Toni Morrison is one of my heroes for many reasons; she's a gifted, brilliant, powerful author, she lived in Syracuse NY for a while, and now, she's helping our country remember. (Here's a non-NY Times link for those of you who aren't registered with them.)

That bench is now on my Must-Visit list.

I am deep, deep in my research, trying to figure out how to wind the strands of my character's story around historical events. I'm swimming in a sea of correspondence with historians and preparing to meet a couple of them.

One of the more interesting aspects of writing historical fiction is meeting those historians who have made one tiny facet of your story their entire life's work. It's sort of like challenging Kobe Bryant to a game of one-on-one, knowing that he's not going to cut you any slack, but feeling like you've got your game on and you have a chance.

I spent a good hunk of yesterday marshaling my arguments for a historian who doesn't believe that oxen were used to pull the artillery wagons towards a fort under siege. I'm pretty sure I'm right; he's wavering, but he doesn't seem to have any evidence to back up his concerns. If any of you, by chance, have anything to contribute to this conversation, please get in touch with me.

In honor of today's WFMAD session, I present to you.....





... my desk.


WFMAD 28

Today's goal: Write 15 minutes and maybe a little more, because it's Monday.

Today's mindset: organized

Today's prompt: Today is all about the space in which you write. I have written in many, many places (my former writing spaces are an essay waiting to be written) and now I have my own slice of heaven. I work on the third floor of our house, in a loft space tucked under the eaves. I have a giant teacher's desk from the 1920s that I trash-picked from my parents' trailer park. I do not have enough bookshelves, but BH is going to change that when I go away on book tour. This is my creative kingdom.

If you are taking your writing seriously enough to try and do it every day, then it's time to examine your writing space. What else besides writing happens there? Does it say "Dedicated Writer at Work" or "Sure, Go Ahead, Interrupt Me, I Don't Really Want to Finish This Novel"?

The Guardian has a regular feature on writers' rooms. I hope they do more.

If you can't think of anything else to write about, today I'd like you to sketch out or write about the positive, affirming changes you are going to make to your writing space. Do you need to tidy it up? Get rid of visual clutter? Pay the stack of bills? Add flowers or a candle? Is there music in your space?

Extra-super bonus points will be awarded to those folks who actually act on their palns for their writing nook.

Scribblescribble....

The 18th century beckons so I'll keep this short today.

Bookavore has a wonderful interview with Cory Doctorow.


I know that Gossip Girls and their ilk upset a lot of people, but how is it that they can't see all of the literary books in the bookstore? What do you think about this rant?

Today's goal: Write for 15 minutes.

Today's mindset: terrified

Today's prompt: What smell represents fear to you? Why? Write about a memory with that smell, or give a fear/smell relationship to your character and write a scene in which it comes up.

Scribblescribble...

Yesterday was a loooooooong day that stretched into the night, and I still didn't get everything done that I had hoped. So my post about The Very Nearly Perfect Thing will be a little delayed. I think I'll make a video to explain it and hope to put it up late today or tomorrow.

First, sad news: Tasha Tudor has died. I have long admired her work and really appreciate how she chose to live her extraordinary life. The linked article refers to her need to make money from her art to support her children after a divorce. She said "the wolf at the door is very good for people" because she felt she would not have developed her talents without the need to pay bills. That is a very healthy perspective.

Thank you very much to everyone who turned out for last night's Readergirlz chat! Mitali Perkins will be posting excerpts on her blog very soon. I'll link to it as soon as it's up.

We had a little rain yesterday and were given a beautiful gift at the end.

Breathtaking.

Especially because the rainbow ended (or began?) in our garden. (Photo credit: BH aka Scot Larrabee)

Good Solstice, everyone.

No sooner had we unpacked from Lake Placid than OfficeMouse and I packed again. Yesterday we traveled to Amherst, MA, home of Theo Black, aka my WebGod, and his talented and fun wife Holly Black. (Yeah, her.) Holly is running a Spiderwick contest on her blog that involves free DVDs and lolcats, so be sure to check it out.

