As April Halprin Wayland reminded us, sometimes mistakes are masterpieces waiting to happen, that there is a “magical transformation from blunder to wonder.”
We continue to celebrate The Beautiful Oops Day!
The transition from blunder to wonder can be challenging. As psychologist Kristi DeName suggested, whenever we experience transitions, we are letting go of Some Thing. These transitions are defined by loss. Some losses are profound: a marriage, a home, a friend, a pet, a job. Some are less profound, as we let go of habits or objects, or an idea. But all change is scary because all loss is scary. It is unsettling, overwhelming, disappointing, and confusing.
Adapting to change forces us to gain perspective. We are forced to re-examine our lives and our choices… and our options.
Blunders Ahoy!
As you know, I’ve long studied American folklore and history. I graduated from Vermont with a four-book contract for picture books that highlighted my love of American folklore and history. But, as much as I knew about writing and story, I knew nothing of the business of children’s publishing. That was my blunder, followed quickly by another: I signed on with the first agent who would help me with the multi-contracts. While this agent helped seal the deal with the contracts, issues arose. Needless to say, that relationship didn’t work out. I was referred to another agent, and more problems arose. It turned out that the contracts contained a couple of damaging clauses. According to this second agent, I couldn’t submit work elsewhere, and she couldn’t renegotiate the clauses. In other words, my career was not only stalled, it was completely derailed.
My first two picture books came out in 2009, eight years after signing the contract. The third book came out in 2012, eleven years after signing the contract. The fourth contract, however, was cancelled. Determined, I went to Author’s Guild, learned what I had to in order to understand these clauses, and then I renegotiated the particular clauses myself.
But there was yet another, stronger riptide I had to steer through. Beginning in 2001, the children’s market was changing dramatically. The folklore picture book market was bottoming out. The very genre that I had studied, loved, and sought as my career was no longer an option. Talk about a bumpy ride! My friend Eric Kimmel said I should write middle grade books.
Middle grade novels? I liked reading middle grade novels, but I had never considered writing them. How was I going to combine all that I had learned and loved in folklore and history with this new format? Was it even possible in a market that no longer viewed folklore as relevant? Historical fiction was having an equally hard time in the market.
As my wonderful new agent, Karen Grencik, said “As long as you are writing what’s in your heart and doing the best you can…” Finally, twelve years after I graduated from Vermont College, Karen sold my first middle-grade novel
Big River’s Daughter to Holiday House. Three months after that, she sold my second middle grade novel,
Girls of Gettysburg, also to Holiday House. All things happen for a reason at the time they are supposed to happen. As River and Tiger plunged into the wilds of the frontier, taking on the Pirates Laffite and the extraordinary landscape of the mighty Mississippi River in the rough-and-tumble Big River’s Daughter, there is that truth of River’s journey:
if one perseveres, life can be full of possible imaginations. “This here story is all true, as near as I can recollect. It ain’t a prettified story. Life as a river rat is stomping hard, and don’t I know it. It’s life wild and wooly, a real rough and tumble. But like Da said, life on the big river is full of possible imaginations. And we river rats, we aim to see it through in our own way. That’s the honest truth of it.” River Fillian, Big River’s Daughter
Bobbi Miller
Don’t forget about our giveaway, featuring an autographed copy of Sherry Shahan’s YA novel, Skin and Bones!
If you live long enough, life becomes more about letting go than of gathering.
It is inevitable, this letting go.Sometimes we have to let go of our favorite things: our favorite pair of shorts worn to the fray. Our favorite book with its tattered pages. Even our car, with its 200,000 miles of memories.
Sometimes we let go of clutter, and wonder why it took us so long to throw them out. You know what I speak of: The box full of old research gathered for stories that probably won’t ever be written. Those uncomfortable shoes with pointy toes and impossibly high heels that you never, ever wore, but dang they look sparklie. Those skinny jeans that felt more like a bone corset then denim. Those old love letters, although the guy went on to marry someone else. Those laser disks (what?). Those eight-tracks (what?). That rotary phone (what?). Those old ideas that no longer serve a purpose in our lives.
Sometimes the letting go is more profound, as we say good-bye to our special friends, the four-legged as well as the two-legged sort. And those with wings. And we say goodbye to family. To colleagues and heroes and inspirations.
Of course, the key phrase in all of this,
If You Live. And perhaps, along the way of living our lives, we gather some understanding of it all. We become, hopefully, wise. It’s an elusive concept to grasp. Through the ages, religious leaders, philosophers, even politicians have debated on what is wisdom.
According to Dr. Vivian Clayton, wisdom consists of three elements: cognition, reflection, compassion. Wisdom happens when we take the time to gain insights and perspectives from one’s cognitive knowledge , what she calls the reflective dimension. Then we can use those insights to understand and help others, what she calls the compassionate dimension.
