Author: kmessner

If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you know that my first book for teachers, REAL REVISION: AUTHORS’ STRATEGIES TO SHARE WITH STUDENT WRITERS, was released from Stenhouse this summer. I’ve been celebrating with a series of author interviews on the topic of real revision…the nitty gritty, make-the-book-better strategies that some of my favorite authors use when they’re revising a project. HOUND DOG TRUE (which comes out this week!!) is among my favorite novels of 2011, so I asked author Linda Urban if she’d stop by the blog to chat.  Here’s our conversation about revision, especially as it relates to voice.

Hi, Linda! The voice in your middle grade novels always feels so perfect and effortless…but I know that most things that feel effortless to readers are the result of hard work on the part of writers.  Could you talk a little about how you revise when it comes to voice in your books?

Aw, thanks.

Here’s the thing about voice:  It often presents itself without me having to sweat it.

The first few lines, the first few pages – it just spills.  Beginnings are like that for me.  I’m letting myself know the character or narrator, who she is, how she moves, the way she expresses herself.  If she’s self assured, she’ll use energetic declarative sentences.  If she is shy, that might show up in her speech.  She might backtrack a bit.  Her words might get twist-tangled around one another.  Her level of education, the place where she lives, her general outlook on the world will come through in the language, tempo, and rhythm of her speech.  And dang, if that isn’t the fun part for me!

But after that, maybe page 20 or 40 or even 60, I realize that a novel is not just about voice.  There has to be story.  Things need to happen.  Then it becomes work.  And sometimes when I’m making things happen, my effort is apparent on the page.  It is clumsy and forced.   That is when I need to work on voice.  I look at a sentence: Then the bridge fell down. Okay.  Fine.  That’s what happened.

But what happened is so much different than what that happening means.  Voice tells you what it means to the story, to the character.

So I back up. The bridge fell down. Did it snap?  Did it collapse?  Did it fail?  Did it give up the ghost?  The right word or phrase is the one that tells what happened and what that happening means.  Likewise, voice has a rhythm.  If the voice of the narration or character is a lilting, lovely descriptive one, and I tell about the bridge in lilting, lovely descriptive terms, then it won’t stand out as being particularly meaningful to the narrator/main character, or in the reader’s mind.  If I break the voice pattern, though, and let the bridge collapse happen in short, terse terms, Whammo!  It stands out.  It means something entirely different.

That’s what I look for when I begin to revise.  It is interesting to note how a book that feels like it doesn’t have enough emotional depth, or is too overwrought, might not really require a new set of plot elements.  It might just require an adjustment in the way voice is used.

Do you read aloud when you’re revising?

I do read my work aloud.  I do it at all stages, but it seems particularly important at the polishing stage.  I try to read the whole thing aloud in one sitting, highlighting any words or phrases that stick out.  Then I go back and fiddle with them, asking what other descriptions might be more consistent with the character/narrator I’ve created or the circumstances described.   It can take a long time, but I it’s worth it.

Was there a character in this book (Mattie, her mom, Uncle Potluck, Quincy with her “plunking” tone  of voice) that went through more revision work than the rest?

Mattie’s mom was the hardest for me.  I tend to see the book through my main character’s eyes and for most of the book, Mattie’s perception of her mother is pretty one-dimensional.  She is defined by a single sort of action (decisive and abrupt pulling-up-stakes and moving to a new job/town/home) and a single characteristic (which Mattie interprets as “strength”).  While I understood at a conscious level that Mattie’s mom acted out of fear and a lack of confidence, as I wrote, I always adopted Mattie’s POV and the depth of Mama failed to make it to the manuscript page.

One thing that helped was to rewrite a couple of key scenes from Mama’s point of view.  This writing was never going to be in the final manuscript, of course, but it helped me to understand better all the things that Mama was seeing and feeling.  Once I understood this, I went back to all the scenes in which Mama appeared and looked for opportunities to give a small indication of her underlying self.  When I could, I put a small gesture or word choice in – something that Mattie might notice.  Mattie might misinterpret it, but it is possible that the reader would see things differently – if not in the moment, then in retrospect, once Mattie’s understanding of her mother grew.

What’s your favorite revision tool, tip, or strategy these days?

When a scene isn’t working right, I often write it from a different point of view, like I described above.  Sometimes I use another character who is important to the scene.  Sometimes I use a bystander (it can be really cool to have someone relate action without being able to hear dialogue – you get a really interesting perspective on the events of the scene – and you also learn if your characters are standing around talking too much).  One of my favorite ways to do this is to let the scene be described by an inanimate object.  That locket on your main character’s neck.  That gun in that boy’s jacket pocket.  That shredded love letter.  That last piece of pie.  They let you see things differently and can unlock a lot of mysteries.

