Author: hatfield13

Thankful Thursday

I’m thankful for bees and butterflies today — thankful that lgburns ‘ stunning photographs on  her blog lately have inspired me to slow down and look more closely at my own backyard. Here’s what I  found…


My daughter is convinced this Monarch we spotted yesterday is one of those that we raised from caterpillars and released a couple weeks ago, come back to visit.

I’m also thankful — and downright excited — that I get to sign books with my mom in the Finger Lakes this weekend.  When I sold Spitfire, I didn’t really understand how book covers worked and suggested to my editor that my mother, who’s an artist, do a painting for the cover.  

"Well, we generally take care of finding an illustrator," he said.

"Can she send you something and you can see what you think?"

Happily, they thought good things, and Mom’s art appears on the covers of both Spitfire and my new book, Champlain and the Silent One.  My mom has always been a terrifically talented artist but didn’t often make time for her own art when she was teaching and taking care of four kids as we grew up.  I’m not only in awe of her talent now; I’m proud of the time and work she’s put into her painting, and sharing the creative process with her has been an absolute joy. 

You can see some of her latest work on her blog – she’s gailschirmer  – and if you live in Rochester or the Finger Lakes, I hope you’ll stop by to say hello to us this weekend!  From 2-4 pm on Saturday, we’ll be at the Pat Rini Rohrer Gallery, where Mom is one of the featured artists this month. It’s at 71 South Main St. in Canandaigua.

And one more thankfulness… I’m glad so many of you have stopped by to enter my drawing for a signed copy of Champlain and the Silent One. If you haven’t entered and would like to, click here for the details.

Some emails are even better than chocolate

If you know me at all, you know how I feel about chocolate, but seriously…this note from a local teacher just made my whole week.

Dear Kate,

I just picked up 45 copies of your new book – it looks to be exactly what I needed to help commemorate the Quad. 

I am only a few pages in and I am so impressed with the voice in which you tell this young boy’s story. 

I’ll be finishing it tonight, even though I have papers to grade…

Thank you, Miss Miller!  I just did a major happy-dance right at my computer.

In other news, don’t forget that you have a chance to win a signed copy of Champlain and the Silent One this week (just one copy…not 45…but still…).  Just check out this post and leave a comment by midnight EST this Friday to be entered in the drawing!

Contest Time!

His tribe calls him Silent One. He hasn’t spoken since his uncle died fighting the Iroquois. But in the winter of 1609, a new language echoes through the north woods. Samuel de Champlain and his Frenchmen speak of friendship and promise to help the Innu people fight their enemies. This time, Silent One must join the war party, journey far from home, and find his voice to save his brother and his own spirit.

"Kate Messner’s sense of American history and human nature is as strong as her clear, evocative prose. Her multicultural cast of characters truly comes alive in this wonderful little novel that gives one of the best pictures I’ve yet seen of that period of early contact."
                                          –Joseph Bruchac, Storyteller and Writer

My main character, Silent One, is silent for a reason; he had a vision and gave a warning that was ignored, resulting in his uncle’s death.  He felt like his voice didn’t matter.  Why use it?

But it does matter.  For all of us.

So here’s how to enter the contest.

Election Day provides us with an opportunity to to speak in a way that matters profoundly.  Promise you’ll speak by voting on November 4th. Leave a comment here, saying so, and you’ll be entered in a drawing for a signed copy of Champlain and the Silent One. If you mention this contest on your blog or website and link back here, I’ll enter you twice. Just send me an email (kmessner at katemessner dot com) with the link and let me know.

If you’re not old enough to vote, you can still enter.   Talk with a parent or friend who is planning to vote, and make arrangements to go with someone on Election Day to see what it’s like.  Leave a comment that tells me you’ll be someone’s voting buddy, and promise to vote when you turn eighteen.  And then do it.  (I’ll do everything in my power to track you down and reclaim your prize if you don’t.)

Now the small print stuff…

Due to shipping costs, you must live in the Continental United States to win.   If you’re not registered on Live Journal, please remember to leave your name (if you’re under 18, please leave a first name only to protect your privacy) so that you can be entered in the drawing. It’s hard to mail books to Anonymous.