Of course, if it were that easy, with just three ingredients, there wouldn’t be all this debating about what it means. That’s why I like hanging out with poets. They know about such things.
Marion Dane Bauer inspired me in her recent post, “Because receiving is another way of giving. The giver grows in the giving. And that’s a truth we all need to hold close at any time of life!”
And her wisdom resonated with me. I am not the poet like my fellow Teaching Authors. Did you see Carmela’s
Thanks-Giving Thanku?
I am just a storyteller. Begging your indulgence, I was reminded of an old English folktale (Source: Lindsay, Maud. The Storyteller. Lothrop, Lee & Shepard; 1915). It went something like this:
There once was an old woman who lived in the woods. One day, she decided to bake apple dumplings. These dumplings were her favorite. She had everything she needed to bake the dumplings, except for the apples. She had plenty of plums, however. She filled a basket with these plums, covering them in her finest white linen. Then she dressed in her finest clothes and set out to trade these plums for some apples.
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By and by, she came across a young woman. The old woman asked the younger if she had apples to trade for her plums.
“No,” said the young woman, as she looked with such longing at the plums. “I have plenty of chickens, and not much else.”
The old woman traded her basket of plums for a bag of feathers. The old woman thought it was a good trade. The bag of feathers was much lighter to carry.
By and by, the old woman came to a garden, one of the loveliest gardens she had ever seen. She stopped a moment to smell the roses when she heard a couple arguing. The couple saw her, too.
“Tell us, old woman," said the woman. "Do you agree that cotton is best for making a cushion on our bed?”
“No,” said the old woman.
“See, the old woman agrees with me,” said the man. “Straw is best for our bed!”
“Never straw!” said the old woman, as she held up her bag of feathers. “But a bed made of feathers is fit for a king!”
The old woman traded the bag of feathers for a bouquet of roses. She thought it was a good trade.
By and by, the old woman met a young prince who looked as sad as a rainy day.
“I go to meet my lady love,” said the young prince. “But I have no gift to show her how I truly value her.”
“Give you lady love these roses,” said the old woman. “And she will know.”
She traded the bouquet of roses for a gold farthing. What a good trade! At last she had enough money to buy her apples!
You may think the story might end here, for it seems like a happy ending. But it does not.
By and by, the old woman came to a young mother and her child, who stood with a big and furry dog. They were all frail from hunger.
How can I eat apply dumplings when my neighbors cannot eat at all? thought the old woman. And she said to the young mother,” I have need for a companion, and would ask for your help. May I trade this gold coin for your handsome dog?”
The young mother agreed. The old woman worried now, for how could she take care of a big and furry dog? Where would he sleep? What would he eat? Lost in her thoughts, she didn’t notice where she was walking.
“That’s one fine dog,” someone said. She looked up to see an old man rocking on his porch. His house sat in the shade of an old apple tree.
“That’s a fine apple tree,” she said.
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“Apple trees are poor company to an old man who cannot bake,” he said. “But I’d trade all the apples you want for that fine fellow!”
The old woman traded the big and furry dog for a barrel of apples. She baked apple dumplings for her and her new friend. And that night, she enjoyed one of the finest apple dumplings she had ever baked.
Not The End.My list of grateful things:
My daughter, who stands above any list.For the wisdom of my friends. For working in a field where my heroes have become my friends. Including Eric and Marion, Monica and Emma, and Karen, and far too many that I do not have space enough to list. Thank you.
For the compassion, and love of my kindred spirits, like Cynthia, Carmela and The Teaching Authors, Rebecca and the Collective, Brian and the Snuggies; for soul sisters Jo and guiding lights Bonny and Bette. And many more. Thank you.
For apple dumplings.
If you like this tale, you might be interested in my book, One Fine Trade, illustrated by Will Hillenbrand (Holiday House, 2009).
You also might be interesting in this: Phyllis Korkki. “
The Science of Older and Wiser,” New York Times , March 2014.
Don’t forget about the
CWIM giveaway!
Bobbi Miller
Woo-hoo!!!
Spring is here!
And so is
The March Madness Writing Contest!
The Contest: Write a children's story, in poetry or prose, maximum 400 words, that is a fractured fairy tale. Feel free to add a theme of spring, or mix in one of the spring holidays if you like - St. Patrick's Day, April Fools Day, Easter or Passover, Arbor Day, Earth Day... Have fun with it! The madder* the better! :)
*as in wild and wacky, not angry :)
You do not have to include spring - that is optional.
The story can be a picture book or a short story - whatever you like.
If it's a picture book, you may NOT include art notes, because we get into a weird area of whether that's fair in terms of word count and added description etc. So if you write a picture book that's wonderful, but make sure art notes aren't necessary to understand it.
