DREAMWALKS

2012-01-06T10:57:00.000-08:00

BEST BOOK BIRTHDAY EVER

Yesterday was the Best Book Birthday ever with many well wishers on twitter and Facebook (thank you!) I woke up wanting to go to lunch to celebrate. I’m not a last minute sort of person so I had little hope of swinging a sudden lunch, but I called friend and fellow author JUSTINA CHEN and, wow! She was free!

We lunched the launch and talked all things writing over delicious Thai food and jasmine tea.

Over lunch Justina asked some interesting questions like, “What do you love most about the book?” I shared my favorite scenes. Then she asked, “What did you learn writing it?” Another good question and one most folks (other than fellow writers) often don’t ask.

My answer: Before this tale my books have highlighted ‘the lone hero’ facing the plot on his or her own.

This reflected how I’ve lived my life, always thinking I’ve had deal with things by myself. In the last few years, life’s surprising challenges have driven me to the point of having to ask for help – what a revelation it’s been. So in Dragonswood

when Tess escapes from the witch hunter and goes on the run, she’s not a lone heroine, she’s running with her friends Meg and Poppy. The three of them share the dangers, the hunger, and the need to find safe sanctuary. Of course they fight along the way and get in lots of trouble, but the key thing is, Tess is not alone.

We talked more about Justina's books

Walden Award Finalist. Best Book of the Year (Kirkus Reviews and Barnes + Noble)
*starred* reviews - Publishers Weekly,Kirkus,Booklist

Chatted about her novel Return to Me (A beautiful book I've had the privilege to read due out Jan 2013) and her work-in-progress. Justina was All Dragonswood, but I like to talk about Her work so we took turns :)

After lunch we popped over to Bellevue Barnes & Noble for a look-see.

“I don’t think they’ll have any Dragonswood copies in yet,” I said. Justina just smiled and headed for the information desk where she asked about Dragonswood. They produced a stack for me to sign. Very nice!

It was already a Perfect Book Birthday, but there was more. In the afternoon I headed for my favorite second hand store to find something for the book launch party. I already have my party dress and didn’t know what I was looking for, just something magical. What did I find? Shoes that match the dress – and not just any shoes – fairy slippers.

Then headed to the Asian Market for dinner supplies and found a particular party treat – seaweed.

Tess Meg and Poppy eat seaweed on their journey so the Dragonswood Party goers will have the chance to nibble some. I happen to love it!

Finally, the late afternoon light was golden on the trees as I drove home and the moon was out. It made me want to view the sky from Phantom Lake. My husband and I paddled out in our canoe among the birds.

Canada geese, and cormorants flew overhead. Little buffleheads skimmed across the water and we saw an eagle with its black wings and white tale spread as it soared over Phantom Lake.

Perfect end to a perfect Book Birthday.

To all you fellow authors out there, I highly recommend celebrating your Book Birthdays in some special way that’s just right for you and your book. If you do, or if you plan to for your next book – tell us how you’re going to celebrate.

P.S. One week left on the Teen Book Scene book tour. Full Tour Page

Warmest thanks to Kari for putting this 3 week blog tour together!

2011-12-26T10:25:00.000-08:00

DRAGONSWOOD BLOG TOUR WEEK 1

Dragons are flying this week. Here are the stops they are making.

Monday,December 26: Melina at Reading Vacation. (Author Interview with book line answers)

Tuesday, December 27: Christie at The Fiction Enthusiast (Review)
Wednesday, December 28: Stacy M at Urban Fantasy Investigations (Cover Post)

Thursday, December 29: Jenny at Supernatural Snark (Review)

Friday, December 30: Casey at The Bookish Type (Teen Self Letter)

Full Tour Page

Warmest thanks to Kari for putting this 3 week blog tour together!

Watch the book trailer

2011-12-22T11:29:00.000-08:00

DRAGONSWOOD Book Trailer

DRAGONSWOOD book two of the Wilde Island chronicles by Janet Lee Carey. http://www.JanetLeeCarey.com

Script & Vocals - Janet Lee Carey
Saz Instrumental - Thomas Carey
Sound Recording - Aaron Carey

In a dark time when girls with powers are called witches, Tess escapes the vengeful Witch Hunter and hides in the forest with a mysterious huntsman. She is safe there until magical voices draw her deeper into Dragonswood where she learns the secret of her birth. Caught between love and loyalty, Tess chooses the hardest path of all -- her own.

Read the Kirkus starred review

Order online

INDIEBOUND

AMAZON

BARNES & NOBLE

2011-12-17T10:40:00.000-08:00

WAVE YOUR BANNERS!

Today I'm waving my new DREAMWALKS banner created by the multi talented, HOLLY CUPALA!

Holly designed the new banner to celebrate DRAGONSWOOD facing the challenge of putting 4 of my fantasy covers in a small space. She did it beautifully! I'm happy to say Holly's banner will do double duty as my 2012 bookmark so readers will get a chance to have one.

Holly has so many talents, but she's best known for her authentic, hard-hitting YA novels TELL ME A SECRET (Harper Teen 2010)

And DON'T BREATHE A WORD (Harper Teen Jan 3rd 2012)

~Set against the gritty backdrop of Seattle’s streets and a cast of characters with secrets of their own, Holly Cupala’s powerful new novel explores the subtleties of abuse, the meaning of love, and how far a girl will go to discover her own strength.~

Here's what the critics are saying about DON'T BREATHE A WORD.

“The author's considerable narrative gifts will keep readers engaged throughout.”
—Kirkus Reviews

"[A] tense, riveting story.”
—Publisher's Weekly

“This novel recalls Laurie Halse Anderson’s SPEAK.”
—Booklist

I think Holly deserves these roses, don't you?

2011-10-05T17:09:00.000-07:00

The BEAST is Back in Paperback!

The Beast of Noor was just released in paperback. He’s left the shadow realm and crept out to haunt the shelves this Halloween season. There will be a book giveaway to some lucky winners to celebrate his release this month.(see more below)

About the Book

Do not wander in the deeps
Where the Shriker’s shadow creeps
When he rises from beneath
Beware the sharpness of his teeth

The Shriker is back hunting those who wander in Shalem Wood. On the night of the dark moon he breaks through the great wind wall with a vengeful hunger that drives him back into the world of men. Finding passage from the Otherworld, he shape-shifts into a great, black dog of monstrous height. In the deeps of Shalem Wood, he howls. And his moon-call is a spell song for those who come to die in his jaws.

When the demon hound comes after Miles’s sister Hanna, Miles determines to go after the beast and kill him before any more blood is shed. But Miles does not know what secret power awaits him in the wood, what transformation he must face to hunt the monster down.

“Be careful when you fight the monsters, lest you become one.” Friedrich Nietzsche

Praise for The Beast of Noor

~ Carey is a generous and lyrical author . . . magical moments that will have your heart sing in one moment then shiver in the next. Highly recommended. ~ Charles de Lint

~ Carey delivers an eerie, atmospheric tale, full of terror and courage, set in a convincingly realized magical realm. ~ Booklist

~…the novel reads almost like a fairy tale, with the same rhythms and the same etiquette. Recommend ~ School Library Journal

~ This is a great, creepy, interesting tale. . . Perfect for a stormy, foggy night, curled up with hot chocolate, warm and safe in your house. ~ Teens Read Too

Book Giveaway
Just leave a comment and you might win one to read curled up by the fire.

Best in Books and Beasts

Janet

2011-07-19T11:23:00.000-07:00

DRAGONSWOOD ARCS arrived!

YA Fantasy, companion book to DRAGON'S KEEP, will be out Jan 2012.

~On Wilde Island, one girl must face her destiny or there will be no peace among dragons, fairies, and humans.~

Jacket photo of girl © 2011 Gabrielle Revere

Here's what the back cover says:
Wilde Island is in an uproar after the recent death of its king. The uneasy pact between dragons, fairies, and humans is fraying, and a bloodthirsty witch hunter with a hidden agenda whips villages into frenzies with wild accusations. Tess, a blacksmith’s daughter from a tiny hamlet near the mysterious Dragonswood, finds herself caught in the crosshairs of fate when she is accused of witchery and has to flee for her life along with her two best friends.

Not even Tess’s power to see the future can help the girls as they set off on their desperate journey, but she keeps having visions of a man wielding a sword. And when she finally meets him, Tess has no idea how to handle the magnetic attraction she feels for him, or the elusive call she hears from the heart of the Dragonswood.

In this epic romance, an ancient prophecy comes true in a way neither dragon, fairy, nor human would have predicted.

Discover why School Library Journal has called Carey’s work “Truly original . . . beyond common fantasy fare . . . fantasy at its best.”

**************** ************** ************

Holding the book in my hands for the first time gave me a chill! Warmest thanks to my intrepid editor, Kathy Dawson, who journeyed with me from rough draft to final polished pages,creating Tess's challenging story. The end even surprised me! But I won't give that away. You'll have to read Dragonswood yourself when the books comes out in January.

Stay tuned for the DRAGONSWOOD blog tour.

2011-03-21T10:53:00.000-07:00

Happy Spring!
I've been buzzing about and flying from school to school this month. It's be great presenting Words on the Wing assemblies and meeting so many readers. Thanks to Mary Harris at Parkplace Books for setting up the Read Across America visits.

Here I am with Mary

photo by Heidi Pettit

Librarian Kendra Friday @ Redmond Jr. High sent a few photos from our time together.

Students participated in the Rejection Survey. Thumbs up or thumbs down?
Did you know Harry Potter was rejected 30 times before it was accepted for publication?

Hands shot up for Q & A. I always love this part of the presentation.
"Why do your books have so many dragons in them?"

Students Divya and Amanda

Library assistant, Shirley Poblete, created the Smilebox below

Make your own digital scrapbook

Thanks to all for a great time.

2010-12-12T09:59:00.000-08:00

IN HONOR OF THE GLASTONBURY THORN TREE

I grew up under towering redwoods. Trees and I go way back, so I was upset to learn vandals destroyed the sacred Glastonbury Thorn Tree this week, a tree legend says is related to the thorn tree planted by Joseph of Aramathea. Pilgrims have been leaving offerings at the base of the tree since the earliest days of Christianity. People from around the world still climb the hill to visit the tree by Glastonbury Abbey.

Read more: Vandals Destroy A Sacred Tree

The morning I learned the news, I was still upset when I sat down to write. Luckily I had an email from The Nature Conservancy nudging me to donate one last time in 2010,and there it was right in front of me! The best way to fight back against what vandals did to the sacred tree was to give another donation to Plant A Billion Trees

I've been donating to Plant A Billion Trees this year to celebrate the book launch for THE DRAGONS OF NOOR because the dragons in the book fight to save the last forest in their world.

So I planted 100 trees in the endangered Brazilian rain forest to honor the Glastonbury Thorn Tree. Hooray!

I met some amazing trees last month on Maui. Can you believe the size of this beautiful banyan?

