I got a fun surprise in the mail the other day–a big box of books. Not just any books, though–advance reader copies of Alone in the Woods!
Of course I had to take them out to the park for a proper photo:
I’m thrilled to share that The Last Grand Adventure is a 2019 WILLA Literary Award Finalist in Children’s Fiction and Nonfiction. While writing Bea and Pidge’s story, I hoped their journey would celebrate the beauty and rich culture of the parts of the West they traveled through, from Orange County to Atchison, Kansas. It’s deeply meaningful to receive this honor and know that I succeeded in capturing the setting that so inspired me!
About the award: The WILLA Literary Awards honors the best in literature, featuring women’s or girls’ stories set in the West that are published each year. Women Writing the West (WWW), a non-profit association of writers and other professionals writing and promoting the Women’s West, underwrites and presents the nationally recognized award annually at the WWW Fall Conference. The award is named in honor of Pulitzer Prize winner Willa Cather, one of the country’s foremost novelists.
For more information and to see the other winners and finalists, visit Women Writing the West.
I love talking about writing about as much as I love writing (so, a lot). And I had a great time talking about historical fiction and the writing life with one of my “Write Nite” pals (and directly-across-the-street neighbor) Gabriela Pereira. We get into:
Check out Episode 215 of diyMFA Radio for our discussion here, and be sure to browse all the wonderful resources on the diyMFA site!
On July 21, I was thrilled to be a part of the Amelia Earhart Festival–the annual celebration of her birthday in her birthplace of Atchison, Kansas. Readers of The Last Grand Adventure will know what a significant place Atchison was in Amelia’s (and her sister, Muriel’s) life. For me, it was a place I came to know, and love, through research. This passage from Muriel Earhart Morrissey’s biography of Amelia, Courage Is the Price, shows why:
“Midsummer evenings have always been a time of mystic spellbinding for the young. The long August twilights wrought their peculiar magic upon Amelia and me when we were little girls in Atchison. I remember the symphony of summer sounds; the chirping of crickets and of the invisible tree-toads . . . As the last carnation and saffron clouds faded, bats began to dart across the darkening sky, and, as if in defiance of these harbingers of the nightfall, fireflies twinkled in the garden and across the way among the peach and pear trees in the orchard.”
Such a lovely description! How can you read that and not want to write about Atchison in the summertime?
While writing When Audrey Met Alice and Summer of Lost and Found, I was able to visit my settings in person. For The Last Grand Adventure, the closest I’d gotten was Google Earth. So it was incredibly meaningful to see the town for myself, and to meet the warm and welcoming people who live there. And what a weekend to visit–the festival draws in thousands of Earhart experts and enthusiasts and leaders in STEM and aviation fields to celebrate not just Amelia’s birthday but her incredible life and accomplishments. I had a great time sharing my book and also learning so much more about her life and legacy.
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I was reading a craft book recently in which Hemingway lamented how he struggled to write in summer–the hot, sleepy weather just didn’t work for him. For me, it’s the cold, dark days of winter when I feel blocked. Summer inspires me, and so far this one has been no exception. Here’s some of what I’ve been soaking up (when I haven’t been busy copyediting The Last Grand Adventure, or working away on a shiny new project):
Moonlight in Manhattan
A beautiful Madison sunset
Farmer’s market berries, part 1
Farmer’s market berries, part 2 (homemade ice cream is the best!)
Skyline views in the park
Secret gardens in the country
What does your summer look like so far?
*Want more photos of cityscapes, berries, and books? I’m now on Instagram, and I’m loving the glimpses into other readers’ and writers’ lives.
Last Sunday, I had a great conversation with author-friends Melanie Conklin and Sarah Darer Littman at Bank Street Bookstore. We spoke about writing three very different books all set (or, in my book’s case–partly set) in the big city. It was a great discussion–thanks, Bank Street!
