Boundaries for Writers, by Kristi Holl

• Wow, if Kristi Holl's new book, Boundaries for Writers, doesn't address the #1 writing problem I hear about from students, and even experienced writers, I don't know what does.

"My time just gets away on me. Not sure where it goes."
"I'm running VBS again this year, trying to get the garden in, then we're going to the cottage for two weeks..."
"My husband doesn't support me, because there's no money in it."
"My kids get in trouble while I'm trying to write."
"My BFF's life is one drama after another and she calls me every day."
"Promotion is brutal, doesn't suit my personality, and I'm scared to death my book won't sell. My love of writing is down the drain."
"I'm a Christian but not writing for the CBA, so my church friends are asking, 'Why aren't you writing for Jesus?'"

Kristi talks about four kinds of boundaries: physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. Physical boundaries may include such things as a desk of your own or a closed door. Mental boundaries allow you to own your own thoughts. Not that you have a closed mind, but you aren't a mental chameleon, constantly adopting the thoughts of whoever spoke to you last. Emotional boundaries prevent you from being a dumping ground for everybody else's woes. Spiritual boundaries keep you from caving in to others' opinions of how you should serve God, so that you fit their expectations or "look spiritual enough."

Not only are there four kinds of boundaries, but any of them can be in any one of four conditions: healthy, damaged, collapsed, or walled. Whew! No wonder we feel so tied in knots at times. Kristi provides a quiz so that you can assess the state of your boundary issues. (Disclosure: I did pretty well here, but there were a couple of points in the Emotional and Spiritual categories that made me cringe.) She also talks about how to separate and balance the business and creative aspects of writing.  Not shrinking from the tougher stuff, she covers setting boundaries with truly toxic family members, and, for those who have concerns about whether setting boundaries is even scriptural, she includes a chapter with many relevant scriptures and other helps.

If you're struggling with your writing in any way, there's a huge chance that boundaries are an issue, and that there's something in this book that can start you on your way to a solution. :)

The Apothecary, by Maile Meloy

Though I usually focus on MG, I do tout the occasional YA title. I suppose this book straddles the line. Though the cover images may suggest MG, the book felt more YA to me as I read.

 

It's 1952, and fourteen-year-old Janie's parents are Hollywood screen writers accused of being sympathetic to communism. That's why the family moves suddenly to England, where the parents get jobs writing for the BBC, and Janie must, of course, go to a new school. As in many places at this time, when the signal is given, the kids and teachers must stop whatever they're doing and "duck and cover" -- hide under the desks and tables with their faces buried in their arms. The first time this happens, Janie can't help but notice Benjamin Burrows, the boy who will not duck and cover. It's stupid, he scoffs. Hiding under a piece of furniture will not save you from an atomic bomb.

 

Benjamin, the son of the local apothecary (pharmacist), wants to be a spy, even though his father wants him to go into the family business. Benjamin can't see pursuing a life of handing out headache pills and croup remedies. But as he and Janie do their own spying, they quickly find out that the apothecary is more than he appears, real spies are everywhere, amazing scientific discoveries are about to be lauched, and that entire nations and even magic are involved in the effort to keep the bomb out of Russian hands. It was very interesting to read this book almost immediately after I read the Newbery Honor book Bomb. I really feel as if I understand the background of the Cold War much better now, having read both.

 

This book is filled with likable characters, suspense, an intriguing blend of reality and magic, and believable, inventive ways of "getting the parents out of the way." There is a lot here; too much to list, expertly woven into a whole.

 

Recommended for those who like a "big, magical adventure" and a not-overdone historical period. In fact -- why not recommend they read Bomb, too? Each book sheds light on the other, and together, they illuminate an important time in 20th-century history.

A Fun Day at SCBWI-WI NE

Our "Saturday in May" workshop has become an annual event. This year we had TWO workshops on Saturday, May 4. Picture book writer Linda Skeers spoke in the morning about how to incorporate humor into a manuscript. That's a question we all want to know the answer to, as humor can be tricky! I had the privilege of presenting my Idea Explosion Workshop again, in an expanded version, during the afternoon session.

 
We had 23 attendees, a fantastic welcome from the Muehl Public Library in Seymour, WI, a perfect-sized meeting room, a scrumptious snack table, and wonderful planning by our NE WI Area Rep, Miranda Paul.

Yes, I did actually use the Power Point. Just not quite yet. :)

It was a great day to connect with friends new and old, and I'm happy to say that both workshops received rave reviews. A good time was had by all!

Have you attended a conference or workshop lately? Gotten together with other writers? Come away with any tips?