Bit more about Plant A Billion Trees:
Plant a Billion Trees goal: to restore one billion native trees to Brazil's highly endangered Atlantic Forest over the next 7 years.

Tropical forests are the lungs of the earth, filtering out ten million tons of
carbon dioxide from the atmosphere every year. Every day these valuable
trees help reduce global warming.

In THE DRAGONS OF NOOR the tree spirit Evver says to Hanna as they part:
~You have far and far to go to find the light beyond the dark. But feel the ground beneath your feet as you walk. Heart to root, remember the ones who hold you up. ~

Fellow Dreamwalkers, let us remember the ones who hold us up as we walk into this new year.

Janet

2010-10-31T15:16:00.000-07:00

THE DRAGONS OF NOOR BOOK LAUNCH PARTY

The party photos are up! Thanks to photographer Heidi Pettit for the great party shots. Whether you joined the masquerade party or were far away and could not come, everyone is welcome to swing by and see the colorful event here at LITARTPHOTOGRAPHY

Here are just a few fun party pix from the gallery

Party goers made masks

Musicians played. The dragon danced

The Dragons of Noor Characters joined us

Miles is showing the Meer sign on his palm

Our host Mary of Parkplace Books introduced me

Characters entertained us

Party revelers bought books from our host Rebecca of Parkplace Books.

There was lots of laughter

See the rest of the photos here

Thanks to all the party goers large and small for making this such a special launch. A tree hug to the revelers who helped us raise money for Nature Conservancy's Plant a Billion Trees Together we planted 50 new trees in the endangered Brazilian Rain forest. Bravo!

2010-10-21T11:20:00.000-07:00

READERGIRLZ DIVA LORIE ANN GROVER sent out this Love Letter.

Sip some readergirlz lemonade.

And Thank You Lorie Ann for the lemonade.

Lorie Ann, Elizabeth Law and Moi at ALA.

2010-10-17T15:45:00.000-07:00

THE DRAGONS ARE GETTING READY TO FLY!
Friend, fellow YA author and visual artist, Holly Cupala, designed the beautiful new banner above as one part of THE DRAGONS OF NOOR launch celebration!

Thanks so much Holly. The banner is scrumptious!

Here's a shot from Heidi Pettit's LitArtPhotography gallery of THE BEAST OF NOOR book party. Do you see Holly in the shot?

This week the Carey house is getting ready for the launch party. Time to haul the huge dragon from his guardian place over my writing desk and get him ready to dance. This year we're enjoying making tons of masks for the revelers to wear at the celebration.

Lots of people enjoy coming to my book parties in costume.

Heidi Pettit
I bet there will be even more costumes this year!

Here's the scoop if you'd like to join the fun this coming Saturday!
Come to the Masquerade Book Launch Party for THE DRAGONS OF NOOR

Where: Parkplace Books
348 Parkplace Center
Kirkland, WA 98003
(425) 828 6546

When: Saturday October 23rd 7-9pm

FOOD: Delicious Eats & Noor Treats
FUN: Costumes if you please or come in comfy jeans and tees
FROLIC: Music & Dancing. Face Painting & Mask Making.
Author Reading, Riddling, & our traditional Dragon Dance!
GREEN: Add your green to donation jar for Plant a Billion Trees
COME: Writers, Illustrators, Readers, Friends, Families, Dragons, Fairies, Wind Spirits, & Tree deyas -- Fun for all ages.

2010-08-13T15:46:00.000-07:00

Tales from the Trenches

Interview with Janet Lee Carey

How do your stories take shape in your head or on paper? For example, do you brainstorm organically or do you use an outline?

Complete outlines are too restrictive for me. I lean toward a more organic approach. I daydream and keep a story journal where I jot notes, define the core plot question, create character back-stories, and zero in on character motivation. The character has a life before he or she steps into the story. Once I have a sense of the story trajectory, I work from a gut level, use the plot to hit the character where it hurts then follow the character’s actions and reactions through every plot twist until one of us cries uncle! It’s a dangerous and exciting way to write, especially when my agent, Irene Kraas, sells the novel to a publisher before I finish it.

Tell us about your path to publication. Did anything unusual or unexpected happen?

I’d received a lot of interest but no sales for a number of years. Three factors contributed to my first sale. I joined a fabulous critique group the Diviners with Peggy King Anderson, Judy Bodmer, Katherine Grace Bond, Dawn Knight, and Deborah Davis. A few years later Justina Chen, Holly Cupala, and Molly Blaisdell joined the group.
Here's a pic of a few of us celebrating Holly Cupala's sale of Tell Me A Secret

Celebrating Molly Blaisdell's book Rembrandt and the Boy Who Drew Dogs

The Diviners helped me hone my craft. They taught me to celebrate the victories (we award each other with the Nancy Pearl shushing librarian doll)

And to keep writing after each rejection. Let’s face it there is a long apprenticeship in this business! The published authors in the group also helped me navigate the vast and unpredictable sea of publishing. I learned to send thank you notes for rejection letters especially if the editor took the time to write a little personal message on the form letter. It’s a good practice because we are not just sending in manuscripts, we are building business relationships, and with editors moving around as much as they do, you never know which editors you will be working with in future. Second, I joined SCBWI and learned from the editors, agents, and colleagues I met through the organization. Our local chapter is phenomenal! Third, I was willing to revise for interested editors at Atheneum before they sent me a contract. Revising before they buy is tricky and the result is not always a sale, but most editors like to see what kind of revisions you’re willing to do before they take you on. In my case it paid off.

When writing a series, how do you stay true to the voice or voices of the series? How do you keep track of changing events and characters from book to book?
I’m working on sequels to all three of my YA fantasy books. It’s a real challenge, but there are ways to keep a series fresh and vital. Characters are human, and flawed, their incompleteness, their desire for wholeness will always drive the plot. I also know every book in a trilogy or a series must be strong enough to stand on its own. Books two and three should be just as compelling as book one. This means No Sagging Plots! Never enter a novel without the blood scent of story in your nose.

The Dragons of Noor (Sequel to The Beast of Noor)is now complete and due to hit the shelves in October!

This article was previously published in The Chinook, quarterly newsletter for SCBWI Western Washington

Thank you Elizabeth Mills for the fine interview and permission to repub here on Dreamwalks.

2010-08-02T12:32:00.000-07:00

Toady we're celebrating the launch of Holly Cupala's YA book TELL ME A SECRET!

Here's the much-talked-about trailer!

Author Holly Cupala will be featured on readergirlz for the entire month of August, with a live Twitter chat coming up. Hope you enjoy the trailer, and thank you so much for being part of the virtual tour and party!

2010-07-02T14:20:00.000-07:00

DRAGON-SNATCHING AT ALA!

Photo of my friend and writing colleague, Holly Cupala (author of TELL ME A SECRET).

While at the ALA conference last week, Holly swung by the EGMONT USA booth, and snatched up THE DRAGONS OF NOOR Advanced Reader Copy.

Evidence of the said Dragon-Snatching is here for all to see in the above photo!

A bit of a teaser . . .

THE DRAGONS OF NOOR opens when Hanna's little brother, Tymm, is stolen by a mysterious wind. Hanna is haunted by the words from a game she used to play with her little brother . . .

~Children fly when worlds are shaken,
Now the children are Wind-taken.
Seek them there, seek them here, before the children disappear.~

Stay tuned for more about THE DRAGONS OF NOOR as we get closer to the launch date October 12th.

Meanwhile remember to feed your imagination and go on lots of Dreamwalks.

2010-06-22T15:34:00.001-07:00

STEALING DEATH WATER FOR LIFE CHALLENGE update

*Thanks to PlayPumps International for photo

Bravo to Readers:
My warmest thanks to all of you who donated to the STEALING DEATH Water for Life Challenge. Your donations helped bring clean drinking water to children and families in sub-Saharan Africa.

Why I support Water for People:
While researching drought-ridden sub-Saharan Africa to create a realistic landscape for STEALING DEATH, I learned more than one billion people in the world do not have access to clean water. And that water-related diseases take the lives of 6,000 people a day.

STEALING DEATH Water for Life Challenge became a key part of the fall book-launch. Through speaking engagements and website donations, we successfully raised awareness of the global water crisis and raised funds for clean drinking water.

The water crisis is on-going, so are the solutions:
PlayPumps International has joined Water for People to continue the work of bringing clean drinking water to schools and communities in sub-Saharan Africa.

A Word about Water for People:
"Water For People envisions a world where no one suffers or dies from a water-related illness. Some may say that’s too lofty a goal, but frankly we have high expectations. They lead us to succeed in our 11 country programs so that we can change the world for millions.”

*Thanks to Water for People e-cards for Photo

When clean water well pumps are installed, families no longer have to heft water from miles away. They can enjoy clean drinking water pumped directly to villages and schools.

Let us continue to give that others may live.

Information and Donation click:
Water for People playpumps

Link through my website:

2010-05-11T15:08:00.000-07:00

HAPPY CHILDREN'S BOOK WEEK

Librarian Karen Kline and Moi at Dickinson/Explore Elm.

Thanks to Mary Harris at ParkPlace Books in Kirkland for setting up 20 PacNW Children's Authors in 20 Schools to celebrate Children's Book Week. May 10th-16th. Some fellow authors such as Kirby Larson, David Patneaude, Wendy Wahman, Robert Ferrigno and Carl Deuker, myself and more are offering hour long presentations in 20 schools all week long.

I had a great time presenting my books and holding lively Q & A sessions with three
6th grade classes as Dickinson/Explore Elementary in Redmond. Met the Dickinson Dragon who fiercely guards the books in their library. And readers got a sneak peek at my October 2010 release book THE DRAGONS OF NOOR.

Here I am with Dragon's Keep and claw.

Happy Reading

2010-02-20T10:37:00.000-08:00

INTERVIEWS AND NEWS

JANET'S INTERVIEWS:
This month I did a fun interview at TeensReadToo. A terrific site when a new YA author each day.

Monday 2/15 I did a radio interview and reading of STEALING DEATH on Robin Falls Kids Let's Talk
(Interview is in second half of the show beginning min. 31:17. To go directly to interview, move mouse to right hand corner under BlogTalkRadio to min 31:17 -- sit back and enjoy).

KATHERINE'S NEWS:

(left to right, Katherine Grace Bond, Moi,Dawn Knight, Holly Cupala, Molly Blaisdell)
The Diviners awarded Katherine Grace Bond
the coveted Nancy Pearl Shushing Librarian Award this month. Here we are celebrating Katherine's feats of Glory!

Katherine won the award after being chosen for the prestigious Jack Straw Writer’s Program! We gave a cheer complete with pom-poms.

The next week our talented friend and colleague had even more to celebrate. Literary Agent Sara Crowe with Harvey Klinger, Inc., NY, called Katherine after reading her novel BODACIOUS MYSTERY GAL PAL TELLS ALL
Sara Crowe is now Katherine’s agent!

