulled my purse out of the bag and was placing the purple wonder on a seat when I heard a klunk back at the door. I called out hello in case someone was coming in...no answer. Back down the aisle, feeling my way, through the sanctuary doors to the front door; I pull on it and it's locked. 
There were a few more frantic pulls- actually rattling the door- before I realized: A) I was locked in, B) no one would hear me if I yelled, C) I was going to miss breakfast, and D) the first person in would find me sitting there and I'd have to explain why (so embarrassing). What to do??

     Luckily I remembered I had Roger's cel number in my phone. [Roger is the Highlights Foundation Trustee who greets you when you arrive and arranges for your luggage to make it to your "house" while you have orientation and he's the moderator on the online discussion board.]  Anyway, I called Roger. 
Gail: Roger, I need help, come rescue me.
Roger: Okay, where are you Gail?
Gail: I'm locked in The Hall of Christ. Not such a good place to get locked in if you're a Jewish   kid!!
Roger: LOL How did that happen? Never mind,  I'll be there in a few minutes.

      We made it back in time for breakfast but the tale of my adventure spread. I decided to "own it" and called it was my personal Mixed Up Files of Ms. Basil E. Frankweiler . (book in which kids get locked into a museum) Who knew it would have a lasting effect.... I got locked in a small one-person elevator a few days later. Well actually twice, but that's another story for another day. 

Kathy Erskine (middle)

     Kathy Erskine, author of Mockingbird  (2010 National Book Award winner) spoke the first night on the 10 best things about Chautauqua. While I can't remember all of her list,  this list comes close:

• Connections- this is a stress-free way to connect with editors and publishers and even pitch some ideas.
• Congeniality- not only are all the participants friendly, all the faculty and Hightlights staff and any family members there are warm and so solicitous.
• Confidence Building- even when you are wondering if you have the talent and skill to be a writer, the faculty (and the friends you make) encourage and support you. They remind you that they were once in your shoes.
• Colleagues- reading through the participants' bios you found people who were novices, self-published, well published, and those who weren't even sure if they could write. And you're all in it together, as equals. The faculty treats everyone with the respect given to world famous authors....even though no one has ever heard of us.
• Comprehensive- the classes offered covered the writing spectrum: picture book, early chapter books, MG and YA novels, e-Books, poetry, memoir, historical fiction, nonfiction, science and nature. And if that wasn't enough, there were "how-to"s on doing school visits, handling the business of writing, submissions, and dealing with rejection.  I'm sure I left out a few.
• Cuisine- the food was awesome and plentiful (too much!). They accommodated vegetarians and carnivores, not to mention sugar-aholics and earthy-crunchy healthy eaters. There was a hospitality house you could visit all day and most of the evening where there were snacks, soda, yogurt, fruit, and water bottles....always. Outside THOC, there was a huge cooler packed daily with soda and water bottles.
• Challenges- from the homework assignments given by your manuscript reader between your sessions to the record heatwave and loss of electricity in the entire community endured for16 hours.
• Critique groups- people spontaneously formed groups and critiqued each others manuscripts. So helpful.
• Camaraderie- I met 5 people online at the discussion board prior to going to Chautauqua so I felt like I had "built in" friends when I arrived. At least another dozen are now included in my Chautauqua Buddies email list. Many new writing friends.
• Comprehension of being a writer- when you explain to someone that you completed a page of revisions that day, the look you get often says: is-that-all-you-did? Being surrounded by so many people who: GET what it's like to spend many hours alone writing and then you have to toss it and start over,  GET the feeling of finding the perfect words to convey a situation in a story, GET looking at some tiny thing or hearing someone say something odd and think "there's a story behind that" is priceless. And wonderful. It gives you a sense of belonging.

      So that's my overview of the week at Chautauqua. Next post, more stories and words of wisdom from several of the speakers.

*sigh*  I miss Chautauqua.

The suitcase is packed and I leave tomorrow morning. I'm so ready for this week of writing, learning, and camaraderie.

But I do have a question.

Am I up to this challenge? Do I really have the talent and creativity to be successful as a writer? I don't mean monetarily. I must admit to being unsure if I have the skill.

This week at Chautauqua is a hurdle to leap in my writing journey.From now until I arrive there tomorrow, my mantra will be:

I am read and able to accomplish this challenge. I will be open to all wisdom shared with me. I will let my creativity shine.

No blogging next week. Look for me on Monday, July 25th.

                               Less Than a Week

          I signed up 6 months ago. In May, I joined the discussion board and started meeting other people. It didn't seem quite real that I was going to the Highlights Foundation Chautauqua Writers Workshop. Three weeks ago, I started cleaning up the manuscripts, making revisions, collating copies. Two days ago, I placed all my clothes and notebooks, pens and mosquito spray out on the guest room bed; I opened up the suitcase to 'let it breathe.' 

                  Today, it hit me... in less than a week I'll be in western New York, surrounded by writers, editors, publishers, and illustrators. An entire week  of talking, writing, eating, breathing, sleeping children's literature and writing.
Oh. My. Gosh.                                      

          I have met some incredible people on the discussion board, They feel like friends I've known a long time. One moved back from Germany to Nebraska last week, another lives in the Jemez Mountains in New Mexico. Someone actually lives just across Lake Chautauqua. I want to bring them all home with me and form another writers' group.




            Anyone who has been to the workshop says it's exhilarating, exhausting, and mostly extraordinary. Can one person handle that many exs in a week?????????

If all that isn't exciting enough, there's one more little thing to think about. Bats. You heard me, bats. It seems that western New York has a massive bat population in the summer. I'm told you can see them hanging in the eaves of buildings, and if you see one on the ground, DON'T reach down to help it. Yeah, like that would EVER happen.  I'm also told that no one at Chautauqua has ever been attacked by a bat. That's real comforting to know. The bats do 'appear' to be diving right at you occasionally, but only if you're in the path of reaching an insect. Great, so I need to avoid insects and bats.

I can see it now.... mosquitoes (who LOVE me by the way) following me for a smoothie a la Gail and a pod? swarm? crew? of bats going in for the kill (literally). Until one bumps into my shoulder, freaks me out and I start swinging my cane in the air, like a bat (baseball variety) to keep them away. I have two things to say about that: 1) not a pretty sight but certainly an attention-getter and 2) I hope they move like 'a bat out of hell' and leave me alone!!!                                             

                                                                                                                           

Maybe I should practice whipping that cane around my head! I could partially fold up the cane and swing it like those nunchucks you always see in the martial arts movies, however, that would involve coordination - of which I don't have much- especially eye/hand coordination. Since I'm a little short on the vision spectrum, I'd just end up whacking myself in the face. Try to explain those welts the next day!         


Well, I know I'll have one or two posts from the serious side of Chautauqua. Here's hoping there are no incriminating pictures of the less serious side!

Saturday can't get here soon enough! (Oh yeah, it's my birthday too.)