We are here so that the OfficeMouse can learn at the feet of the master (Yeah, Theo) the arcane magic involved with updated my website with things like book tour dates. I have never had an assistant before and I am astounded at what a difference she has made in my life in just a couple of weeks. I've been pretty good at staying on top of my writing responsibilities (though not as good as I'd like), but in order to do so, I let everything else go to hell.

Office assistants clear up the hell part.

Yesterday she had me working on fan mail in the car while she drove.

We're leaving soon on another adventure, then the journey home, but there are two more photos from the race I want to show you.

Underneath the brims of those caps are John Connolly (the great English teacher I told you about yesterday) and me.

BH and I stretching our tender calves at a gas station on the way home from the race. We're not hurting as much as I thought we would, but we're definitely moving slower.

Having your new book - the book you've worked on for years, dreamed about, fussed about, cried over, danced with, bored your relatives to tears with ("aren't you done with that thing yet?") - having that book arrive is the closest thing possible to the moment when you give birth to a child.

Without the mess and a room full of strangers wearing latex gloves and face masks.

Without further ado, meet INDEPENDENT DAMES: What You Never Knew About the Women and Girls of the American Revolution.

::wipes tears from eyes::


DAMES is a 40-page non-fiction historical picture book that highlights the revolutionary activity of 80 women and girls you've probably never heard of.

( When you spend more than a decade on a project, you want to show it off. )

This medicine the doc gave me is amazing. I am already feeling much better.

Sad, though, about the death of Arthur C. Clarke, whose books, along with Heinlein's, helped me survive high school. Clarke lived to be 90 years old. I can't begrudge him getting tired after a while.

I am putting the finishing touches on some stuff for the long overdue website overhaul. I need your help.

One page is just my Favorites: food, season, city, etc. What do you want to know?

Also, I am finally doing the FAQ. What Frequently Asked Questions do you want answered? What Infrequently Asked Questions?

Teachers - I think you should give extra points to any of your students who pose good questions here!

The rocking awesomest Jon Scieszka (Stinky Cheese Man, Time Warp Trio, etc.) has been named as America's first National Ambassador for Young People's Literature!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No, the President did not make this appointment. The very smart people at the Library of Congress did.

Right now copy editors across the country are ripping through their files triple-checking the spelling of Jon's last name. "Four consonants at the end? In a row? Are you sure?" They are all wishing for a vowel movement that is not going to happen. For the record, it is pronounced "Sheh-ska". And "J-on".

(Washington Post coverage, and the New York Times has a very nice picture and article. Publisher's Weekly weighs in. I'll add more coverage as people wake up and write about it.)

Along with being a terrific storyteller, writer, and all-around nice person, Jon is the brains and force behind the Guys Read program. I think this is a fantastic choice and I can't wait to see what he does.

Jon and I share two publishers. Here we are with Viking editor, the ever-fab Sharyn November at IRA last year.

Writing going well.

First draft done. (That's the one where I just write all the voices in my head.)

Second draft started. (This is the one in which I have to make sense of Draft One. Much harder.)

I will keep working on this until the Hordes of College Students descend upon us this weekend. Then I'll shift back to the few scenes that need a final polish in my historical novel, because it's easier to work on a book that is mostly finished when your house has so many people in it. In a week or so, things will calm down and I will return to Draft Two of the YA.

Happy Birthday, Tamora Pierce, Goddess Writer Who Lives In Syracuse!!!! Stop by her LJ here, tammypierce or go there the old-fashioned way and wish her a hearty "Huzzah!"

Number One Son has a swim meet this afternoon, so I have to dive back into the story now. THANK YOU SNOW GODS for canceling everyfreaking thing in Central New York this afternoon!!! New goal - work on creepy chapter 7 and creepier chapter 8!

And still, thank you, Thea Gilmore, for getting me through this one.

Question - since I am on a Thea Gilmore kick, can you recommend some other singers in the same vein?