Hooray for my friend and fellow writer. Her talent truly shines!

2010-01-17T10:50:00.000-08:00

HAITIE RESCUE SEARCH DOG FOUNDATION

(photo of search dog care of SDF gallery)

HAITI RESCUE report from SEARCH DOG FOUNDATION

Janet's Note: We have been involved with SDF since the book launch for THE BEAST OF NOOR in 2006. We're excited to pass on SDF's update on rescues in Haiti.

NEWS ITEM: January 15, 2010
At 1:15pm local time, an SDF Search Team in Port-au-Prince located three girls, trapped alive since Tuesday in the rubble of Haiti’s devastating earthquake.

Bill Monahan and his Border Collie, Hunter, were searching a neighborhood near the Presidential Palace, concentrating on a large bowl-shaped area of rubble which was all that remained of a 4-story building.

After criss-crossing the area, Hunter pin-pointed the survivors’ scent under 4 feet of broken concrete and did his “bark alert” to let Bill know where the victims were. Bill spoke with the survivors, then passed them bottles of water tied to the end of a stick. As they reached for the water one of the girls said, “Thank you.” Highly trained rescue crews from California Task Force 2 are now working to extricate the girls from the wreckage and provide first aid.

Bill and Hunter continue to search, as do the 6 other SDF teams on the ground in Haiti:

SDF Executive Director Debra Tosch: “All SDF handlers are experts in reading their canines, pacing them throughout their shift to ensure the dogs are kept safe, healthy, happy and motivated. The canines are literally the Task Force’s most precious tool in the hunt for survivors: their well-being is mission-critical.”

SDF is grateful to all of our supporters around the country who are truly PART OF THE SEARCH, having made this rescue possible.

Be a part of the search! Checke out SEARCH DOG FOUNDATION today.

2009-09-28T17:38:00.000-07:00

I'll be on readergirlz blog for live author chat and online book party for STEALING DEATH

Wednesday night September 30th at 6pm Pacific/9pm Eastern!

Special thanks to the readergirlz divas for hosting the party and to diva Holly Cupala for the beautiful blog posters!

Come join the fun!!

2009-09-11T10:53:00.000-07:00

We're getting ready for the big book launch party!

Check out the recent interview about Stealing Death in the Chinook Update.

Filling food platters
YAAMBA Marimba band is rehearsing
Dance rehearsal
Can't wait to see friends and celebrate!!

A special THANKS to the amazing Holly Cupala, YA Author and all around talent for the new Blog Banner, this pop-in poster, and the whole face lift for Dreamwalks!!! Thanks, Holly!

2009-08-30T10:55:00.000-07:00

Good News!

Sacramento Public Libraries' One Book Sacramento has chosen THE DOUBLE LIFE OF ZOE FLYNN as a companion read to Steve Lopez's book, THE SOLOIST.

This September I'll be flying to Sacramento CA for speaking engagements set up by One Book Sacramento. It's an honor to be a companion read to THE SOLOIST a second time. Earlier this year Philadelphia Public Libraries listed THE DOUBLE LIFE OF ZOE FLYNN as a teen companion read to THE SOLOIST for One Book Philadelphia.

THE SOLOIST is a deeply moving book. I read it before watching the movie (also a must see!) Steve Lopez describes Nathaniel Ayers' turbulent life on the street, his heroic struggle with fragile mental health, and his musical gifts with a rare and powerful honesty. I have my own first hand experience with the devastation of brain disorders, illnesses that we, as yet, barely understand. I recognized Steve Lopez's true portrayal of illness in the unflinchingly accurate dialogue and in the complex yet hopeful description of a rare friendship.

THE DOUBLE LIFE OF ZOE FLYNN shares the theme of homelessness. Not that of a single person as in THE SOLOIST, but of a young family secretly living in an old Chevy van struggling to find a home. Zoe Flynn is fiercely guarding her secret from everyone at school. No one is to know they are homeless, that they bathe at the community pool and hang around at the laundromat to stay warm (courtesy of the heat coming from the driers).

The new face of homelessness is not presented on the street, it is lost in the invisible world of children and families couch surfing, living in cars and vans, people who are "between" apartments or homes for weeks or months or years. The year THE DOUBLE LIFE OF ZOE FLYNN came out I presented at schools across the U.S. sharing the book and raising awareness about homelessness. Many schools got ready for my visit by collection scads of food for local food banks. One school delivered a truck load the day after my assembly! More poignant than that, I discovered most schools had at least one homeless student. (I was usually told this privately before or after the presentation.) Those children were honored that day as I spoke of Zoe's heroic adventures in THE DOUBLE LIFE OF ZOE FLYNN.

The book's longevity is a testament to heroic children everywhere who are searching for a home.

P.S. Friend and colleague, Holly Cupala just sent me this link to the NY Times Article: Surge In Homeless Pupils Strains Schools. Very timely. Thanks Holly!

Until next time,

Be well

2009-07-14T14:40:00.000-07:00

I just flew home from ALA Chicago

A most magnificent experience meeting nation wide librarians (according to ALA roughly 25,000 library leaders and supporters)touring publishing houses with their newest offerings (like wending through a gold mine), meeting the indomitable Egmont USA team: Douglas Pocock, Elizabeth Law, Regina Griffin, Mary Albi, and Ellen Greene. Chatting and checking the exhibits with my beloved Dial editor, Kathy Dawson, Meeting fellow Egmont authors Julia Keller, Walter Dean Myers, Christopher Myers, Mary Amato, and Kay Cassidy and chumming about with author buddy Lorie Ann Grover who was smart enough to bring a camera!Luckily Lorie Ann said I could pop some of her shots into the blog. Phew!

Lorie Ann Grover, Elizabeth Law, Moi

Chicago weather was perfect. On my first evening we gathered at the Art Institute of Chicago for the Egmont Cocktail Reception where we all nibbled dainties, sipped wine and talking Books Books Books. Doug Pocock, Executive V.P of Egmont USA had us all raise our glasses to toast Egmont. He had us all grinning. If you are a writer, this was why your ears were burning on Saturday evening. Somebody out here loves you.

Early Sunday we scrambled to the wild YALSA Coffee klatch where we had four minutes (yes that's four minutes) per table to speed date YALSA librarians and create "book love" for our upcoming titles. Not easy to breeze through a description of STEALING DEATH in one minute with three left to answer questions. I brought along an "ice breaker" but YALSA librarians were NOT icy in the least and no ice needed breaking. Still we blew our rose petals across the table with drinking straws (a challenging game if there ever was one!)

Christopher Myers and Moi at YALSA coffee klatch. I stood on a chair to reach his 6ft 5? or 7? height!

Jacqueline Woodson, Libba Bray, Moi

After the coffee klatch I raced with Elizabeth Law back to the convention center for my author signing at the Egmont USA booth. A nice long line was waiting with readers clutching STEALING DEATH galleys (yes!)

Two buddies Justina Chen and Kirby Larson signing (I didn't take a pic of myself signing. Again no camera. Doh!)

Famished from book signing, Regina Griffin and I taxied to a cozy luncheon with friends. After lunch I raced back to the convention to meet with my Dial editor, Kathy Dawson.

The day ended with the Newbery-Caldecott-Wilder Banquet.

Lorie Ann too this one -- Moi dressed for the Banquet!

Thank you Egmont for the cold Heineken I was ready for it by that point). Good food but the speeches were delicious from Beth Krommes Caldecott speech where she quoted a friend saying, "Beth Krommes has finally scratched herself to the top." to Neil Gaiman's memorable speech, "the Newbery can actually make you look cool to your children,", and Ashley Bryan's closing speech wherein we were "made to sing."

When words were with us
in our minds and
on our tongues
we sang our way
outside ourselves
to a place
where all can meet

In this sparse economy
we still remember
ideas are free

2009-06-03T10:47:00.000-07:00

We just returned from Maui where I swam in the sea and went on a 5 day Sacred Maui Pilgrimage Retreat with Ram Dass. The first day there we visited a sacred Hawaiian site by special invitation.

Lei'ohu Ryder invited us into the Kukuipuka Heiau a place of profound healing and inspiration. Lei'ohu Ryder shared stories of the power of the land and the sea -- of the healing earth. She also talked about "letting go of our stories" the stories that tie us down and keep us in the past and do not allow us to grow into our true power. This was only the first day of our pilgrimage, but my husband and I were greatly blessed by land and sea and Kukuipuka Heiau under the guidance of Lei'ohu Ryder and Ram Dass. There is great healing in the land -- the ground we walk on every day of our lives.

Janet

2009-05-05T14:55:00.000-07:00

It has been forever since I blogged. Why?? I have been juggling many projects and am in the air all day tossing and tossing.

I was recently asked juggling advice and did I recommend it. Hum . . .
The answer depends on your best way of working. Jane Yolen always juggles many projects at once and seems to thrive on it! I visit the blog on her website often to peek into her life and work. If you thrive on juggling as she does, go for it.

I actually prefer to be married to my work. That is to say I work on one story at a time to nearest deadline, then switch to another. I find the transition difficult -- moving from a fantasy set in a fictional Africa with the spare voice of a male protagonist (Kipp in Stealing Death) to the medieval world of Wilde Island with a female protagonist disguised as a leper and on the run with her three friends from the witch hunter (Tess in Bound By Three).

It's dizzying for me going between these worlds let alone trying to live in the real one. Sheesh!

So pick the tale that's calling to you and go deeply in, or juggle many happily as Jane Yolen seems to do.

Whatever you do, be in love with your characters and their world.

Happy (if frantic) Writing everyone and Keep the balls in the air.

2009-03-22T11:11:00.000-07:00

Happy World Water Day!

Image thanks to PlayPumps

Join me in celebrating clean drinking water with PlayPumps! For World Water Day PlayPumps is focusing on communities in Malawi Africa where only 57% of the rural population has access to clean drinking water.

Do you want to pitch in and Help? Check out PlayPumps!

Clean drinking water is of particular interest to me. Ever since I researched drought-ridden countries for my upcoming YA novel Stealing Death, I've wanted to put my hand in and make a difference.

Check out my PlayPumps fundraising page Stealing Death water for Life Challenge

CLEAN WATER SAVES LIVES

The terrible drought in Africa puts children and families at risk every day. It is predicted that the global dimming brought on by the developed worlds air pollution will continue to create these severe droughts year after year. I began to study what water shortage does to communities while working to create a realistic drought-ridden landscape for my fantasy novel Stealing Death. Profoundly moved by the suffering I saw, I made a commitment to take action and raise awareness. I hunted for an organization that is making a significant difference and was thrilled to find PlayPumps.

Hope Education Joy
PlayPumps puts hope into the hands of people.
PlayPumps frees girls to attend school regularly
PlayPumps empowers change through children at play

How PlayPumps Works

Watch a PlayPumps Video!!

