Well, my first fiction series has now released into the public. I’ve had a lot of fun watching people download and enjoy them. But I think the most fun I’ve had is watching my 9-year-old, who is right in the age group for whom the series is written, ask me, after our reading time is over, “Please can you read more?”
So I thought it would be fun to hear a little bit from him about the Fairendale series.
Me: What do you think about the Fairendale series?
Jadon: It’s really good. All the dragons and people.
Me: Who’s your favorite character?
Jadon: Arthur. He’s very brave. Standing up for all those children.
Me: What would you say to someone if they’re wondering whether or not they’ll like Fairendale?
Jadon: You should read it. And if you don’t like it, send a note to my mom.
And there you have it. If you don’t like it, send a note—but make it a nice note, please, so I can share it with my son.
Reading
This week I finished two brand new middle grade novels that have recently come on the market and both feature the drawings of popular picture book illustrators.
The first was Pax, by Sara Pennypacker, which is illustrated by Jon Klassen, one of my favorite picture book illustrators. For those who don’t know Jon Klassen, you should. He’s written several picture books. Our favorites are This is Not My Hat and I Want My Hat Back. As an aside, Klassen has a new picture book coming out this fall called We Found a Hat. I’m sure it will be just as lively and entertaining as the rest of his stories.
Pax is the story of a boy who has to leave his fox behind when his father joins the military service, a boy who has to somehow find his way into forgiveness. Peter, the boy, goes on a journey to find his fox again, after his father leaves for the service, and though he is journeying to reunite with his fox, it also becomes clear that he is journeying to find himself.
Pax is a story of love and friendship and determination. Along his way, Peter meets a wise sage who is broken in her own way, wrestling with her own guilt and demons. She helps him realize he is never alone. He helps her realize she can be forgiven for whatever she did, regardless of what it was.
I finished this book a few weeks ago, but there is just something about it that will not leave me. It was beautiful and lyrical and heartwarming and all the things I love most about middle grade literature. But it also explored the hard things—examining decisions, speaking on identity, upholding the miracle of community. I think kids will be encouraged, delighted and transformed by this story of a boy and his fox.
Here’s one of my favorite passages from the story. Peter has just found the farm of Vola, who ends up being a wise old woman who is broken in her own way.
“Vola studied him. ‘Oneness is always growing in the world, boy. Two but not two. It’s always there, connecting its roots, humming. I can’t be part of it—that’s the price I pay for taking myself away. But you can be. You can vibrate with its heartbeat. You may be on your own. But you won’t be alone.’
‘What if I get lost?’
‘You will not get lost.’
‘I think maybe I already am.’
Vola reached across the table, cupped his head and pressed. ‘No. You are found.’ She got up, and Peter felt her brush a kid son his hair as she passed.”
The Wild Robot, by Peter Brown is another heartwarming story, but with a bit of science thrown in. This is Peter Brown’s first chapter book. He’s usually cranking out picture books, like Children Make Terrible Pets and My Teacher is a Monster.
The Wild Robot is a wonderfully entertaining science fiction story about a robot who crashes onto a deserted island and must find a way to become friendly with all the wild animals there, who look upon her with suspicion and actually believe she’s a monster. She must overcome their prejudices and try to endear herself to them in order to create a happy life on the island.
The book ended in a very open-ended way, which leads me to believe that this isn’t the last we’ve heard from Roz the robot.
What I loved most about the book was the voice of its narrator; The Wild Robot was written in an omniscient point of view, and anyone who’s read my Fairendale series will know that I love omniscient narrators, because they become characters of their own.
Both of these books make fantastic read-alouds for children, and they’ve been added to my kids’ summer reading list.
Learning
I’ve been working slowly on a memoir for quite a while. You’d be surprised how difficult it is to access memories when you actually want to access them. So recently I picked up a book that I thought might help me at least remember certain things about my past.
Writing Your Legacy: The Step-By-Step Guide to Crafting Your Life Story, by Richard Campbell and Cheryl Svensson is a great beginner’s guide on crafting memoirs. It wasn’t written specifically about the memoir genre but was a little more geared toward autobiography, which is almost the same thing, except memoirs tend to follow a bit more of the fiction storytelling technique (just be sure not to make anything up. You could get in trouble for that.).
What I enjoyed most about this book is that it provided me with a starting point for examining my memories. I often write my memoir to a one-word prompt, which has helped so far. You’d be surprised how many memories are tied to the word “snake.” But this book and its probing questions will help me with a more exhaustive search of my memories. The questions are broken out into themes, like “Forks in the Road” and “My Life’s Work” and “The Meaning of Wealth.” For each theme, you’re exploring your memories from beginning to end. And then you can do whatever you want with those memories.
I took many notes on the book and will definitely be using it to help trigger memories and then curating those to become one or more memoirs.
Personal
I’ve been having a bit of trouble recently with work creeping into family time. This is mostly because I work for myself and also because I work from home. When you work from home, it’s extremely difficult to put work away. How do you even do that? Every time I retire for the evening, when boys finally get in bed and stay there, my computer is sitting on my dresser, which is my makeshift standing desk. Why not just take it out and work? I have some free moments, after all.
But something I’ve noticed recently is that I don’t turn off. What I mean by turn off is that my mind is always, always working something out. This isn’t a bad thing, except when it comes at the cost of other things. When my boys are talking to me about the books they’re going to write this summer, and I’m thinking through a plot line, and I can’t wait to get back to my computer so I can jot down some notes, that’s when it becomes a not-so-great practice, because I’m not really listening to my kids. I’m distracted.
There’s not an easy solution to the work bleeding into the family. We just have to purpose to think about family when we’re with family and to think about work when we’re at work. Creative people have a unique challenge when it comes to working from home. That means we need to brainstorm unique solutions.
I’m in a really busy time with work right, launching a few books and readying others for traditional publishing. But once this season passes—and it has a deadline, trust me—there will be strict stipulations put in place that no computer comes out after 5:30 p.m. Because it’s time for family.
Seasons come and seasons go. There are some seasons that require more work. There are some seasons our family requires more attention. I want to be aware of those and adjust accordingly, because this is how I believe we can achieve a sense of balance when it comes to family and work.
Listening
Husband and I have been fans of the band Blue October for quite some time. We’ve seen them in concert, which is an amazing show. I don’t buy swag from bands all that often, but I do have a Blue October beanie.
In April, Blue October came out with a new CD called Home. If you haven’t head this album yet, you owe it to yourself to give a listen. It’s not quite the same style as their former albums, not as hard and energetic, but it’s uniquely beautiful in its own way. One of the things I love most about Blue October is their creative harmonies, and this CD will not disappoint on that count. I can’t stop listening to it right now.
What’s my favorite song on the CD? you ask. That would be a tie between “Heart Go Bang” and “Home.”
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