Poetic Prose

I love poetic prose, whether it's in a lyrical picture book or a YA novel. But it's hard to do without having the author's voice intrude, without sounding too "writerly."
Two authors, whose books I've read recently, have been able to pull it off beautifully. Both women are also poets.
Kim Fusco in The Wonder of Charlie Ann and
Pat Lowery Collins in Daughter of Winter.
Both books are historical novels, and I wonder if readers are more accepting of poetic language in the mouth of of a historical character. Daughter of Winter is written in third person, and I do think poetic prose is easier to carry off in third person.
But The Wonder of Charlie Ann is written in first person. Yet Charlie always sounds like a kid. The reader always believes in her voice. Remarkable!
I need to exercise, flex my own poetic voice--and not be so afraid of it.

Leftovers Recycled

Writing a book like When Rivers Burned: The Earth Day Story has made me hyper-sensitive to environmental issues. Americans throw so much food away. Wouldn't it be valuable to come up with new ways to recycle leftovers?
So here's my contribution:
Take leftover rice. Add brown sugar, raisins, milk, and a touch of cinnamon. Heat it in the microwave for 45 seconds.
Presto, delicious breakfast!

New book!

Despite my best intentions, it's been a while since I posted on my blog. That's because I've been busy writing--a good excuse, I'd say.
I just finished a new book on the Revolutionary War--History Digs: Revolution and the New Nation (Cherry Lake Publishing).
I've also been working on biographies for Women of the Ocean State: 25 Rhode Island Women You Should Know. Princess Red Wing is my next lady. She was a dynamic spokesperson for her people, the Wampanoag and Narragansetts.

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.