2009-02-26T09:48:00.000-08:00

I just finished many present-day trips to India in the pages of Indu Sundaresan's brilliant new short story collection: IN THE CONVENT OF LITTLE FLOWERS (Atria Books).

The fabric of these stories is silken, the flow of language itself transports the reader. Though the stories vary in time and place, all of the striking stories take unflinching looks at human relationships. All explore the question of human value.

In "Shelter of Rain" A young doctor, Padmini Marrick, receives a mysterious letter from The Convent of Little Flowers -- the orphanage she left after her adoption at the age of six to come to America. Now her long lost mother is finally contacting her. Why?

In "The Faithful Wife" a reporter tries to stop a town from committing Sati, the ritual burning of a widow -- the widow is twelve years old.

In "The Key Club" wives are highly valued, but there's a catch.

There are too many stories to name here but the tale entitled "Three and a Half Seconds" has to be mentioned. It is riveting and terrifying, all the more so because it is based on a real story of a son's escalating parental abuse.

IN THE CONVENT OF LITTLE FLOWERS is a book to own, cherish, and reread for its beauty and its unflinching look at humanity. Pick up a copy as soon as you can.

Janet

2008-12-21T12:28:00.000-08:00

Look forward to hidden treasure when you read Justina Chen Headley’s new book NORTH OF BEAUTIFUL
February 09 (Little Brown)

This gorgeous novel has already earned a Publisher's Weekly starred review, and I expect that's just the beginning of the praise it's bound to receive. It's rare to find such a perfectly balanced novel. Award-winning author, Justina Chen Headley writes with wry humor and unfailing honesty. Terra feels set apart by her troubled family, and the prominent port-wine stain birthmark on her right cheek. She is lost in a family of mapmakers and can't see a way out. Enter Jacob, a Goth guy who sees Terra's hidden beauty, and challenges her to move beyond her old confining self-image. Leaving their small town behind, Terra and her mother adventure with Jacob's family in China. On this unforgetable journey with Jacob Terra slowly learns to find her way out of her life-long isolation. This book is a treasury of laughter and tears that leads unfailingly to the heart.

2008-11-22T10:32:00.000-08:00

EXCALIBUR PEN

Driving along the Big Sur coast in California, we stopped to climb down to a deserted beach, then scaled rocks to a waterfall.

Guess what I found embedded in the mud below the enchanted falls?

Pictures tell the story . . .

~the Wart walked up to the great sword for the third time. He put out his right hand softly and drew it out as gently as from a scabbard ~ T. H. White The Sword in the Stone

The Excalibur pen still works.

Shall I save it and use it at my next book signing?

Till next time fellow dreamwalkers

walk well

Janet

2008-10-27T11:40:00.000-07:00

ZOOM ZOOM

photo share

October's been a travel month. First stop Oregon SCBWI Retreat at Silver Falls State Park where I taught Story CPR, met fellow writers, Chronicle books editor, Julie Romeis, and Holiday House editor, Leanna Petronella. Leanna gave a stomping good session on writing YA novels.

Five words for this retreat= Terrific!! Watch out for Bears!

Photo Keven Law

Next I flew to Georgia to keynote the librarian luncheon at the Georgia Council of Media Organizations conference. Saw as we rose out of cloudy Seattle, the morning moon full in the pale blue sky. Flying toward the sun on my right, snowy Mount Rainer down below between the two. All this beauty spread out on the vast canvas of the sky.

Five words for the Librarian Lunch = Laughter, salad, book love, serendipity.

The last word because I ran into YA author Sharon Draper in the lobby of the hotel and we talked for nearly an hour before we identified ourselves as authors. Each of us thought the other was a librarian! We had a laugh about that.

Flew out that afternoon to Missouri for the Children's Literature Festival in Athens MO where I taught "Words on the Wing" to hundreds of students, met thousands of readers and signed books, books, books. Yeah!

Eight words for that leg of the trip: Giant beast fangs don't set off airport scanners!

How did this affect my writing schedule? Have laptop will travel. In the air and on the road, I found free time to daydream about Bound By Three (sequel to Dragon's Keep) and write chapters.

Four words for today = fellow travelers, walk well

Janet

2008-10-07T11:45:00.000-07:00

What a surprise to be nominated for the I Love Your Blog award! And to be nominated by my favorite blog Wordlings by Justina, Justina Chen Headley is a true honor!

Here's the To Do nomination list flying round the web for those of you who would like to join in the fun.

1) Add the logo of your award to your blog.

2. Add a link to the person who awarded it to you. (see Justina's link above)

3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs. (my list below)

4. Add links to those blogs on your blog.

5. Leave a message for your nominees on their blogs.

Blog love . . . pass it on:

Here are the beautiful blogs I visit regularly. And the Nominees are . . . drum roll please:

1) Wordlings by Justina, Justina Chen Headley. I know she nominated mine, but I have to nominate Wordlings because I'm visiting China every week right now vicariously through her blog!

2) Seize the day, Mollymom103. Great writing tips and weekly doodles keep me coming back to Molly.

3) Grow Wings, by Laini Taylor. The art of writing and Art, Art, Art!

4) Opalescent Irritations, Margaret D. Smith. Margaret’s brilliant blog is rich, funny, deep. I go there to be inspired.

5) Bookmark, by O.R. Melling. I like to visit this Irish fantasy author.

6) Brimstone Soup, Holly Cupala. Holly keeps me in the groove.

7) Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast . This is a Wonderland of a book blog!
I could name dozens more (as you can see by my link list) but 7 is the rule and it’s nearly impossible to do this before breakfast!

Until next time

Dream well

2008-09-18T16:40:00.000-07:00

Leapin Synchronicity!

Author Julia Cameron talks a lot about how the world joins you in synchronicity when you commit to a project. I've experienced this phenomenon any number of times. The most recent incident had to do with leaping from one novel to another. It was time to leave Stealing Death (after sending it in on deadline -whew) and go back back back to medieval times to continue the sequel of Dragon's Keep. Leaps like that are hard to do but after four full writing days I was in!

The universe, or is it my muse? agreed. I was in the middle of a scene where noisy croaking frogs began a heated argument between Tess and her friends, when I had to run off to critique group. The first thing I saw when I arrived in the backroom of the coffee shop, was an enormous green clay frog in the center of the table.

A bit suspicious I asked, "Who put that there?"
Everyone shrugged.

Hum . . . pretty strange the lengths some muses go to to let a writer know she's on the right track.

Dream well,

Janet

2008-08-31T16:36:00.000-07:00

DRAGON'S KEEP is out in Germany

It's always fun to pop open the box when one of my foreign language books arrives in the mail. This week my agent, Irene Kraas, sent me a box with beautiful copies of DRACHENKUSS. The cover art is similar to the US DRAGON'S KEEP except for the hand. The back cover has Lord Faul's yellow-green eyes and the top line reads: Prinzessin Rosalind von Wild Island . . .

A copy is now on the shelf next to the US hardback, and the UK paperback -- same tale titled TALON in England.

Irene has also sold the foreign rights to other countries. Can't wait to see the French cover.

Until next time

dream well

Janet

2008-08-26T16:35:00.000-07:00

DIVINERS CELEBRATE HOLLY CUPALA'S BOOK NEWS!

Last week the Diviners were celebrating again. This time we whooped it up for Holly Cupala's amazing news! Holly's agent sold her YA novel A Light That Never Goes Out in a two book deal to HarperCollins.

Hooray for Holly!

As always, Peggy King Anderson wrote a fun cheer and we pulled out the pompoms.

Pictured here, Moi, Holly Cupala, Molly Blaisdell, and Judy Bodmer.

Diviners not pictured, Peggy King Anderson (currently in Germany), Justina Chen Headley (in China this year), and Dawn Knight.

After the cheer we loaded Holly with gifties:

And of course Diviner award, Ms. Nancy Pearl, has to pack her bags yet again for another move. This time from Molly's to Holly's (however as we speak, Molly's hanging on to the coveted Nancy for one more week.) Nancy says "Shhhh."

Well, Brave Molly deserves to hang on to Nancy a wee bit longer. She came to the celebration even though her back was out. Here's Molly on her knees ready to read her latest piece to the critique group. Yes, even though we're celebrating a lot, we still buckle down (or kneel down) and get to work each week.

Until next time

dream well

Janet

2008-08-14T16:19:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I taught a fun Mystery Writing workshop in Leavenworth at A Book For All Seasons. Here we are out on the sunny back deck watching one of the campers seek a hidden object.

She's getting warmer!

We worked/played at mystery writing for two hours then the campers went off for lunch and a swim. Later in the afternoon I pulled out my sharpie to sign books in the store. This popular summer writing camp has been going for seven years. This years Poe Camp (Yes I mean Edgar Allan) was indeed mysterious. Run by the effervescent Amy Carlson (in bug eyes below)

Many thanks to Amy, to the campers and to the terrific staff at A Book For All Seasons for a great day, and to Lisa Wells for setting up my live radio interview today on

AM/560 KPQ’s Two O’Clock Show with Ken Johannessen.

Until next time,

dream well

Janet

2008-08-03T11:04:00.000-07:00

LEAP DAY

Here I am on the edge of the cliff and stalling. Well who wouldn't stall before taking a leap? The leap I'm referring to is the next writing phase. I finished my rough draft (all 349 pages of it) On Tuesday. That's 240 pages in a little over two months. A new record for me and all because of the looming deadline (Sept. 1st) Now it's just a matter of reading it and marking needed changes on the manuscript and I've stalled out.

This phase of the process always terrifies me. Will the story delight or dismay? How much rewrite I'm I looking at here? How much will I need to cut, change, redo? I won't know until I read it. I have No Time to waste here, so I better stop stalling and take the leap!

Blogging is one of the ways I'm stalling. It's also a public confession to make me accountable. Now that I've confessed I've been holding back, unwilling to dive into the printed page, I have nowhere to go but in. I must have the courage of my craft, count to three, and jump.

Today is leap day.

May you have the courage of your craft.

Until next time

dream well

Janet

(cliff photo by Bruce Denney)

2008-07-24T16:04:00.000-07:00

Good Golly, Miss Molly!

Diviners pictured left to right Holly Cupala, Katherine Grace Bond, Moi, Molly Blaisdell, Judy Bodmer, Peggy King Anderson. Diviners not pictured Justina Chen Headley (getting ready to fly to China for a year!) and Dawn Knight.

The Diviners were at it again this week celebrating yet another book publication. This time we did a cheer (note pompoms in our hot little hands) for the publication of Molly's fabulous picture book: Rembrandt and the Boy Who Drew Dogs by Molly Blaisdell, illustrated by Nancy Lane, Barrons Publishers.

Peggy King Anderson (in pink) wrote a cheer we performed with said pompoms. Molly opened cards, and was gifted with flowers and the coveted Nancy Pearl Shushing Librarian Award!