"Fairy Tale" apparently turned out to be a very debatable term, so my fellow judges and I will do our best to handle whatever you've come up with.
Title not included in word count.
Post: Your entry should be posted on your blog between right now this very second and Monday March 24 at 11:59 PM EST, and your post-specific link should be added to the link list below which will remain up through Wednesday March 26 so we can all take our time reading and enjoying everyone's stories! (No PPBF on Friday March 21, no new post on Monday March 24, no WYRI on March 26). If you don't have a blog but would like to enter, please copy and paste your entry into the comments below. (If anyone has trouble commenting, which unfortunately happens, please email me and I'll post your entry for you!)
The Judge: My lovely assistant and I will narrow down the entrants to 6 finalists (or possibly a couple more depending on the number of entries :)) which will be posted here on Thursday March 27 for you to vote on for a winner. The vote will be closed at 5PM EST on Sunday March 30 and the winner will be announced on Monday March 31. (No PPBF on Friday March 28.)
The Prizes!: - 1st Prize is a read and critique by
Karen Grencik of
Red Fox Literary!!! (Unless for some reason you don't want a read and critique by an agent, in which case you may swap for any of the other prizes)
- 2nd Prize is a picture book manuscript critique (for rhyming mss only) by
Lori Degman, author of 1 ZANY ZOO and the forthcoming COCK-A-DOODLE-OOPS!
OR a picture book manuscript critique (for non-rhyming mss only) by
Cori Doerrfeld, author/illustrator of LITTLE BUNNY FOO FOO and PENNY LOVES PINK as well as illustrator of many others.
- 3rd Prize is personalized signed copies of THE THREE NINJA PIGS and GOLDI ROCKS & THE THREE BEARS by
Corey Rosen Schwartz PLUS a $25 Amazon Gift Card
- 4th and 5th Prizes are your choice of any two of the following picture books PLUS a $20 Amazon Gift Card:
- THE THREE LITTLE WOLVES AND THE BIG BAD PIG by Eugene Trivizas
- CINDY ELLEN: A WILD WESTERN CINDERELLA by Susan Lowell
- LITTLE RED WRITING by Joan Holub
- THE THREE LITTLE PIGS AND THE SOMEWHAT BAD WOLF by Mark Teague
- THE PRINCESS AND THE PEAS by Caryl Hart
- THE WOLF'S STORY: WHAT REALLY HAPPENED TO LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD by Toby Forward
- GOLDILOCKS AND THE THREE DINOSAURS by Mo Willems
- 6th Prize (which just skated in under the wire - thank you Sudipta!) is a personalized signed copy of hot-off-the-presses SNORING BEAUTY by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen
And don't forget, all you illustrators, that this will be followed by a related
Illustrator Contest in April!!! (to be announced and elaborated on as soon as the writing part of the contest is over! :))
And now, so that everyone will feel happy and confident about posting their stories, I will share my sample, a Wild West twist on The Gingerbread Boy at exactly 400 words (phew!):
The Cornpone Cowboy
Once upon a time (because that is the way all good fairy tales begin), Farmer Bubba and his lovely bride ThunderLily had the most beautiful ranch in the Wild West.
The grass was emerald green.
The rivers were pure as morning dew.
The cattle were sleek and fat and gave such rich, creamy milk that all the ice cream makers in the world fought over who would get it.
But even with all this beauty and excellent ice cream, Bubba and ThunderLily were sad. For though they were surrounded every spring by velvet-eyed calves and stilt-legged foals, fluffy chicks, pink piglets, and wooly lambs, they never had a child of their own.
Luckily, ThunderLily was not one to sit around moping. "If I can't have a child, I'll make one," she told her darling Bubba.
She got cornmeal and buttermilk, eggs, salt, and bacon drippings, and quick as you like she whipped up a sturdy little Cornpone Cowboy.
"We'll call him Charlemagne," she said dreamily as she plucked the skillet from the barbeque pit.
"You'll have to catch me first!" snorted the Cornpone Cowboy, and off he rode as fast as his cowpony could carry him.
He passed the pigpen and the piglets grunted, “Oh, Charlemagne! Come be our friend!”
“Don’t call me that!” said the Cornpone Cowboy, and he galloped on his way.
He passed the sheepfold and the lambs baahed, “Oh, Charlemagne! Come be our friend!”
“Don’t call me that!” said the Cornpone Cowboy, and he galloped on his way.
He passed the cow barn and the calves mooed, “Oh, Charlemagne! Come be our friend!”
“Why does everyone insist on calling me that?” said the Cornpone Cowboy, and he galloped on his way.
And so it was at the hen house…
. . . the horse pasture…
. . . and the goat shed.
Along about sundown a voice called, “Hey, Cowboy! Won’t you come set a spell by the campfire?”
