Oh yeah. I wrote a column this week.

I almost forgot to post this.  It's about how I used to love spring.  And then how I hated spring.  And now how I love it again.

BLOG TOUR! BLOG TOUR! BLOG TOUR!

There are a few things I look forward to every summer--baseball games, a beach vacation, and WIFYR.  You've heard me talk about WIFYR, right?  It's only the best conference IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD for people who want to write for young readers.  And this year my assistant is the fabulous Bruce Luck who comments here and on his own blog.  Read what he has to say about our plans this summer.

Take it away, Bruce!

The writing gods must be smiling on me. Last year I sat in Ann’s WIFYR workshop and this summer I get to be her assistant again. This will be my seventh WIFYR and every conference I’ve attended has been refreshing,  inspiring, and informative.

Ann’s plan for this workshop is to have participants share and critique 20 pages of a manuscript. She will guide her instruction based on what comes out of this. Critique is the heart of the WIFYR morning sessions. In these intense sessions, each writer gets specific input, particular to the project they are working on. In addition to Ann’s recommendations, there are other concerned novelists asking for clarification, making suggestions, and offering opinions. As writers, we develop a tunnel-visioned view of our story. Outside eyes, neutral and unbiased, can see things we, who are so connected to the tale, cannot. Even when the work of others is being critiqued, your knowledge of the craft grows. Participating in critiquing deepens your own understanding of the writing process. Morning workshops at WIFYR truly are amazing.

From the critiques, Ann will custom her instruction. She did this well last summer, covering character, plot, and setting. The thing that has since resonated with me is her thoughts on grounding. As writers, we have a clear vision of our characters and the world they inhabit. Our readers do not and the key to effective writing is in sharing that view with readers. Establishing your setting is the first ingredient to grounding the reader. There must be no mistake about when and where the story is set. With each scene change, we must insure the reader is with us before our people play out the action. The same grounding goes for the characters. Readers can never have the intimacy you have for the characters, but they do need a sense of each person, their inner psychy and rationale for the way they behave.

Though she has written PB to YA, this year Ann will focus on the YA genre. She will also address issues that confront all writers, even the most experienced of authors. Follow this link for a full description of her class.

As always, the agents and editors visit each workshop. They share their contact info and query expectations. Most importantly, they value your participation and commitment to writing. They see you as serious and worthy of consideration. The effort elevates you above the thousands adding to their slush pile.

  Do yourself a favor. Spend a week at WIFYR and be amazed. Ann creates a safe and comfortable environment in which you share, develop, and improve your story. Join ten or twelve other like-minded writers as we cheer each other on and strive to make every story the best it can be. It’s truly, a magical experience.

The writing gods will smile on you.

Drawing yourself

Look!  I was a cartoonist in my previous life as an eleven year-old!

I love that the mother is wearing a dress and an apron (also heels!) just like Beaver Cleaver's mom.  Also check out her badass perm.

Reading yourself

Okay.  Old diaries and old scrapbooks--especially the ones you kept in junior high school--are just really embarrassing.  I'M CRINGING as I go through these boxes that TRQ unloaded here.  There is absolutely nothing scarier in this life than a fourteen year-old female with a bad case of hypergraphia.

But yeah.  There are definitely laughs to be had.  I found a picture of an old cat of mine with this caption.

"This was Baby.  She was one of my favorite cats ever.  Unfortunately she got hit by a car."

Nobody wrote a better Cat Obit than I did back in the day.

Things my brothers said when we were young

TRQ found a couple of boxes full of my old papers, which she delivered to my house last week.  Most of what I found inside of them is worthless.  Who needs my class notes for Anthropology 101?

But.

I did find an old "autograph" book I kept in the fifth and sixth grades.  Autograph books were full of blank pages for friends to write things on--sort of like yearbooks but without the photos.  Anyway, I apparently let my brothers write  in it.  Here's what they said:

Dear Ann

I love you.  You are my funist sister.  I think you are a good skier.  

Love John

What I love about this is that I am John's ONLY sister.  So the competition for "funist" wasn't fierce.  But the sentiment is nice anyway.  The next bit is from my brother Jimmy.

Dear Ann,

I love you.  You are a pretty girl.  You are the best junior high writer.  I hope you grow up to be a model.  You're too pretty to be a dancer.  Here's a joke.  Do you want to hear a dirty joke?  The pig fell in the mud.  Do you want to hear a clean joke?  The pig took a bath.  Here's another joke.  "Say Captain."  "Captain."  "Crunch."  Here's another one:  Why did the guy salute the fridge?  Because it was General Electric.  Your loving brother Jimmy.

There are SO many things I love about this, including the fact that it's in my handwriting, so either I was taking dictation OR making all of it up.  I also like the way Jimmy had standup material before the age of 6.

To this day he's still my favorite comic.

Column

Apparently some of my boys were texting each other this morning about how Mom has turned into the kind of "journalist" who puts words in the mouths of politicians she doesn't like and then lets it rip, to which I can only say this--after all these years, I'm glad those boys are finally reading my column.

(Love you, Boys.  Even though I know you still don't read my blog.)

Everybody should have a Denna in their life

Years ago when Ken Cannon and I moved into this neighborhood, I was befriended by a woman closer to my mother's age than to mine.  Denna Hale.  But we took to each other immediately because we like a lot of the same things.  Dogs.  Holidays.  Tea parties.  Miniatures.  Antique dolls.  Gardens.  Picture books.  

A few weeks ago I received an invitation in the mail to an "Irish tea party" to be held at Denna's house. In her kitchen she had two tables with tea cups--but instead of drinking tea, we used those cups to create miniature fairy gardens.    

This is the essence of Denna.  Making magic for the rest of us.

Is that a leprechaun in my tea cup?

To be sure!  And he's ready for his close-up, Mr. DeMille.