The Diviners give "The Nancy" to a praise worthy member to celebrate her success. The Shushing Librarian has to keep her bags packed these days. She's really been on the move with so much good news!

Congratulations Molly!

Until next time

dream well

2008-07-19T14:43:00.001-07:00

You have this way of speaking and it is the way the story is told.
There is no other way to say it. You cannot dam the waters and stop the flow.
You cannot turn back to the old way of saying.
You fall into the abyss of language hoping words will hold you up. They do not. They throw you down.
You have been kicked out of the comfortable nest of “the right way to write”
You are falling.

2008-07-08T16:02:00.000-07:00

GOOD NEWS!

THE BEAST OF NOOR
is now in its 4th printing.

This means the Shriker still haunts the forest of Noor. More readers will have to go on the adventure with Miles and Hanna to end the Shriker's curse.

Do not wander in the deeps
where the Shriker's shadow creeps.
When he rises from beneath,
beware the sharpness of his teeth.

Until next time

fellow travelers walk well

Janet

2008-07-05T16:12:00.000-07:00

WRITER VS. WILD

July 5th. After the fireworks, what? Back to the writing desk. My character, Kipp, is in the desert now. I'm in a dry writing spell and feeling a little lost. Maybe we are both lost and trying to survive.

The desert is harsh and spare. I'm reminded of Bear in the show "Man Vs. Wild" wrapping his tee shirt around his head for a turban to protect him from the sun -- of him searching for water. The earth looks flat, tight and hollow as a drum. How does Kipp get out? How do I get out of the dry writing spell? He walks. I walk too -- walk away from the desk and lose myself in the garden for a while. It's not think time but do time. I keep my body busy so my subconscious can work without my prattling conscious mind getting in the way.

The writer in me can't leave Kipp alone and hungry for long.

Until next time,

dream well.

Janet

2008-06-26T16:41:00.000-07:00

When I went to Ursula K. LeGuin's book signing for her new book Lavinia (reading my signed copy now) I told her "Your words open my words."

It was a simple and quiet thing to say. There was still a long line behind me, but she looked up and our eyes met and she asked me my name.

Reading her novels always helps me when I hit a writing wall. I will always be grateful to her for her beautiful books.

If you want to treat your ears and heart, take a few minutes and listen to her read the last chapter of A Wizard of Earthsea

http://www.ursulakleguin.com/MP3s/WizardOfEarthsea.html

Beautiful

2008-06-18T11:04:00.000-07:00

A TALE IN A TALE -

Where does STORY come from? Writing ideas are a mystery and I like it that way because I love the daily surprises waiting for me in the unfolding words. I recently read THE THIEF by Megan Whalen Turner, and loved the places where her characters told stories within the story. I did this in THE BEAST OF NOOR with The Shriker's Tale, and a bit in DRAGON'S KEEP and I'm at it again this week.

Right now I'm working on two new books: BOUND BY THREE -- a companion book to DRAGON'S KEEP (Harcourt), and STEALING DEATH (Egmont).

A few days ago I ended a scene in STEALING DEATH knowing my captive character, Kipp, needed to tell a story. I set the scene up one day and ended my writing session by jotting Oh, Boy! A Story! on the page. I left my writing for the next day not knowing what story Kipp would tell, only that I was looking forward to finding out.

Okay here's where the mystery and magic comes in. The bounty hunter has tied up Kipp, left his helper, Billy on first watch, and bedded down near them by the fire. Kipp's purpose for telling the tale is to put Billy to sleep so he can get away from the bounty hunter, but I (the writer) also knew the story had to have a significant connection to the rest of the novel.

What I had going for me: Billy is whittling a spear by the fire, using his knife to intimidate Kipp. Kipp thinks about using the spear Billy is making to draw him into the tale -- okay so the story needed to include a spear.

What else? I knew I had to introduce The Daughter of Time who will appear later in the book -- so maybe a creation story?

What else? My son Josh likes to take my cool collected objects and set them up in his room. Things like candles, glass holders, special stones. Josh recently confiscated my clear glass egg. I found it on his desk and stole it back. So I was staring at the glass egg on my desk when I flipped on the computer.

Kipp began to tell the story. I was amazed at how easily he put all the elements together and came up with in interesting creation tale with a crystal egg, a spear, and The Daughter of Time. I had to tap the keys at a pretty fast rate to keep up with him. The tale was so fun it was a challenge to slow to an ending that would actually lull Billy to sleep. Kipp managed that too, but does he escape from the watchful Billy and the bounty hunter? We'll see about that.

Until next time

dream well

Janet

2008-06-14T10:42:00.000-07:00

NEW DRAGON'S KEEP PAPERBACK

When the paperback came out this May I was happy to see the newer, brighter cover. Lord Faul really shows his face and haunting eyes in this new shot. I like the fun font too. The letters are embossed. Run your fingers over them. Don't they feel a little bit like dragon scales?

More reasons to be happy over the new transformation -- I love bringing paperbacks to the school visits and signings, they're so much more affordable. Also Harcourt added a Reader Chat Page at the back with provocative questions for classroom or book group discussions.

Until next time,

Dream Well

Janet

2008-05-19T16:09:00.000-07:00

DIVINERS CELEBRATE!

The Diviners -- that's my fabulous critique group -- really know how to celebrate!! Last week we had a double celebration for Justina Chen Headley (Holding the amazing new ARC of her upcoming YA book NORTH OF BEAUTIFUL above) and for moi for signing another contract. More fantasy books are on the way. Hooray!!
Pictured here -- Back row Katherine Grace Bond, Judy Bodmer, Molly Blaisdell, Peggy King Anderson. Front Row: Moi, Justina Chen Headley. Fellow Diviners not pictured, Holly Cupala and Dawn Knight.

Peggy King Anderson brought here pom poms and wrote a cheer for the celebration. I blushed happily and opened the thoughtful gifts with glee.
This is way better than any birthday. I can't wait to celebrate the next Diviner book! Wonder who will be next???

2008-05-16T10:30:00.000-07:00

Glorious Day

A perfect morning to journal out on the deck overlooking the lake. Birds are going mad with pleasure chirping, squawking, twittering, flitting. It's warm with a cool fresh flower-scented breeze.

SHADOW ~Image courtesy of Josh Otis~
The sun is to my right. My pencil runs just ahead of its narrow shadow on the journal page. If we step toward the light - our shadows follow us. If we walk away from the light - we walk into our shadows. A natural metaphor. I've come to believe that everything I need for writing is right here in the present moment. I don't need to stretch out to seek the perfect metaphor. It's here and now in the scene. It's staring me in the face. I just have to open my eyes and Look.

May you walk with open eyes today.

Fellow travelers, walk well.

2008-05-15T17:04:00.000-07:00

Today Bloggers are Uniting for Human Rights.

One of the best orgs around is Amnesty International.
LINK

Act Globally:
Amnesty International
Bulletin:
Ensure humanitarian aid for Cyclone Nargis victims

Please Please ask the government of Myanmar to ensure delivery of international aid in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis.

Call on the government of Myanmar to ensure that humanitarian aid is distributed to the victims of Cyclone Nargis and that they cooperate with international relief efforts.

link

Or Act Locally:
Act Locally

2008-05-04T15:55:00.000-07:00

We had a blast in Japan! I flew there with my husband, Tom. We met my agent, Irene Kraas, in the airport and were driven to a five star hotel.

On the morning of day one, we viewed the Wenny Has Wings movie (Remember That Sky opening in Japan April 26th) in the Sony studio which just happened to be right across the street from our hotel.

Irene and Janet in the hotel room getting ready to view the movie. Note the comfy kimono.

The movie was brilliantly done. Somewhat different from the book but that’s to be expected. The actors were perfect for their key roles: Yutaka Takenouchi as the father, Miki Mizuno as the mom, and the brilliant young actor, Ryohie Hirota as Will and the little, Riko-chen as Wenny. (see poster in earlier blog).

Two days of intensive interviews with help from the interpreter, Yoshiko Okura, followed the film -- newspapers to manga to magazines (including Newsweek Magazine Japan) to TV spots. It was a whirlwind and Irene Krass was there with me through it all. We drank gallons of water to keep going!

We left for a school visit and TV spot at Kabara Junior High School where I played the song a wrote for Wenny "You Had To Fly". We had a terrific time getting to know the kids there. Note the green slippers!

Sony Studios not only put us up in a top Tokyo hotel, they also took us to dinner after the interviews. Here we are with the producers, director, Shin Togashi (on my left), Sony senior publicist, Miki, and senior vice president of SonyMusic.

On day three we were free to become tourists. After another night in Tokyo, Irene joined us on the bullet train to Kyoto.

Irene and Janet in front of Temple Gate

It rained on the day we toured Kyoto temples but we braved the weather. Tom caught this shot of Kinkakuji Golden Pavilion in the rain.

Irene sped back to the states. Tom and I took the train with Drew to Koyasan where we stayed in the temple two nights, went to early morning Buddhist services, visited the historic graveyard, and hiked steep trails through a cedar and bamboo forest.

A wonderful trip.

Traveler may you walk well . . .

Arigato

Janet

2007-04-14T09:59:00.001-07:00

Dragon's Keep Party!

Let it be known that we had a blast at the Dragon's Keep book launch party. The revels lasted into the night.

Fine music played as the villagers roamed about the "great hall" drinking green dragon punch and sampling treats.

All were terrified when the dragon swooped in and fought valiant Kye Godrick. But the village folk cheered when the Riddle Master saved Kye by challenging the dragon to a contest (dragons are suckers for riddles). Let it be known that the villagers bested the dragon with brilliant answers to puzzling riddles. Prizes were won, fortunes were told, and there was dancing, and much feasting, and yes a reading from Dragon's Keep.

Let it also be known across all kingdoms that Dragon's Keep has received two starred reviews, is listed on amazons top 100 new books for teens and is on the nomination list for ALA best books for teens. The villagers all cheered. "Hooray!!"

Here are the party photos Heidi Pettit took for your viewing pleasure.

http://www.litartphotography.com

Hats off to Parkplace Books in Kirkland for hosting the party. Sweet thanks to the divine Diviners (my loyal critique group) for all their help. A kiss to Sarah Bond and her amazing Living Illustrations Troupe for bringing the Dragon's Keep characters to life.

And a good time was had by all!

Until the next blog, be well,

Janet

2006-11-16T16:17:00.000-08:00

True Confessions

I moved the office from bedroom to upstairs about (let me see) four months ago? I'm still in boxes and have to pick my way across the room to the computer. I was going to put everything away once I had all those deadlines under my belt and BEFORE I started writing another book.

Meanwhile more clutter is piling up.

I need more boxes -- or a bulldozer.

Until the next blog. Be Well

Janet

2006-11-02T11:04:00.000-08:00

STARTING OVER
I've sent off the latest revision of Book Two of the Noor Chronicles and turned in copyedit queries for DRAGON'S KEEP (Harcourt) and TALON (Faber & Faber UK). Now I've come up for air. No looming deadlines this week. Ah.