(I loved sharing a shelf with the HRC books)
This week, I’m off to Wisconsin for a great event at the Reedsburg Public Library and a chance to visit some schools. Hoping to get in a trip to the apple orchard and my favorite state park while I’m back, too–there’s nothing quite like autumn in Wisconsin. 🙂
On a warm, nearly cloudless day last week, I took a trip out to Sagamore Hill National Historic Site in Oyster Bay, NY. It wasn’t my first time there–I visited in September 2012, shortly after I found out that When Audrey Met Alice was going to become a book. But during that visit, only the grounds of the Roosevelt family’s sprawling estate were open to the public. The inside–the 23 rooms in which the Roosevelts (and their “zoo” of pets) dined, read, learned, and played–was shuttered and empty. Now, after a three-and-a-half-year and multimillion-dollar renovation, people can walk through the house again. I had to go see it!
I don’t have any pictures from the tour inside the house–to protect the priceless artifacts, no photography is allowed. So I’ll have to tell, not show, how exciting it was to see Alice’s bedroom view, the 8,000 books in the library she begged to be “let loose” in, and the dining table at which she had to ask each guest three prepared questions. I loved hearing details of family life at Sagamore Hill from the knowledgeable and friendly ranger leading the tour–like that Alice refused to share a bedroom with any of her siblings, but did let her privacy-seeking brother sublet her closet.
Vintage postcard of Alice’s bedroom at Sagamore Hill
At Sagamore there’s also a museum in the Old Orchard building (where Alice’s brother Ted lived). I took this photo of a “picture letter” that Roosevelt wrote his daughter Ethel while he was away. His sketches are so charming, and I love the thought of the president sitting down to create them when he couldn’t make his 4:00 appointment to play with his kids.
If you want to visit the house: visit the Sagamore Hill NHS site for more information!
Last Friday, I did a young writers’ workshop at the New York Society Library, a beautiful and historic library that also happens to be my revising home-away-from-home.
(Here’s a presidential-history tidbit about the NYSL: Our Founding Father George Washington was a patron, but he didn’t return one of the books he checked out. When his Mount Vernon estate replaced the copy 221 years later, the library waived his overdue fines.)
Back to my workshop: Twenty creative and talented young writers came to hear me talk about writing fascinating people (like Alice Roosevelt) and famous places (like the White House). I showed them some research pictures, we played some writing games like Historical Figure Hotseat to get in the zone, and then we wrote scenes set in historic places, events, or periods, using lots of sensory details and cool facts.
I am always really excited when I get to talk about Alice.
Looking at pictures of the Roosevelt kids and their White House pets
Busy writing about Jane Goodall and Achilles
Working on an Amelia Earhart story and another set in 1800s Sweden
Even more writing! We had Napoleon at this table.
Signing books and sharing “WWAD?” bracelets at the end
One of my favorite parts of being an author is getting to talk with kids about books and storytelling. I always go home inspired by the curiosity and creativity of young writers. And I learn new things, too–about what kids love to read, and even about history. (Thanks to the great story one attendee wrote, I’ve been inspired to learn more about Deborah Sampson.)
Thanks to Carrie Silberman, Randi Levy, Susan Vincent, and everyone at the NYSL for having me–and most of all to the kids who came to write with me!
Last week I hopped on a train and in a car to make my way to coastal North Carolina for a research trip. Here’s some of what I saw and did:
I went belowdecks in a 16th-century ship!
I hiked in historic woods!
I wandered a shoreline!
I stood inside an excavated fort–and got chills!
I checked out an ancient live oak!
I visited a charming town–including its awesome indie bookstore!
And I climbed the tallest lighthouse in the nation! Take THAT, fear of heights.
I didn’t think I could get more excited about working on this story, but I did. There’s nothing quite like writing about a fantastic, historic, mysterious, beautiful setting–and then getting a chance to see it in person.
Oh, and I can’t not mention the most incredible donuts I ate.
I had one every single day. Because DELICIOUS.
I can’t wait to go back.
What I’m Reading
I just finished up Louise Galveston’s By the Grace of Todd, a hilariously gross and inventive MG. Thanks to it, I will be deep-cleaning my apartment this weekend. Now I’m reading Jennifer Mathieu’s The Truth About Alice, which is an amazing contemporary YA told from four perspectives. All of the characters feel so very real–the voices in this book are so, so good. I’m having a hard time putting it down.