“Don’t mind if I do,” said the Cornpone Cowboy, tuckered out from galloping. He hopped down from his pony, spurs a-janglin’, and came face to face with…
. . . COYOTE!
Quick as a wink he twirled his lariat. . .
. . . hog-tied Coyote . . .
. . . and lit out for home!
When Bubba and ThunderLily heard his story, ThunderLily said, “That’s our boy! Lightning fast!”
Which is how he came to be called LightningCharlie instead of Charlemagne (because really, who could live with that?) and they all lived happily ever after!
The End
Wasn't that nice of me? Now you can all feel brave and smug, secure in the knowledge that your story is better than that!!! :)
Anyone besides me feeling an urge to sing?
"
Like a Cornpone Cowboy riding out on a horse in a star-spangled rodeo Cornpone Cowboy..."
No? Darn! I was hoping the exceptional quality of my singing would distract you from that story even though "cornpone" doesn't have quite the same ring to it as "rhinestone" :)
I can't wait to read what you have all come up with! Let the fun begin! :)
And remember to check back here for entries added in the comments. I'll list them as they come in :)
Writing is a solitary profession. Sitting on our bed, laptop balanced on a pillow, wearing mismatched jammies all day (well, that’s how I work, anyway), we don’t gab at an office water cooler or take swanky lunches with colleagues. We’re alone with our characters—who can drive us nuts! We’re alone with our ideas, our words, and a vat of java.
Most writers I know are hard on themselves. We are our worst critics–we’re very hard on ourselves. We can spend all day writing and feel as though we’ve accomplished nothing. It’s nice to hear someone say what we’ve written has potential, has vision, has made someone spit all over their keyboard in laughter (the highest compliment, I think).
So today I bring you the story of three kidlit friends who came together with one goal in mind—to take an author’s career to the next step. To provide an encouraging, supportive environment in which she can thrive. Folks, you gotta have friends. Luckily, the kidlit community includes some of the best people around.
Please welcome author Brenda Reeves Sturgis, consulting editor Emma Dryden, and agent Karen Grencik!
TL: Brenda, your debut picture book TEN TURKEYS IN THE ROAD was released by Marshall Cavendish last year and quickly earned both critical and commercial success. Most people think you publish one book and you’ve got it made. But you felt your career needed a boost. How did you come to this conclusion?
BRS: Thank you for this thoughtful blog post, and for interviewing the three of us.
I sold 10 TURKEYS IN THE ROAD in 2008 and at that time I was represented by another agent, but in 2010 we parted ways and I was left trying to navigate the children’s lit world, alone.
I queried for many months and got personal, kind rejections. After a long period of going it alone, I knew that I needed to find out what was holding me back from finding my perfect-for-me agent. I had heard of Emma Dryden for years, and had great respect for her. She was and is knowledgeable in all aspects of publishing. I was confident that by hiring Emma she would know what needed tweaking, and what I needed to do to progress in my quest. I contacted Emma and she agreed to consult, we set up a phone call, and I sent her my manuscripts.
TL: Emma, what was your reaction when you read Brenda’s work? What did you propose as the next step in her career?
ED: When Brenda first contacted me, she explained her situation—she was a new writer with one book under contract; she’d been with an agent and was currently seeking a new agent; she was “trying to do everything right,” but it didn’t seem to be paying off and she was starting to question how she could keep her dream of being a children’s book author alive. There’s nothing that concerns and upsets me more than to hear an author or artist is questioning their dream. Coming up with a strategy to find an agent would be the easy part; helping a distressed author regain their confidence and adjust their outlook was
Inspiring and heartening to read this. Thanks, all of you, for sharing this with us.
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Informative and inspiring! Thanks for sharing this!
This is such an inspiring blog post! Like Brenda, I too have one picture book under my belt and feel I need the right agent to represent me and my work. Also, like Brenda, I need someone to guide my career in the right direction. And so, I was disappointed upon studying Red Fox Literary’s website to learn they only take submissions from conferences and references. Everything Karen said in this interview and her blog post resonated with me.
Oh! I loved this! I love that Brenda found Emma who helped her find Brenda, who seems to be the perfect “fit.” This is a great encouragement to those of us who are still looking! It was really nice hearing from all three parts of the equation.
Thanks so much everyone for this wonderfully inspiring post. Turkeys in the Road is a fun book!
I love this story, and have read it several times, initially at Emma’s recommendation as an example of exceptionally good rhyming. I find this post so heartening that at the heart of so much kidlit is strong collaborative, supportive relationships. I too enjoyed hearing the three different perspectives. How we need people who will encourage and advocate for us as authors and illustrators.
Thanks for a great interview, Tara.
Nice interview!
Such a great post – so inspiring!
Thank you for such an inspiring and informative post. Perseverance is powerful. I didn’t know you could “hire” editors, though.
Thank you all for this inspiring interview!