The Seed:
It's time to begin a new tale. Back to the seed stage. Looking at a tiny little idea that might have great potential. I think of the biblical quote "A grain of wheat remains a solitary grain unless it falls into the ground and dies; but if it dies it bears a rich harvest." John 12:24. There is a kind of death at every stage of the writing process. This first stage requires a letting go of the original idea that's been sheltered in the mind for months or years. Burying it in the real soil of existing things and encouraging it to grow.

I was given a tiny opening this morning. This came out of the Diviners Critique Group meeting from friend and fellow writer Judy Bodmer http://writetoinspire.blogspot.com who stressed the importance of dialogue. I'd envisioned the main character alone in the opening of the book. Now I asked myself, "Can I begin with dialogue? How?" And the scene came whistling around the corner.

This was only a glimpse into the new novel but I can lean into it and see where it goes. I know I can't force anything this early on. Time is needed to allow the roots to grow deep not just in the character's emotions and personhood, but also deep into the new fantasy world where the story is set.

In Out of Africa Isak Dinesen talks about shading the young coffee plants ". . . with branches broken from the bush, since obscurity is the privilege of young things." pg. 7.
What I'm telling myself after racing through so many deadlines is that I need to shade this new seedling of a story and nourish the creative process.

Wherever you are in your writing from early seed stage to final polish, I hope you find a way to nourish your own creative process.

Until the next blog -- Be well.
Janet

2006-10-16T17:42:00.000-07:00

FUN FESTIVAL!
I just got back from the 26th Annual Children's Lit Fest at Drury University Campus
In Springfield Missouri where I gave presentations to hundreds of kids and signed hundreds (yes hundreds) of books. Met fellow children's authors and illustrators:
C. S. Adler
Sandy Asher
Marsha Diane Arnold
J.B. Cheaney
Vicki Grove
David Harrison
Alexandria LaFaye
Anna Myers
Barbara Robinson
Brad Sneed
June Rae Wood
Judy Young

It's always great to meet the readers and kids know me in Missouri from the Mark Twain Award for WENNY HAS WINGS. This year I got to sign and sell the new book THE BEAST OF NOOR.

I'm still in the dark ages with my presentations (dirty little secret -- I haven't learned power point yet) so I was on my own to present 4 workshops in a row (about 400 kids in all) and nearly lost my voice by the end. I found my voice again (it was in my back pocket) by 8pm that evening when a few writers and illustrators did an Author Slam. That's 4 minutes to present something about your books. I told the strange and magical story about finding the buried glass doorknob while I was writing THE DOUBLE LIFE OF ZOE FLYNN. If you don't know that weird story and you want to hear it -- write me here on the blog and I'll spill the beans (or doorknobs).

One last thing. I was working on the galleys for DRAGON'S KEEP while flying to fro from Seattle/Denver/Springfield and nearly left the manuscript in the airport shop when I went to buy chapstick. Oi!

Until the next blog, be well.

Janet

2006-09-09T11:13:00.000-07:00

VISION AND REVISION
http://www.blackjacktools.com/pcat-gifs/products-small/hacksaws-110.jpg

I just sent the revision of my medieval fantasy, TALON, back to my Faber & Faber editor in the UK (one month turnaround. Not bad!). Now it's back to THE ANCIENTS --

sequel to THE BEAST OF NOOR. My Atheneum editor, Susan Burke cried "Shorten!" saying THE BEAST OF NOOR was Long. Could I make THE ANCIENTS about 100 pages shorter than BEAST?

Hum . . . I knew this would be a lot of cutting since THE ANCIENTS was turned in at about 100 pages LONGER than the BEAST manuscript. Still Susan gave me some suggestions about where to begin lightening the load.

I began, as always, with some trepidation and started to remove a paragraph here, a page there, working tenderly with tweezers. As I grew more daring out came the the scissors, clip clip here, clip clip there, scenes dropped to the floor. Finally I pulled out the hacksaw, cutting out whole chapters that "slowed the pace" or "could be turned into a telling little paragraph after all."

To make sure I don't cut anything vital, I'm scanning the manuscript using a Plot Chart I devised to keep track of the the Through Line.

Three weeks to go before I have to turn the revision in.
The race is on.

Until the next blog,
Be well.

Janet

2006-08-30T10:56:00.000-07:00

Author Insights

Today I'll take the plunge and share some of the meandering thoughts from my personal journal -- thoughts on the author, the character and the self. Turn ye back if ye do not like to delve a little deeper. Okay fair warning.

Life has been presenting me with some very difficult challenges of late.
What I want:
To understand my life from above and not just from below.
Relief from sorrow.
To have faith in God.
To believe I'm on the right path.
To make the right decisions and move on them.
To live with compassion.

Much of what I want is out of my hands. I'm human, flawed and not "all seeing". I suppose I want the guarantee of a "happy ending" Who doesn't?

MY CHARACTERS are in much the same situation. They want:
To understand the story from above and not just from below.
Relief from sorrow and difficulties.
To have faith.
To believe they are on the right path to solve to story problem.
To make the right decisions and move on them.
They don't always think in terms of "living with compassion" so that's a bit different.

AS THE AUTHOR I can see my characters' struggling.
I DO see the story from above.
I cannot relieve them from their sorrow or difficulties or the story would be over.
I know the characters are on the right path to solve the story problem even when they fail.
I know they don't always make the right decisions but as long as they move and continue moving, they will make progress toward the story's end.
They don't always live with compassion, but though the story seems to be harsh, I as the author have compassion for them.

My characters don't walk away with a PRIZE at the end of the story. They don't always get with they want. They DO walk away with a better understanding of themselves, of their gifts and of their place in the world. This "invisible prize" is something they will always have. It is imperishable/untouchable. No one can ever take it away from them.

I expect no more and no less from my characters than I expect from myself. Insight into the Author's Role/God's Role does not relieve the pain of my daily life. I blunder along as best I can with what faith I have. I'm flawed just as my characters are flawed. But I'm out for the invisible prize.

Fellow traveler,
Walk Well,

Janet

2006-08-27T20:02:00.000-07:00

What's your personality? Take the quiz:

The Protector

You live your life with integrity, originality, vision, and creativity.
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You are an excellent listener, with almost infinite patience.
You have complex, deep feelings, and you take great care to express them.

You would make a great photographer, alternative medicine guru, or teacher.

take the quiz: http://www.blogthings.com/whatsyourpersonalitytypequiz/

J

2006-08-27T13:37:00.000-07:00

BEAST OF NOOR Party Picture

The book launch party for THE BEAST OF NOOR was a blast! A few came as characters from the book. The Sylth Queen arrived with her entourage of Sylth servants all fanning her and doing her bidding. I gave her a silver goblet (Sylth Queens don't drink from paper cups!) The Sylth Queen was kind enough to toss fairy petals on some lucky partygoers.

Here's a picture of the Sylty Queen, a sylth, the intrepid author, and Brother Adolpho opening the Falconer's chest.

Many left with some Noor treasure, but I have a lot left. Hum. Were folks a bit shy about loading their plunder pouches??

The food from Noor was delicious -- I heard it was anyway. I was only able to gobble two strawberries the entire evening. I ordered a glass of white wine during the book signing but the white was gone and red wine gives me a headache. Ah well.

I chose to read a tale within tale -- the story of how the Shriker came to be, and I'm told the reading went well. After the reading, people lined up to get books signed or went over to watch the cool Search Dog video.

My thanks to all who came to revel. And to all those who bought books. The bookstore was sold out!

Until the next blog, be well

2006-08-12T11:11:00.000-07:00

JANE YOLEN THE BRAVE – SCBWI LA Conference

The SCBWI Summer Conference was Golden this year. Here are some more nuggets from my LA visit.

Saturday 8/05
Hunkered down in my room to work on The Ancients (deadline for the revision draws near).

Attended Krista Marino's workshop "Publishing Etiquette: What Not to Do"Krista gathered gripes from her fellow editors. Here are a few things to avoid:
* Don’t send sloppy cover letters. They should be immaculate.
* Avoid adding the minutia of your novel to your synopsis. Instead clearly communicate the storyline, characters, genre and age range. Keep it short,clear and compelling.
* Don’t address editors by first name in your cover letter unless you know them.
* Don’t send to 5 editors at the same imprint. Editors know each other and "do lunch" together.
* Try not to be impatient while you wait for a response. Instead use your waiting time to wirte. Editors work long office hours and have to do ALL their manuscript reading at home. So learn the fine line between persistence and pestering.
Krista then listed all the jobs an editor does in a typical day. My hand cramped just writing them all down! Kudos to all our hardworking editors.

Sunday 8/06
Went to Lisa Yee’s witty “Why Bother to Blog” workshop. Great fun! Lisa shared lots of cool blogging info. (So much to learn!) And she gave us tons of helpful notes. Thanks Lisa! (See more SCBWI conference stuff on Lisa Yee’s blog.)

Monday 8/07

Went to “The Joys and Frustrations of Revision” workshop with Justina Chen Headley and her editor at Little Brown, Alvina Ling.
Took pages of notes on their revision process. Justina showed her cool pre-story collages. Alvina read sections of her early editorial letters for Nothing But the Truth and a Few White Lies. Justina shared tips on how to handle your editors queries and comments. Lots of good-humored jokes between the two, and more than one poignant moment as Tina read from her stunning novel. I give the workshop 5 stars. *****

Monday afternoon -- Jane Yolen's Keynote:
I'd been waiting all weekend for Jane Yolen's address. And my jaw dropped when she was wheeled on stage. We’d danced at the Jade Jubilee Saturday night. Did she sprain her ankle jiving into the wee hours after I left the shindig? Jane soon told her ghastly tale of horrors (full details can be read on her website Journal “Telling the True” see www.janeyolen.com) She'd suffered a bad case of food poisoning. After being sicker than a dog for hours, our fearless conference director, Lin Oliver, rushed her to the hospital where Jane spent the night hooked up to the IV. Still she managed to return to the hotel for her keynote address covering the 10 Rules of Writing gleaned from 40 years of experience and 287 (count um!) books. Here are but a few rules:
· Write the damn novel. Don't just want to write it. Sit down (BIC -- butt in chair) and write it.
· Learn to love revision.
· Listen to your readers.
· The last rule (true to Yolen humor) was -- Don't believe anyone's rules.
Jane ended with a poem. I took down a startling line . . .
"a prayer that sounds like a curse until it's said a second time"

Jane got a standing ovation.
She thinks it was wheelchair inspired "pity applause" but it had nothing to do with food poisoning. Note to Jane -- we would have stood after that keynote if you’d been well enough to do jumping jacks on stage. Bravo! It was a great way to end the conference.

Monday night party:
Last, I attended the party at Lin Oliver’s. Good talk and good eats – apologies to Jane Y.