The deadline to enter the contest is this Friday, September 26th at midnight EST — right after the Presidential candidates’ first debate.  I’ll announce the winner on my blog on Monday, September 29th.

Almost Autumn

In honor of the first day of fall tomorrow, I’m sharing a few photos from today’s hike up Mount Jo in the Adirondacks.

We decided to climb, even though it was drizzling when we got to the trailhead.

This is the view from the summit — not exactly what we’d had in mind, but pretty in a hazy, climbing-into-a-cloud sort of way.  If it were clear, you’d see a  handful of the High Peaks and Heart Lake beyond the trees.



E noticed this little guy on the trail and moved him to safety so he didn’t get squashed.

And this one is for blog readers who live where the leaves don’t change color, or where they haven’t changed just yet. 

A branch full of maple leaves to launch you into autumn. Have a terrific week!

Friday Five

1.  I just finished reading an ARC of Every Soul a Star by Wendy Mass and am now determined to see a total solar eclipse before I die. (Funny how a free book can end up costing thousands in travel expenses, huh? But I digress…)   I’ll post a more detailed review later, but for now, know that I loved it, and it’s one you’ll want to look for when it comes out next month.

2. Currently, I’m reading the first book in Scholastic’s 39 Clues series, Rick Riordan’s The Maze of Bones.  My 12-year-old read it in a day and loved it but was surprised that it wasn’t more like Rick’s Percy Jackson series.  I’m halfway through Maze of Bones, enjoying the historical references to Benjamin Franklin as well as the diverse settings.  I’m interested to see how the whole book, trading card, online game component works out.  Has anyone else read this?  Thoughts?

3. It’s always interesting to me how people end up at my website.  The counter that keeps track of visits to my site also shows me how people found their way there, what terms they typed into a search engine, for example.  This one is my all-time favorite. Someone googled…

"love life of Samuel de Champlain"

…and ended up at my site.  (Don’t tell my husband!)

4. There was a haze of ice fog over Lake Champlain today — the first of many cold fall mornings I’ll wake to see those cold weather "ghosts" over the water.

5.  Who wants to win a copy of Champlain and the Silent One?  I’ll be announcing a contest on Monday, so be sure to stop by!  All you have to do to be entered is promise to use your voice in November.  More to come…

Weekend Time Travel

For some reason, everyone in the Champlain Valley decided that last weekend would be the perfect time for a big festival, so I ended up with three book events packed into two days.  It made for a crazy-busy weekend, but a fun and fascinating one, too.

My first stop was the Battle of Plattsburgh Celebration, where I read from Champlain and the Silent One and signed books at the festival tent.

Afterwards, I had some time to walk around and enjoy the battle reenactment.  Where else can you pack a picnic and watch a 19th century naval battle without worrying about rogue cannonballs?

I also loved the "Plucky Rooster Contest," sponsored by the celebration committee.  Legend has it that during the 1814 Battle of Plattsburgh, a British cannonball blasted into a chicken coop on board the American ship called the Saratoga.  The rooster inside that coop, instead of fluttering off all frightened, supposedly jumped up onto the cannon and flapped his wings in defiance.  To honor his cock-a-doodle-memory, festival organizers invite folks to design their own "plucky roosters"  made of anything they choose.  This one won second place in the contest but was my personal favorite.

There’s something about a rooster with dreadlocks that you just have to love…

From Plattsburgh, it was on to Crown Point for the Festival of Nations celebration, where I gave a presentation and then sang Happy Birthday to the Crown Point Light, which is celebrating its 150th anniversary as a lighthouse.  There were sparklers and cupcakes, too, which made this author very happy.  

Sunday was the Burlington Book Festival, where my camera ran out of batteries right after my husband took this picture of me outfitting a young recruit for the Continental Navy.

Otherwise, I’d have many more photos, since my daughter and I stuck around to enjoy a whole day’s worth of kids’ programming.  You’ll have to imagine pictures of Tanya Lee Stone talking about her new book Sandy’s Circus, Harry Bliss scribbling pictures with kids from the audience, and Katherine Paterson giving a fantastic dramatic reading of her work. 

The presentations were fantastic. I loved seeing LJ friends wordsrmylife  and cfaughnan . And when I stepped outside…the icing on the cake (actually the ice cream on the cake), I found the Ben & Jerry’s truck giving out free samples of their new flavors. 