What I’m Writing
I am finally done (for now) revising that old manuscript. YES! So I’m back to researching/outlining, and I’m having lots of fun with that, asking myself lots of “what if?” questions and imagining what this story could be.
What Inspires Me Right Now
It’s tulip time again!
What Else I’ve Been Up To
I’m busy getting ready for a see-your-setting-in-person research trip next week. More on that–with pictures–when I’m back.
I also did an interview with Keith Muchowski, who volunteers at the Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National Historic Site. (If you’re ever in NYC, you must stop by the site for his tour!) The first part of my interview is here.
So what have you been up to lately?
What’s Up Wednesday is a weekly meme that helps readers and writers touch base with blog friends. You can find the link widget (and cute buttons!) on Jaime’s and Erin’s blog posts.
My own apartment is pathetically decorated, so I am living vicariously through the White House’s decorations this year. It’s the People’s House, after all!
At Holidays 2012 | The White House you can get all of the following:
You can also look at pictures of the holiday decorations through the years (I love that the Kennedy family took a sleigh ride on the South Lawn), and watch a video of the First Family turning on the Christmas lights.
And, finally, there’s this video with BO! (Thanks to Sarah for first sharing it)
(Thanks to Sarah for o
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| Kennedy Family at Camp David (source: Wikimedia Commons) |
It’s not surprising that I wound up writing a story about a pair of first daughters; I am a First Kid superfan. My interest in children in the White House has been lifelong–I remember seeing old photographs of the Kennedy children in the Oval Office when I was a kid and being fascinated by them. Same for ones of Amy Carter. Chelsea Clinton is not much older than me, and when President Clinton was in office, I soaked up every tidbit I could (harder to do, in the pre-Internet era) about her tweenage life at 1600.
I also have strong memories of some of the media scrutiny Chelsea faced as a first daughter. There were SNL skits that meanly mocked her, and snide comments from journalists like this tone deaf essay from Frank Rich at the NYT, “The Chelsea Show.” Yes, a grown man publicly called out her “gawkiness, frizzy hair, and orthodontically transitional smile.” It appears he was trying to be sympathetic to Chelsea’s plight in his “humorous” essay, but dude: what an ass.
Margaret Truman Daniel, a former first daughter herself, wrote a famous Letter to the Editor to chastise him. It was part of the reason why the media generally stopped reporting on the children of presidents. (The NYT describes that as an “informal pact” between the press and the White House in their article on how Malia Obama’s spring break trip almost became news. It clarifies that unless the girls are with their parents, they are considered off-limits by much of the media.)
I’ve had a lot of impulses over the past couple of years to blog about the Obama girls, for obvious reasons (they are first kids, and they also seem like very cool kids). I’ve tried to hold back. The thing is, it’s a different situation to write about historical first daughters (those that are now deceased), former first daughters (those who are now adults), and the current two. It’s clear that the information released about the Obama girls is closely guarded, as it should be. Administration officials must work very hard to protect a little privacy for the first family, and that is an admirable thing. Perpetuating public interest in the Obama girls–even simply through linking to photos or articles on other sites on my humble blog–doesn’t seem fair. The smidge of privacy they maintain has been hard-won, and it’s important to respect that.
I hope to start sharing more of the information I’ve learned about life at the White House and famous first kids over the next TK-many months until When Audrey Met Alice comes out. Only the fun stuff, though–I promise not to bore you! But one thing you won’t read about here are the current occupants of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, unless it’s a link to or sourced by some kind of official information.
What do you find interesting about First Kids*?
*A nerdy little grammar note: So far as I can tell, it is not grammatically correct to capitalize unofficial titles such as first daughter and first kid. Even First Lady is not an official title, although it is commonly treated as such and therefore capitalization is accepted. Sometimes I do capitalize first daughter or first kid, though, as a stylistic choice to highlight the title. The copy editor part of me is annoyed by this. I should probably start being consistent.