Tuesday 8/08:
Got up at 4:30 a.m. Tuesday to fly home. Then it was time to dig in on my revision of Talon for my UK publisher at Faber & Faber.

Well, Talon beckons. Back to work.

Until the next blog . . .
Be well.

2006-08-11T15:30:00.000-07:00

LA STORY: Book Signing, talk about Meryl Streep, Jodie Foster and more.

The SCBWI Conference this year was Golden. Here are some nuggets from my LA visit.

Friday Day #1
Media Escort Book Signing:
Media Escort Lisa Becker drove Tina (Justina Chen Headley ) and I all over LA to hit as many bookstores as is humanly possible given LA traffic and the local speed limit. Lisa Becker was well prepared and she had the bookstore reps. hopping. If a bookstore didn't have our books in stock, Lisa looked them right in the eye and said. "You need to get these books," in a very polite 'make them an offer they can't refuse' sort of a way. She also told us great Hollywood tales gleaned from working in the movie business. Some of the scoop: Meryl Streep is not only the consummate actress we all know she is, she's also a great human being. Ah, good to know. Lisa also talked up Jodie Foster (smart, with it, great mom), Keanu Reeves (the only actor who ever asked her if he could be switched to a SMALLER hotel room)and George Clooney who asked if he could pitch in some cash and pay for the film crew's accommodations (that's about 600 people!) when Lisa was getting flack from everyone about the sucky hotel. We loved her behind-the- scenes stories and we talked non-stop in stop-and-go traffic, so travel between signings was a breeze. I found a new respect for all the unsung heroes in the crew who work in the movie industry. Try 12-14 hour days day in and day out. Bravo to the unsung, hardworking crew!
We singed lots of books -- Tina's NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH AND A FEW WHITE LIES, and my THE BEAST OF NOOR. Last stop was Storyopolis where we viewed stunning framed picture book artwork covering the walls and, I almost forgot, signed books. A great day.

Friday night:
Dinner with friends and editor Krista Marino -- lots of laughs and good eats. In a fit of "healthy living fanaticism" we all decided to walk back to the hotel and had to clamber down a dirt hill covered in netting to cross LA night traffic -- totally nuts but no one was harmed.

See more SCBWI LA conference Nuggets in the next blog.

Until then,
Be well,
Janet

Until the next blog,
Be well,
Janet

2006-07-25T10:29:00.000-07:00

CONSIDERING FLIGHT
Monday Night at the P&G Speakeasy Cafe in Duvall, Poet Katherine Grace Bond read from her new book CONSIDERING FLIGHT (Brass Weight Press 2006)

The room was packed and we were entranced by the journey taken from first poem to last. It was sweltering in the cafe but we didn't want to move outside where breezes beckoned until Katherine finished the book.

Katherine's poems centered on the father/daughter relationship. They were riveting --honest, clear, complex, sweet, bitter, raw -- beautiful.

Here's a selection from CONSIDERING FLIGHT

Gentle Into Twilight

In the soft dead of that good night
Are shouts that were not shouted
To shame me
And his retreating back in a rummage sale jacket,
Carrying a plastic bag of Atlantic Monthlies.

His voice I'd like to bottle and keep,
Words the timbre of well-tuned glass,
Too effete for his ears.

His feet, he'd cut off
And walk on stumps
If it kept him a man.

He drowses near his ashtray
Studying the Trojan Wars alone
And Plutarch speaks to him in dreams.

I am his daughter.
I know the aria of the Queen of the Night
And can sing it in the woods
If the need arises.

I can pluck apples from the air,
But his basket will never be full.

I could reach my white bones out
To pull him from that dusk
And find his body heavy,
Spinning empty in my hands.

* * *

To read more amazing poems order CONSIDERING FLIGHT.
Send email to Katherine@Katherinegracebond.com

May poetry find you this week.
May the words surprise you and may your pen flow
in cool dark evening rivers.

Until the next blog. Be well.

2006-06-30T13:10:00.000-07:00

EIGHT DAYS UNTIL THE BOOK LAUNCH

Okay there are eight days left before the big book launch party for THE BEAST OF NOOR at Parkplace Books in Kirkland, Sat 8th 7pm and what am I doing? Revising the sequel of course! Writers write right? But I know I have to get cracking (as my editor in the UK says). Of course I've already collected cool magical objects to fill the Falconer's trunk (glisten powder, magical tinctures, the Shriker's fang), and I have fun gifts for everyone (all readers are welcome to come so I won't tell what gifts are) .

We've done the Costco trip to check out food and drinks and I went nuts gathering fairyland party decorations.

What's next? Time to panic! Is my reading ready? How many plastic forks again? What about punch? Wine? Music? Are the books here?

The job for today is WORRY. Write. Take a swim. Write some more. Oh, and blog.

Until the next blog. Be well

2006-06-27T14:13:00.000-07:00

LAST NIGHT AT P&G SPEAKEASY CAFE IN DUVALL Poet Margaret D. Smith read from her new book BARN SWALLOW (Brass Weight Press 2006) and sang us songs from her upcoming CD.

We were all hot and downing much lemonade or rubbing ice across our necks and foreheads but Margaret's surprising images, bright/dark words, and songs took us into gardens, beaches, on winter walks, down under ponds, into childhood, old age, and back again. Oh, and did I mention Ireland? Yes we went there too.

More poets read at the open mic. War and peace where words that ran deep. Poet Katherine Grace Bond was emcee -- she will be reading from her book CONSIDERING FLIGHT next month July 24 at the P&G Speakeasy. Who wants to go? I do! I do!

Here's a poem from BARN SWALLOW

Lemon

This would sound more beautiful in Greek.
In Grandma's garden, a lemon tree
so heavy with fruit she would lead us
long times around the tree with buckets,
wrapping our hands around them, telling
us, Pull, letting them sleep in deep piles
in our laps. To our noses they grew so
holy, too bad we had to pull them down
for tea and lemon pie.

Our fingers dug through ivy and surprised
a nest of mice babies, climbing blind,
squeaking for mice milk with no mother,
no father anywhere. We shouted to Grandpa,
Come look! We never saw any babies
more pink we wanted to hug before.
And do you know what he did? He scooped
them up and dumped them all
in the incinerator behind the garage.

I know what we wanted to do, shut our ears,
run downhill screaming at Grandpa, but
it was too sad. We didn't move by
the new grave, just sat. Mignon
and Celeste came up to us wagging
their tails with puff balls, puff hairdos,
puff shoulders and eyes with sad water,
sat down in our laps, letting us rub
their ears as long as we wanted.

Margaret D. Smith is author of six books.
Barn Swallow(Brass Weight Press, 2006) A Holy Struggle (Shaw, 1992) and The Rose and
the Pearl (Inchbird, 1998). Margaret also speaks internationally on the work of Gerard Manley Hopkins.

May poetry find you this week.
May the words surprise you and may your pen flow
in cool dark evening rivers.

Until the next blog. Be well.

2006-06-24T10:00:00.000-07:00

Paul Klee said ~ Art does not reproduce the visible. Rather it makes visible ~

In order to make things visible we must turn away from the busy, visible world and move into the inner world. It's a paradox that we must close our eyes for a time in order to make something visible: that we must be silent for a time in order to let the story speak.

But there's power in paradox.

The inner storyteller is a strange illusive being that refuses to be captured or defined. In times of silence, the imagination, which links the conscious and unconscious mind, is given a voice. There is so much the unconscious mind has to say, if we practice the art of waiting, listening, allowing the words to rise up.

Art is less doing
More being

Until the next blog. Be well.

2006-06-18T09:49:00.000-07:00

FANG UPDATE.

Heidi found the fang!

2006-06-16T12:46:00.000-07:00

What did you do with the Fang?

I'm busily gathering odd things for THE BEAST OF NOOR book launch party. Wednesday I spent hours at Michael's picking out cool beach glass and lots of fun surprising things (I won't tell all here). I have Noor party favors to make and a Falconer's trunk to fill. I'll be describing some of the behind the scenes magic below, so stop reading if you think it might spoil the fun.

The Falconer's Quill:
During the writing session today, I paused to make a quill. Here's the trick I've come up with. You know those clear bic pens? Well pull the innards out so it's just the tip and tube. Next grab a good sized feather and jam that baby up inside the hollow rachis of the feather. Voila! Instant quill (sort of). Well it looks like a quill and it writes, so Hey :)

Next I tackled another object for the Falconer's trunk.
Down in the kitchen I took an old box filled with perfect little vials and poured out the ginseng (hey it was way past usable date! And I had a plan!) Next I stripped off the labels and boiled the little glass bottles to get the residue out. After a good washing and cleaning out with a pipe cleaner (pretty sticky stuff in there) I filled each vial with pure water and added droplets of food coloring. Ah -- blue, purple, orange, yellow, green. I now have the Falconer's tincture bottles. He gives Miles Orasian (orange healing tincture)when he's in need. So much fun to have these bottles to show. They are tucked into the Falconer's trunk now. My fingertips are purple-green. But there's more room in the trunk, and more fun to be had.

The Fang:
On the way to the movies the other night with friends Heidi and Katherine,
I was jammed into the teeny-tiny back seat of Katherine's truck. I leaned forward and said, "Hey Heidi have you found the giant fang?"
"No."
"Oh man! Where did you look?"
"I looked all through my stuff. I think we left it at your house. You were so nervous that it would get lost."
"What will I do if I can't find it?" I moaned. "I mean where can you get a giant fang?"
"What about a longhorn cow skull," suggested Heidi.
"Yea. I went into the Western Apparel shop and asked if I could buy the cow skull in the window a few months back. They said it was a window display. When I asked the guy where I could get a cow skull, he got a little nervous."
At this point Katherine said, "Fang??? Can you please enlighten me as to what in the heck you're talking about?"

So, okay I'm looking for a Shriker's fang for the Falconer's trunk -- it's about the size of a cow horn. Has anybody seen it? Or do you know where I can find one?

Until the next blog. Be well.

Janet

2006-06-15T14:24:00.000-07:00

Do you want to visit a beautiful reading and writing blog? It's like taking a mini retreat. Check out:

http://readingwritingliving.blogspot.com/

enjoy!

Until the next blog. Be well

Janet

2006-06-13T22:14:00.000-07:00

Why Join a Critique Group?

Some writers feel that joining a critique group is too time consuming. Going to a critique group once a week or twice a month IS time consuming. It's also rewarding. I can't imagine facing the writing life alone with no one to commiserate with when I get rejections and (more importantly) no one to party with when I sell a book!

My critique group, The Diviners, really parties when one of us sells a story. Yeah!!! Peggy King Anderson usually writes a cheer (complete with pom poms)and we eat cake and drink bubbly and throw confetti!!!