Books + writer friends + ice cream full of little chocolate peace signs = a perfect, perfect day.

Champlain and the Silent One is here!

Look what the UPS guy brought this week! 

He looked at me a little funny when I hugged him. Do you suppose most people don’t do that?


Champlain and the Silent One, my historical novel about an Innu boy who travels with Samuel de Champlain on his 1609 voyage to encounter the Iroquois, is officially out and actually available now.  Here’s the back cover copy:

His tribe calls him Silent One. He hasn’t spoken since his uncle died fighting the Iroquois. But in the winter of 1609, a new language echoes through the north woods. Samuel de Champlain and his Frenchmen speak of friendship and promise to help the Innu people fight their enemies. This time, Silent One must join the war party, journey far from home, and find his voice to save his brother and his own spirit.

"Kate Messner’s sense of American history and human nature is as strong as her clear, evocative prose. Her multicultural cast of characters truly comes alive in this wonderful little novel that gives one of the best pictures I’ve yet seen of that period of early contact."
                   
                                                                                             –Joseph Bruchac, Storyteller and Writer

I’ll be signing books at three different festivals in Northern NY and Vermont this weekend:

Battle of Plattsburgh Celebration
Saturday, September 13
12:30-12:50 (right before the battle!)
Kids Area outside City Hall

Crown Point Historic Site Festival of Nations
Saturday, September 13
Presentation from 6:45-7:30pm

Burlington Book Festival
Sunday, September 14
Presentation from 11:00-12:00
Lake & College Performing Arts Center
(and tanyaleestone presents at 12:30, in the next room over!)

And here’s the rest of my September/October schedule:

Canandaigua, NY
Saturday, September 27
Book signing from 2-4
(and artwork by my made-of-awesome mom, Gail Smith Schirmer!)
Pat Rini Rohrer Gallery, South Main St.

Plattsburgh, NY – Borders Books & Music
Saturday, October 4
Educators Weekend Book Signing 12-4

Shelburne, VT – Flying Pig Bookstore
Saturday, October 18
Presentation & Signing – 11-12

…and for teachers, I’ll also be presenting two workshops, serving on an authors’ panel, and signing at the NYS English Council Conference in Albany on Thursday, October 23. 

If you’re near any of those places, I’d love it if you’d stop by so I can give you one of my shiny new bookmarks and say hello!

More on Revision

At the beginning of 2008, one of my resolutions was to blog more about my writing process, mostly because I so appreciate writers who do.  So…it’s time for an update.  (Thanks to learningtoread , whose post today was a great reminder, and who shared some great revision ideas of her own!)

I’m nearing the end of the revision process, currently working on line edits for my Fall 2009 MG novel with Walker Books.

Here’s a timeline for those who haven’t been reading my blog religiously for the past year and a half… (aka everyone except my mom)

Bad News/Good News Tuesday

The bad news: A thunderstorm broke loose while I was halfway through my run this morning, and the sky lit up with lightning when I was just as far from home as my route takes me.

The good news: I ran my last mile in record time.

The bad news: Our third monarch caterpillar, like the others, made its chrysalis while I was at school, so I didn’t get to see it.

The good news: Awesome husband, who works nights, saw the caterpillar shedding its skin and ran for his camera to shoot video for me.
"I thought you might want to put it on your blog thing," he said. He caught the last minute; you’ll see the caterpillar wiggling out of its old skin and then getting comfortable in the chrysalis where it will be for the next couple weeks.

The bad news: Three caterpillars have now grown from tiny babies, eaten many times their body weight in milkweed, and formed chrysalides, and my line edits still aren’t done.

The good news: Just 44 pages to go.

Rattlesnake Mountain

We hiked Rattlesnake Mountain in the Adirondacks on Sunday, one of my family’s favorites. Here’s why…

You don’t find too many picnic spots with a nicer view.

In case you’re wondering, the mountain doesn’t really live up to its name. Eastern Timber Rattlesnakes have been spotted on Split Rock Mountain, further south in the Adirondack Park, but not here. We did find a tiny garter snake.

I was amazed by how close he let me get to take his picture.  Maybe he knows that living on a mountain called Rattlesnake requires a little extra courage.