Thanks, Linda, for your insight and for coming to visit!

For more on HOUND DOG TRUE, you can check out Linda’s website, or read my more detailed recommendation here. And of course, you can order your very own copy from an indie bookstore near you.

I have been waiting SO patiently to talk about this book.

And now it’s coming out! Next week!  (On the 19th, to be exact, but if you look, you might even find it before then.)  In the interest of full disclosure, I’ll start by saying that HOUND DOG TRUE author Linda Urban is a friend. I adore Linda.  But I’d be gushing about this one even if I didn’t know her from Adam.

This is a book with true heart. Linda Urban has a gift for capturing the small things about a kid’s life that matter. She understands that little things can mean everything…those tiny moments that the grown-ups shrug off can be something a ten-year-old carries around for years…and maybe forever.

HOUND DOG TRUE features Mattie Breen, a painfully shy girl who moves to a new town with her mom and apprentices herself to her Uncle Potluck, the school custodian, in the hopes that her studies of janitorial arts will allow her to avoid talking to her new classmates when school starts. But of course it doesn’t work out that way. Mattie has a new neighbor, Quincy, who’s older and cooler and…could she be a friend? This is a warm, wonderful book about letting people into your world, finding your place in that world, and finding your voice, too.

Like A CROOKED KIND OF PERFECT, this book has a voice that’s unique, touching, and funny – just wonderful. I highly, highly recommend HOUND DOG TRUE…especially for sharing as a read-aloud. Available at your favorite indie bookseller on Monday! (And stay tuned for a “Real Revision” interview with Linda on revising this book, capturing that pitch-perfect voice, and more!)

I’ll be signing books at the Rhinebeck, NY farmers market this Sunday from 12-2 with Oblong Books and Music.  And guess what book is sneaking out a little early to be part of the event…

Even though OVER AND UNDER THE SNOW doesn’t officially come out until October, it’s been released from the warehouse ahead of time and will be there for this weekend’s event.

If you don’t live in the Hudson Valley but you’d like a signed copy of OVER AND UNDER THE SNOW…or of any of my other books – MARTY MCGUIRE, SUGAR AND ICE, SEA MONSTER’S FIRST DAY, or THE BRILLIANT FALL OF GIANNA Z. – just contact Oblong Books & Music at (845) 876-0500 to order.

At the end of every school year, I ask my 7th graders to sit in their 7th grade chairs one last time to write letters… to the people who will be sitting in those chairs come September.  This past June was no exception.  My kids wrote pages and pages of advice, warnings, and words of wisdom.  “Tell next year’s kids what to expect,” I told them.

And so they did…right down to the coolest field trip (National Poetry Month flash mob at the mall!) and what not to try and get away with (texting during class, not reading).   They talked a little about what this year’s students should expect from their new teachers, too. I compile all the letters into one big letter that I’ll share with this year’s 7th graders tomorrow, on their first day of school.

But I have to confess…I pulled one of those June letters from the pile, highlighted a paragraph, and tucked into my desk drawer.  It said this:

Mrs. Messner never gets mad.  She is really just always all about books and joy.

Back in June, that letter made me cry…because I don’t always feel like that teacher.

Like most people, I get frustrated once in a while… when kids don’t do homework or when parents aren’t supportive…or when state regulations on standardized testing make me want to scream. But I’d really like to be that teacher that Savannah described in her letter.  All about the books and the joy.

Finding that letter was such a good reminder today, as I came out of a meeting with guidance and the 6th grade teachers about all the challenges that will be presented with this year’s crew. But not just challenges… opportunities, too

It all reminded me of that old poem…I couldn’t even find the author online, but it’s called “The Feller’ that your Mother Thinks You Are.”

THE FELLER THAT YOUR MOTHER THINKS YOU ARE

While walking down a crowded street one day,
I heard a little urchin to his comrade turn and say:
“Say, Jimmie, let me tell you, I’d be happy as a clam
If I only was the feller that my mother thinks I am.”

“She thinks I am a wonder and she knows her little lad
Would never mix with nothing that is ugly, mean or bad.
Oh, lots of times I sit and think how nice ‘twould be,
gee whiz,
If a feller was the feller that his mother thinks he is.

My friends, be yours a life of pain, or undiluted joy,
You still my learn a lesson from this small unlettered boy.
Don’t try to be an earthly saint with eyes fixed on a star;
Just try to be the feller that your mother thinks you are.

