Pat Lowery Collins Interview

I'm delighted to announce that I'll be interviewing author Pat Lowery Collins on her new book, Hidden Voices, on March 19th.

Please join us!

Novels in Verse

I recently wrote a narrative poem, which is picture book length, but a bit advanced for the picture book set. An editor suggested I might build it into a novel. That idea is a bit daunting, but I've been reading novels in verse to explore the possibilities.

I fell in love with Diamond Willow by Helen Frost. It's quite unusual, with a shape poem on each page based on the shape of the "diamond willow" pattern. Apparently, in the far north, willows that have been scarred sometimes develop a diamond pattern around the wound. This wood is often used to create special objects.

The main character in the book is named Diamond Willow, and the painful scars of her life develop into beautiful new patterns.

Play on Titles

Today I read an article on how a title can help sell your book, to an agent, an editor, or a reader. The article went on to talk about how the title must suit the genre. So I decided to play with giving common phrases a new twist to convert them into titles. I wondered what type of books these might be:
U-Maul--a suspense thriller?
Sky Queen--biography of a female aviator?
Surf's Down--murder mystery of a beach bum?
Moondoggle--expose of a scam at NASA?
The Spice is Right--cookbook?
I'd love to see what others can come up with.

School visits and creative nonfiction

I just returned from doing a school visit to Paine School in Foster, RI. I've been invited to speak there year after year. It's always a pleasure to return. The school has such an upbeat and creative culture. Today was the hundredth day of school, a big celebration for the younger grades. The upper grades were playing a science Jeopardy Game to prepare for an upcoming quiz.

I gave my talk on THE BLACK REGIMENT OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. And I was reminded of how honored I feel to have been chosen to tell this important story. One student asked me whether I prefer to write nonfiction, fiction, or poetry and I realized I couldn't chose one over the other. I love the creative freedom of fiction. I love playing with words and images through poetry. And I love learning about a new topic and figuring out how to tell my subject's story so that the reader can see its beating heart.

Perhaps the piece of writing that I'm proudest of is my biography of Dian Fossey in WOMEN OF THE GOLDEN STATE: 25 CALIFORNIA WOMEN YOU SHOULD KNOW.

RARI and YRARI

Yesterday, I volunteered to help at the kick-off conference for Read Across Rhode Island, one state, one book. Our title this year is the delightful The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society The book takes place in England, just after the close of WWII. The Guernsey Islands off the cost were occupied by the Germans. This is a tale of the island people's resilience and recovery. Written in letters, the main character, Juliet is a witty and endearing observer.
This year, there will also be a Youth Read Across Rhode Island, which will be launched this spring. In the meantime, our committee is busy reading the titles under consideration.
Anyone know of worthy books aimed at 4-5th grade that would appeal to both boys and girls?

Email again!

I was alarmed to discover this week that emails sent through my website were not reaching me. But the problem has been fixed. Hurray for Mouseworks! (www.mouseworks.net)
If you recently tried to reach me through my website and I haven't responded, please email me again. Thanks!

When Illinois was the frontier

Whew! I just finished my biography of Christiana Holmes Tillson for WOMEN OF THE PRAIRIE STATE. This remarkable woman wrote an account of her years as a pioneer in Illinois. Just getting out there was trial...and she makes some rather acerbic observations of the backwoodsmen she encountered along the way. But when she arrived at her log cabin home, she discovered someone else had taken up residence and all her baggage was lost. She stuck a fresh made candle on a nail and soldiered on.