Each week before we begin critiquing, we share writing news. A few weeks ago Justina Chen Headley shared about her amazing Hi-YAH! Book Tour with
Janet Wong and Grace Lin. They toured across the U.S. with countless print, radio and TV interviews, school visit (how about Harvard and Stanford!) She came home tired and happy.
For more on Tina's tour www.justinachenheadley.com

The rest of us shared about classes we're teaching, editing jobs, revisions for editors, etc. Judy Bodmer, Peggy King Anderson, and Katherine Bond usually have stories and articles in magazines to show us -- Hooray! Then it's down to business.

With seven members and most of us including Dawn Knight and Holly Cupala reading from novels, we have to divide up the time. The session is about good, hard, critique -- with a touch of kindness. Even when I'm on a strict deadline, I try to go and read (I know it saves my editors hours of grief).

So if you're writing alone, find a critique group that nourishes your creative spirit, feeds your writing, and forces you to grow.

Until the next blog. Be well.

2006-06-09T15:07:00.000-07:00

Held in the clutch of a Dragon!

I just sent my second revision of DRAGON'S KEEP back to my editor at Harcourt. This was an amazing process as I only had 10 days to work on it. I was in the Dragon's clutches from 5 to 9 hours per day.

I'm reeling. I'm also elated that I made it through. The cuts and changes were challenging but Kathy Dawson's editorial eye has made the story leaner and more elegant. It's now a svelte 277 pages. The first drafts (a long while before Kathy Dawson ever saw it) had the story close to 500 pages. Oh my!

Time for me to go celebrate!

Until the next blog. Stay well.

2006-06-01T10:35:00.000-07:00

It's Time to Party!!

Busy days just now revising THE ANCIENTS Book Two of the Noor Chronicles for Atheneum Books and DRAGON'S KEEP for Harcourt, but it's also getting close to the book launch party for my first fantasy novel THE BEAST OF NOOR! I'm planning a great party July 8th, 7pm at Parkplace Books in Kirkland WA. All you faithful blog readers within the Seattle area are welcome to attend. If you'd like a formal evite, just send your email address to janetleecarey@hotmail.com. I'll send the evite your way.

Open as you have before
Let the traveler through the door
From this opening begin
The only way out
Is in
(opening spell from the Falconer's book. THE BEAST OF NOOR)

2006-05-26T13:22:00.000-07:00

Writing Challenge = Sweet Dreams.

More running around yesterday and I had to leave right in the middle of a good writing session. Oi! Hard to keep my mind in the world of NOOR when I'm negotiating traffic, dropping sons off at appointments, filling granola bags at the PCC, pumping gas yadda, yadda, yadda.

At some point once I'm out in the world my "writing mind" vanishes. I find it hard to get back into the creative flow, but I have a few secret ways back.

Once home, if I putter, wipe counters with windex (I'm a windex freak), pick up a little and let my mind wander, sometimes the story comes back to me. Many writers know this trick. Forcing yourself to get right back to the computer and shouting OKAY GET BACK TO WORK usually = brain freeze.

Another secret way in is taken from Shakespeare's Hamlet, "To sleep perchance to dream." I lie down. Breathe deep. Sometimes I just fall asleep for a while and that's okay. I know I can't force it. But other times my mind begins to float. I follow the lazy stream and drift back into the storyworld.

That's what happened yesterday. I shut my eyes and soon enough I saw a scene. Not the one I'd worked on that morning, but a new one. The next step in THE ANCIENTS tale. I relaxed and waited. Ah, the characters in the mountain cottage were talking.

I crept up a little closer to the cottage and listened in. The dialogue was quick, exact, tense, and funny. Everything I needed to move the story forward was there. I threw off the covers, raced up to my office and typed the scene. A new chapter was born at 4:30 yesterday. A bit of a scrawny baby chapter now but she'll fatten up soon I know.

There is a Quaker saying, "Proceed as the way opens." And yes, if I've done a little writing early in the day, the way might open later if I let myself rest and drift back into the stream.

So all you hard working writers out there. Here's your assignment. If your writing time gets interrupted and it's a while before you can get back to your book.
Yawn
Get cozy
Rest
Relax
Listen.
If the story begins to speak again, dreamwalk to your writing desk, have a seat and write.

Until the next blog. Be well.
Janet

2006-05-25T10:05:00.000-07:00

Dreamtime on the run!
Danger! Don't take your journal out in public! Well, it's hard not to the way I run around, but I left my journal in the waiting room at the Group Health pharmacy yesterday. Oi!!

A few days ago, Tess said in her comment:
Writers have to live in dreamtime in order to create. Why don't people understand when that dreamtime extends to "practical" life? Readers want books? They'll just have to deal. :-)

And yes, dreamtime is needed. We writers are not spaced-out. We're just creating. We only LOOK spaced-out (except, of course, when we do things like abandon our journals).

My journal had personal stuff in it and I was worried someone might peek inside. It also had thoughts on where my revision for THE ANCIENTS is going = some new plot ideas that are still in their early dreamstage -- so I was desperate to get the journal back. I was also an hour late to critique group after taking my son to the Dr. Appt. What to do?

I didn't bust the speed limit to race back to Group Health but acted like a responsible, sane person and drove to critique group where I received some fine pointers on how to improve my new chapter three. After critique I returned to GH. My journal was there (though my coffee cup had been pilfered!). I wanted to dust the pages off for suspicious fingerprints but I didn't have the technology. If someone did read it they'd have a good look into my psyche.

Will I ever take my journal into public again? Yep! I can't help it. Will I leave it somewhere? I hope not.

Keep your pens moving and your hearts open until the next blog :)
Janet

2006-05-22T11:40:00.000-07:00

The Mark Twain Award:
Since fellow author Kirby Larson said in her comment, "I didn't see your Mark Twain fiasco story -- do tell!" I guess I'd better fess up. By the way you can see more about Kirby and her books on her website www.kirbylarson.com.
Okay time to confess: I flew to Missouri this month to attend MASL, a wonderful school librarian conference at the Tan-Tar-A resort. The conference was packed and I met hundreds of dedicated school librarians. After teaching two workshops, I attended the Awards Banquet where I gave a short speech (I was told to make it short) and accepted the 2005 Mark Twain Award for WENNY HAS WINGS. I began the speech with a dedication to my father who passed away last year. He was a Mark Twain fanatic and actually greeted me at the door one time wearing a white wig and white suit. "Come in and sit down," he said. "Here's my Mark Twain performance piece!"

After the speech, I went off to sign books and was thrilled to see a long line of people actually waiting to get their books signed -- a heavenly sight to any writer.

True Confession:
After signing about 150 books, my head was swimming. I left the room and mistakenly left the award (bust of Mark Twain) behind. I think he was hiding behind the flowers on the table?

It was about midnight before I realized my mistake. I was already in my jammies so
I threw on my clothes and raced down to the lounge. The security guard let
me in the room to search but Mark was gone. Maybe one of the librarians helping me at the signing saw that I'd left the bust behind and was holding it for me? I hoped so! I was way worried that night. A person doesn't show gratitude for winning an award by abandoning it a few hours later! Oi!

I tried to keep the fact that I'd lost the award fairly mum the next morning.
I confessed it to the conference staff and they got on their walkie-talkies "Janet
Carey has lost the Mark Twain Award."
So much for keeping it mum!

Mark arrived safely and was back in my hands 10 minutes before I left for the airport. A librarian had picked it up and given it to a librarian who gave it to another librarian . . . to give it to me.

I suppose I was a bit of comic relief for the conference. Mark T. is safely on
my piano now and he has a pretty mischievous look on his face. Thought he'd escape the way Huck Finn did? No way!

So that's my writing life story until next time.

2006-05-17T20:07:00.000-07:00

Dreamwalks: Learning how to Dream

www.janetleecarey.com

2006-05-17T19:29:00.000-07:00

Writing Blues

I wish I had more time to write! It's always a challenge to keep a novel bubbling away in my head while running around doing shopping, bill paying, doctor appointments, polishing workshops for conferences, flying across the country to accept an award -- yadda yadda yadda (more on the award later). While awaiting the launch of my YA fantasy, THE BEAST OF NOOR, I've been working on the second book in the NOOR series. My editor at Atheneum Books recently sent me a LONG editorial letter for THE ANCIENTS and I've been trying to get back to the book.

Part of the waiting time isn't just the hurry and scurry of everyday life, but my own needed process time. I've been writing scores of journal pages trying to figure out how to best attack this revision. Now I have a binder full of notes and I've called my editor, but wait! I still need to think some more!

I know I have to let go of many well-polished chapters to get to the core of the story and shorten the 488 page adventure down to a slimmer, trimmer tale. That's never easy. So I need to redream the dream.

Yesterday I took the plunge and rewrote an entirely new chapter one to THE ANCIENTS. The opening now begins with the dragons. My editor asked for this, and now that it's written, I love it. I took it to my critique group who loved it and tore it apart (thanks ladies) so I'm revising yet again. All will be well.

Every book makes me feel like a beginner again. I've learned to enjoy being a beginner. Beginners get to play. They get to make mistakes. They get to learn.

To all you struggling writers out there. Keep well and keep writing.

2006-05-14T19:24:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day!

It's actually sunny here today. We celebrated Mother's Day by gathering together for a delicious brunch with fruit salad and waffles!
At brunch I was talking about how I need a certain size trunk for the next book store presentation and my daughter-in-law said "Hey, we have one here like that."

Cool! I scurried outside and there it was! A small handmade trunk once used as a theatre prop.

It's a perfect Falconer's trunk for THE BEAST OF NOOR book party. What will I put inside? The Shriker's fang, magical glisten powder, strange herbs, giant skullen snake skin, shells from the shores of Noor, and more . . .

Great unexpected Mother's Day surprise. After brunch it was time to rescue the poor old truck from the car hospital. She has a new battery now so she actually starts! Amazing.

Learning how to Dream

2006-05-13T13:02:00.000-07:00

Open as you have before
Let the traveler through the door
From this opening begin
The only way out is in.

Welcome readers, writers and fellow travelers;
I've come to chat about writing, about stories, and think out loud about the mysterious creative energy we all share.

"Where do you get your ideas?"
That question comes up at every workshop and book signing. And, hey, it's a good one.
You'll likely get a different answer every day.One answer = most writers are unabashedly expert daydreamers. We "wander off" at various times and go into "another world."

Ask anyone who lives with a writer how often the rice is burned and how many people in the family are secretly wearing pink-tinted underwear because their stay-at-home writer was plotting a great novel while doing the wash.

Writing stories is a form of dreaming on paper -- so Dreamwalks seemed like a good blog name.

Dream Come True: After publishing 3 realistic fiction books with Atheneum Books for Young Readers, my first fantasy novel THE BEAST OF NOOR is coming out in July! (See a bit more about all my books on www.janetleecarey.com.) Two more fantasy books will come out after this one. That's a lot of writing and revising work "nose to the grindstone" time, or as I like to think of it, "eyes to the sky" time.

Off to work. Looking forward to reading your comments.