I’m not always that perfectly patient, serene teacher that my student remembered on the last day of school.  But I’d like to be.

First of all…a HUGE thank you to everyone who has donated to the flood-ravaged Wells Memorial Library and everyone who has helped to spread the word. I spoke with library board chairperson Marie-Ann Azar Ward this afternoon, and she says donations are pouring in, to the point where the library director burst into tears with her arms full of mail today. The good kind of tears.

For those who wanted to send new book donations but were asked to wait, there’s good news. The library has had an offer of safe, dry storage space at the community theater. So book donations can be sent any time. Boxes of beautiful new books have already started showing up.

Marie-Ann also said this: “I hope the other flooded libraries are getting this kind of help.”

I hope so, too.  Let’s make sure, okay?

Grace Greene sent me a link to the Vermont Department of Libraries website, where they’re asking folks to hold off on sending book donations for now, and instead consider writing a check for a fund to help with recovery for all the Vermont libraries affected by Irene. Here’s the address:

There’s also an indie bookseller partnership set up for the heavily damaged West Hartford, VT Library. You can call The Norwich Bookstore at 802-649-1114 or visit their website to donate to a gift card for the library.

I got word from Jen Groff that The New York Library Association created a Disaster Relief fund several years ago (the last time there was major flooding) to collect donations from the library community and beyond to assist libraries damaged by floods and other natural disasters… NYLA can serve as collection point for donations and then distribute proceeds to affected libraries. To make a donation to NYLA’s Disaster Relief Fund visit the link below:
http://nyla-omc.org/Scripts/4Disapi.dll/4DCGI/donate/form.html

Checks for the flooded Schoharie Free Library can be sent here:

Checks for Middleburgh Library can be sent here:

Schenectady independent bookseller The Open Door Bookstore is also collecting donations for gift cards for these two libraries. Call (518) 346-2719 or visit the bookstore’s website to donate.

And to help Wells Memorial Library, send checks here:

And finally…a little inspiration for those looking for ideas about how to help.

I got an email today that made me smile all afternoon.  It was from a Colorado mom who shared photos of the lemonade stand her daughter and friends set up to raise money for Wells Memorial, the flooded library on the other side of the nation.  They couldn’t imagine not having kids’ books to check out of their library, so they set up a stand to sell lemonade, iced tea, cookies, shaved ice, strawberry ladybugs, and flower bouquets.

Tomorrow, they’re sending this letter to Upper Jay, NY…along with a check for $55.

Thank you SO much, Eva, Adam, Emma, Carter, Reese, Greer, Isabella, and Anna. You rock.

And thanks to everyone who’s helping these libraries get cleaned up, rebuilt, and re-stocked with books. You are making a world of difference to families in these areas that were hit so hard.

My daughter and I took a walk at Ausable Point State Park this morning, looking for caterpillars on milkweed. Instead, we found this young osprey enjoying a meal (fish? I think?)  The bird let us watch, taking photos for almost twenty minutes, only looking up occasionally to make sure we weren’t coming any closer to try and steal its breakfast.

After a while, thunder and darkening skies over the marsh sent us all back to our nests.  Time for breakfast here now…but I think maybe we’ll opt for pancakes instead of fish. 🙂

Cleanup continued at Wells Memorial Library in Upper Jay, NY today. If you haven’t yet read about the flooding that devastated the library during Tropical Storm Irene, you can read all about that (and how to help) here.

Volunteers hauled what felt like a million more buckets of mud out of the basement. That’s where the library had stored items collected for its annual fund raiser tag sale, so in addition to muddy books to shovel, there were muddy albums, DVDs, lamps, stuffed animals, board games…you get the idea. The pile of debris just keeps growing.

About the only thing that has been salvageable has been the dishes…glassware collected for the tag sale.

Volunteers have been dutifully scraping mud off plates and cups and wine glasses.  Most of these were marked just fifty cents or so for the sale, but I wondered…what if my middle school students were to clean & decorate the glassware a bit, and add the inscription “I helped rebuild Wells Memorial Library after Irene – August 2011” and then sell them for $ 5-10 each at our September open house as a fund raiser?

Needless to say, there are now two bins of slightly muddy dishes in my van, and plans are brewing.

On another happy note…donations have started to arrive. Phyllis, the library treasurer, told me today she’s already received almost $500 in checks to help the library rebuild. That’s a drop in the bucket when it comes to tens of thousands of dollars in damage…but it is a start, and it makes a difference. If you’d like to donate – and this is really the best, most flexible way to help – you can send a check to:

The Bookstore Plus, a great indie bookseller helping with the relief effort, has collected more than $1600 on a gift card for the library to use for book purchases once they’re ready.

