Study or Savor?

Every once in a while I come across writing that takes my breath away. Listen to this passage from "The Oar: A Summer in Three Acts" by Chris Dombrowski which appeared in the December 2010 issue of The Sun. http://www.thesunmagazine.org/
I cast into the glare-coated water and watched the lure pause on a cushion of current before the trout plucked it from the surface. I caught a small cutthroat with dark bars on its scales--an indication that it was still a parr and too young to go to sea. Luca asked me to let the palm-sized, parr-marked fish go. Little parr-marked boy, wild and pure.
Part of me wants to pull this passage apart to figure out what made it work so well. But another part just wants to sit with it and savor its light.

Thanksgiving musings

I was recently reminded of my gratitude as a new writer, who had never been published, for the great gift that writing gave me of living life attentively.
No future bestseller, no grand award, would ever be as wondrous as this.
I think poet Lisa Starr speaks to that same sense of paying attention in her poem "Because," recently published in the Providence Journal.
Here is the link:
http://www.projo.com/books/content/Rhode-Nov.-poem_11-21-10_7DKNBM6_v11.18cd915.html

Turkey Chorus

Did you know that turkeys gobble in a chorus?
I just returned from picking up my turkey at Laurel Leaf Farm.
There was a pen full of survivors, who eyed us suspiciously as we walked by. If anyone took one step too close to them they let loose a gobble warning, in unison.
One of those concrete details I would never know without first hand experience.
The glory is in the details, writers!
Happy Thanksgiving!

The Fourth Wall

I was reading an article in THE CHILDREN'S WRITER about how more and more plays are breaking through the "fourth wall" between the actors and the audience. The trend began when Peter Pan first asked the audience, "Do you believe in fairies? If you believe, clap your hands."
It seems to me that many books for children also broach that fourth wall by having the author directly address the reader. Kate DiCamillo does this brilliantly in The Tale of Despereaux.
Do any of you know of other books that break through the fourth wall?
What effect does this have on the reader's experience of the story?
When should a writer broach the fourth wall? When shouldn't s/he?
It seems to me that this technique is most successful when the character or narrator speaking to the reader has a distinctive persona.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on this.

Bargain Prices

Writing When Rivers Burned: The Earth Day Story transformed my thinking in a number of ways.
I recently found a sweater on sale--great styling at a bargain price.
But after the initial joy of purchasing it, I got to thinking. The sweater didn't cost me much, but how much did it cost the environment?
It cost vegetation in feeding the sheep for its wool. It cost petroleum in manufacturing the synthetic component of the yarn. It cost energy in spinning the yarn. Someone had to sew it. What were conditions like in that factory? Then it was shipped here from China, unloaded at the docks, and sent through the mail to me.
Did I really need a sweater that cost so much?

Resurfacing

I just finished When Rivers Burned: The Earth Day Story. I'm elated, but whatever will I do with all my time now?
Blog on a more regular basis!
Of course there are sure to be revisions ahead, but they won't be quite so all consuming.
But then it won't be long until I need to dive into my next American Notable Women book, Women of the Ocean State. My first lady is Ann Franklin, printer related to you know who.
Still, I hope to post more frequently, weekly even...

Early Morning Musings

Oak branches reach out their leaf-hands
Baptizing my head with dew.