The Quilt Walk, by Sandra Dallas

Emmy Blue Hatchett, age ten, lives with her parents and a close aunt and uncle in Illinois in 1863. Little does she know that everything is about to change when her father and uncle announce that they're all setting out for Golden, Colorado. The men want their families to live in the clean mountain air; even more, they want to build a business block that will include stores, hotels, and restaurants to serve the population that has begun to boom following the gold rush.

 

On the face of it, The Quilt Walk is a good adventure story: friends, enemies, turn-backs, rattlesnakes, and death in a Conestoga wagon train. But as I read I was most keenly aware that the book is a study of male/female relationships, primarily in marriage, despite the fact that we are always in the child Emmy's POV. In many ways Ma is a typical feminine woman of her day: she quilts, as she does all needlework, with only the tiniest, straightest stitches; and if anyone dares question her husband she responds with a firm "Thomas knows best." Still, she voices to Thomas plainly, if calmly, that he did not consult her before making this decision, and that leaving her extended family, her sewing circle, and the graves of their deceased children will be a struggle for her that he does not appreciate. And when there is just not room in the wagon for everything they would like to bring, to the point where Thomas says they can't bring extra clothes, Ma and Emmy solve the problem by wearing every dress they own, and not taking them off until Thomas, later in the journey, is the one to back down. Aunt Catherine, by contrast, so hates the idea of going to Colorado that she almost refuses to leave home, but after a few days on the trail she accepts it, seems to purposely change her attitude, and becomes a helpful and even positive person, free of resentment. That there's a line not to be crossed in submission to a husband, and that the husband, for his part, is required to be a good man, is portrayed by another couple in the train, a new young bride whom the adult women, and eventually Emmy, realize is being physically abused, and her lazy, boorish husband, who hasn't the respect of a single man in the party. Yet another picture of what marriage meant for a woman in those days comes through a happy, vivacious lady and the wonderful husband who adores her -- until a single gunshot makes her the widowed mother of orphaned children, alone with a few oxen and a covered wagon.

 

Where Emmy's own feminity seems different from the typical is in her hatred of needlework. But walking alongside a covered wagon day after day can be incredibly boring, and tough going, and even Emmy is eventually encouraged to turn to the gift her grandmother gave her when they left: quilt squares from which to stitch her own quilt -- even while walking, as so many of the women did. And though I'm going to refrain from spoilers here, I will say that the progress of the various women's lives continues, showing the range of likely experiences for that day -- with a few surprises, and, in every case, hope.  

 

This novel is based on a true story, and one of the quilts that the family brought to Colorado is now in the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum in Golden.

 

Great for lovers of historical fiction and strong girl stories.

Crit Group Celebrations, and a Talk by Editor Wendy McClure

Our critique group met the other day, at Mary's house, and Mary had a birthday. So we had to celebrate. Left to right, we are Susan, Marcia, Mary, and Connie.

Then, Susan had a book out! Route 2, Box 12 is the third collection of her weekly "life on Sunnybook Farm" columns that have appeared in several regional newspapers since the early 1980s. So we had to celebrate again. This time, we are Mary, Marcia, Susan, and Connie.

And yes, we did actually do some critiquing after all this. :)

This past Saturday, April 20, Wendy McClure, Senior Editor at Albert Whitman, spoke at the SCBWI-WI Spring Luncheon. She gave an entertaining program on her favorite MG childhood series, the Little House books. The most interesting part of the program for me was the excerpts from Laura Ingalls Wilder's early drafts; the long, single-spaced editorial letters sent to her by her own daughter, Rose Wilder Lane; and rejection/acceptance letters, the former from RWL's own literary agent and the latter from Knopf; which we got to see onscreen through Power Point.

I was really struck by this: Laura's early attempts were (1) all telling, and (2) from a distant observer's POV. Rose told her she had to be inside Laura, and Rose was right on. While listening, I thought about the need to allow first drafts to be poor if that's the only way they will come out, about how we sometimes can't put the emotional content into our stories until we can first bring ourselves to record them at all, about how steep and difficult the climb to publishable-prose level is for all of us, and how the newbiest of writers can go on to produce something special, even timeless.

And I thought of the kinks, rocks, and boulders in the road to publication even after you succeed. Because it wasn't Knopf who published Little House in the Big Woods, even though they accepted it. The year was 1931, and Knopf closed their children's book imprint because of the Depression. The book had to go back on the market and sell again, this time to Harper, who did publish it.

All of the biggest successes we can think of were achieved by people who, when they first set out, couldn't be sure they'd accomplish a thing. And this is why I believe, on every level, that life is a faith walk.