Boxes from publishers and other libraries started arriving today, too. While the library is excited about all these new books, there are new flooding concerns (flash flood warning Sunday/Monday due to heavy rains) and worries about storage, so they’re asking folks to hold off on sending any more books, at least for now.  The books that have already arrived are safe and sound, though…

…in my living room.  We don’t live in the flooded area, so we’re storing these boxes until things dry out at the library. My daughter volunteered to make a list of what’s there to avoid duplication when books are purchased. And the truth is…after shoveling mud-drenched hardcovers for two days, it’s lovely to see some beautiful, clean, dry books that will soon be in kids’ hands in Upper Jay.

Please do remember, the Upper Jay library is one of several in need of help right now.  Here’s all the information about how you can make a difference.

If you saw this blog post, you know how the Wells Memorial Library in Upper Jay, NY was devastated by a flood & lost its children’s section to Tropical Storm Irene, and how The Bookstore Plus and people from all over the world now are pitching in to help rebuild.  If you want to help this library – or the West Hartford Library in Vermont, which lost its ENTIRE children’s collection in the floods – there’s tons of information on how to do that here.

The good news today? Help is coming. The library director has been flooded with emails of offers to send books, computers, workers, and more – and while the library doesn’t have space to store many books at this time, they so appreciate the donations that have been coming via The Bookstore Plus ($1600 on a gift card so far, and counting, and from as far away as Germany and England) and in the form of checks to the library. David Mazor at Reader to Reader just emailed to tell me his organization is providing six new computers to replace the ones the library lost. On top of that, authors and illustrators have been donating original art and signed books for a silent auction to be held as part of a big fundraiser at The Bookstore Plus in October. (More on that here)

But rebuilding is going to be a long process.  Here’s what was going on at the library today…

The basement was filled with not only river and mud but also items that had been donated for the library’s fundraiser sale. Washing dishes and other glass items that could be saved was a great job for the kids who came to help.

These books had been collected for a library book sale fundraiser. They were all lost in the basement which was completely filled with water and mud. Volunteers passed crates and crates of mud and mud-filled books up the steps all day.

Tomorrow will be another work day at the library.  If you’re not too far away and want to pitch in, carrying books, washing walls, or generally cleaning up, they’d appreciate your help. Work starts at 9 AM.  Bring rubber gloves. Wear old clothes and tall rubber boots if you can.  I literally had to be hosed off before I could get back in my car today.

And if you live too far away to come shovel mud, you can help in other ways:

Send a check to:

First of all, a huge thank you to EVERYONE who responded to my blog post yesterday about the Wells Memorial Library in Upper Jay, NY.

The library lost virtually its entire children’s section in flooding during Hurricane Irene. You can read more – and see some pictures that will break your heart if you love books – here.

There’s also a lot of information about how to help, including a partnership with terrific indie booksellers at The Bookstore Plus. If you call them at 518-523-2950 or visit their website, you can choose a book to donate to the library, and the bookstore will store it for them until they’re ready.  Or you can donate to a gift card for the library so librarians can choose books later on.  The response, so far, has been amazing, and I’m told the bookstore has more than $700 on that gift card right now. What a great start!

I’m working with Sarah at The Bookstore Plus now on what I hope will be a huge fundraiser for the library.  On October 22nd, they’re going to host an evening reception where book lovers of all ages and members of Lake Placid’s vibrant arts community can come purchase books for the library.  It’ll include author/illustrator appearances and (we hope) a silent auction of original art from children’s book illustrators. (I just  heard from a couple illustrators who have offered to donate, so it looks like this part of the fund raiser is a go!)

If you’re a children’s book illustrator who would like to donate a piece to help this library rebuild after Hurricane Irene, would you please touch base with me, either in a comment or via Facebook or email (kmessner at kate messner dot com) to let me know?  I told the bookstore I’d coordinate, so I’ll take your information, pass it along to Sarah, and then the art can be sent directly to the bookstore. They’ll will use the pieces in a big window display before the auction and then all proceeds will be donated directly to the library.

I understand that this is asking a lot…and I’m sure you get many requests each year and have to pick and choose which efforts to support, if you donate art at all. But I thought I’d put the word out, just in case this is a cause that you’d like to get behind. It would be much appreciated by the librarians and the families of this community.