Of Fiction Writers and English Majors

I was thinking recently about something John Gardner says in his book On Becoming a Novelist. He says that taking an English major in college isn't necessarily the best route for someone who wants to be a writer. He suggests instead that you major in another field in which you're greatly interested, so you have something to write about; or that you major in philosophy so you know what questions are important; or psychology so that you understand people; and that whatever your major, you consider aiming toward an occupation you like but that won't eat up all your time (or that can be part-time) so you can write. The main problem when writers major in literature, Gardner says, is that literature scholars and writers read differently. Lit scholars are constantly considering theme and symbolism, and say that writers are "showing" us things, or "demonstrating," "depicting," or "exemplifying" things. Writers consider the story, and read to see how storytelling effects are achieved. Lit scholars take literature apart. Writers put it together.

Gardner's book gave voice to a lot of feelings I had when I was a teen, secretly wanted to be a writer, and ultimately decided not to be an English major. Already, English classes had about destroyed reading for me. I could no longer choose reading matter that wasn't sufficiently highbrow, couldn't decline to read something that bored me silly, couldn't enjoy a story without dreading the questions about symbolism, theme, and what the author was "saying" that would be asked in class the next day. My jr. high English teacher, who mainly taught HS English, once assigned our class to write a "novelette." I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. In presenting this assignment, by way of encouraging appropriate length, he said, "Maybe you'll spend an entire page describing one little flower petal." Gak, I thought. No, that is not what you do. Another time, he asked the class whether we thought a writer invests great thought into placing every single symbol in the story just so. It was very hard for me to buck a teacher, but I said, paraphrased, "No, they don't. They write a story and some of it just happens." He didn't reply, just smiled the small amused smile he usually wore when a student stepped in it. But this was one of those rare occasions when I didn't care if I gave the right answer in the eyes of the teacher. I knew I had this one nailed. And even though I continued to ace his English classes and all the ones through high school, I knew I couldn't wait to leave formal lit study behind.

So what makes me think of all this now? I think it's the new emphasis I see on outlining and structure today, compared to the pantsing that most writers seemed to be doing when I started out. I remember reading an article in The Writer in which the author spoke of "how gropingly" her novels were put together. Most everyone else said the same. But now we are all about first and second plot points, midpoints, beating it out, storyboarding, six core competencies, Story A and Story B, and in some cases even declaring that, for example, the theme shall be stated on p. 5 (or 4.5% of the way in). Don't get me wrong: I find many of these ideas fascinating and helpful, and I've become more of a planner as a result. I suspect the emphasis has swung in this direction because we are looking for the key to standing out in this competitive market. But it also makes me wonder if the writer is thinking a little more like the lit student these days.

Chained, by Lynne Kelly

2012 must have been the year of the MG animal story. Though some of the books were fantasy, some realistic, and some a mix of both, I found every one I picked up to be engrossing. Chained is no different, especially if you have a soft spot for elephants. While I must say that cats are my animal of choice, this book sold me on its cover alone.

Hastin is a boy who lives in a desert region in India with his mother and younger sister. Chanda, the girl, has been bitten by fever mosquitoes, and when her illness becomes desperate they take her to the hospital even though they cannot afford it. They learn her treatment will cost 4000 rupees, money they do not have, so Amma (mother) goes to work as a housekeeper in appalling conditions to earn the sum. But wait! There suddenly appears a man named Timir, who pays the debt for them. There's a catch, of course. Timir once owned a prosperous circus, and he dreams of returning to his glory days. He needs an elephant keeper, and asserts that Hastin can do the job. Besides, this is going to be a grand adventure, and when Hastin has worked for Timir for a year to pay the man back, he may return home. The truth, as we might guess, is that Timir has no intention of ever letting Hastin go. But the more immediate problem is that Timir has no elephant. He expects Hastin to trap one in the jungle.

This, he does, with the help of men who dig a pit large enough for a young elephant to fall into and not get out of. Hastin is drawn to the elephants from the beginning, even giving them names as he spies on a herd going to the river for water. When one of his favorites, Nandita, falls into the trap, he's so conflicted that he tries to set her free before the circus men find out. But, though Hastin and Nandita come to love each other in Timir's ragtag circus, both are chained: Nandita literally, and Hastin figuratively, to the debt, and even more so, to what Timir intends as permanent slavery. It will be a long time before either of them is free again.

All these characters, save Timir, are immediately lovable. There are two other important characters also. Sharad, the elephant trainer, has a "good past," but it's buried under a ton of pain and he has become a rigid, mean trainer as a result. And Ne Min, the circus cook, is a wise, grandfatherly type who obviously loves elephants but is hiding some secret shame.

This is a wonderful debut novel. Characters, prose, structure, action, research -- all are excellent.  Highly recommended.