Authors: If you’d like to donate a signed book, that would also be most welcome!  Please mark clearly on the envelope “FOR SILENT AUCTION”

Here’s the bookstore address:

Quick How-to-Help Info: Several libraries have lost their entire children’s sections due to flooding in Hurricane Irene, and we’re teaming up with independent bookstores to help them rebuild. Want to help?  Either send a check to the library OR call the bookstores. They’ll help you choose a book based on the library’s needs and will store it for them until they’re ready, or you can donate to a gift card for the library.

8/31/11

My heart just about broke on an afternoon drive today.

I’d gone with my meteorologist husband to take photographs of flood damage in Essex County, just to our south. Roads were washed out, bridges closed or in pieces, familiar sights to anyone who’s seen news coverage coming out of Vermont this week.  But these tiny towns along Adirondack rivers haven’t gotten much media attention.

“Go on up ahead,” one town supervisor told us from his pickup. “You need to see Upper Jay. It’s awful.”

We made our way through roads that were down to one lane, and took detours when there was no road.

“I hope the library fared okay,” I told my husband as we drove. The Wells Memorial Library is small, but it’s charming and has a ton of heart. One of my first-ever author events happened at this library, a cozy, casual reading sponsored by the Adirondack Center for Writing. I remember watching kids coming in to choose books, right before the event started.  You can tell when kids feel at home in a place, when they know it’s truly their library, and these kids did.

But as we got closer to the library today, we saw more and more scenes like this.

The AuSable River,  so peaceful today, had turned into a raging flood when Irene passed through over the weekend. See the mark in the middle of the zero on this speed limit sign?

That’s how high the water came.

As we drove around a bend in the road today, my husband slowed down. “Whoa…look at all the stuff in front of that house.”

But it wasn’t a house. It was the library.

They lost virtually their entire children’s collection. All of the picture books.

“They were all on the lower shelves,” library director Karen Rappaport explained, “so the kids could reach them.”

She looked at the heap of books in the yard, then out toward the river, quiet in the background today, and shook her head. “We’ve just never seen anything like this.”

She let us walk through the building to see just how devastating the flood waters had been. Old books and documents from the library’s special collections were spread out on tables to dry.

An attempt to save what could be saved…

But so much couldn’t.

At one point during our visit, a small cheer rose up from a corner of the library. Karen had discovered five dry picture books, high on a cart, waiting to be reshelved. “Look!” she showed me. “Paddington.”

This part of the Adirondacks isn’t a wealthy area, and many families are dealing with devastating losses of their own right now.  So often, the library is a refuge for families in times like this, so it’s sad to think of this community’s kids not having books to read.

Paddington is a start. And I’m sending a set of all my kids’ books to be part of the library’s new collection.

Would you like to help, too?  Here’s how we can rebuild the children’s collection of a small Adirondack library…

Editing to add… I spoke with a member of the library’s board of trustees, and while limited dry storage space is available for new book donations from publishers, they are getting worried about space, so unless you’re a publisher or author, please don’t send additional boxes of books to the library. Instead, consider donating in one of these ways…

1. Send a monetary donation. Checks may be made payable to the Wells Memorial Library and sent here:

2. The Bookstore Plus, a terrific independent bookstore in nearby Lake Placid, NY, has set up two options for folks who want to donate books:

1. Call The Bookstore Plus at (518) 523-2950, and a bookseller will help you choose a book to purchase, based on the library’s needs. They’ll keep track of what’s already been purchased. These books will be collected and stored, and when the library is ready, we’ll deliver them all at once. You can also order online.

2. The bookstore is also setting up a “virtual gift card” for the library.  You can call and let them know you’d like to give $20 or any amount.  They’ll charge your credit card and add that money to the library’s gift card for the purchase of books later on.

Authors & illustrators: The Bookstore Plus is organizing a fundraiser for October, and they hope to include a silent auction of signed books and original art by children’s book illustrators. If you would like to help by donating a signed book or original artwork, check out this link for more information.

Children’s Book Editors & Publishers: If you’re cleaning out the shelves of new children’s books in your office & would like to send a care package, it would be most welcome. Please send it to the library address above if using USPS, or for UPS, to this address:

Thanks in advance to anyone who’s able to help!

One more thing…I suspect that Upper Jay and West Hartford are  not the only community libraries that lost much of their children’s collections when Irene came through.  If you know of others, and you have specific information from the library about how people can help, please feel free to comment and share that information. I’d be happy to add to this list so that  people interested in rebuilding community libraries throughout the flooded areas can learn how to help.

Updates:

Vermont librarian Jessamyn West has a website where she’s posting lots of information about how to help Vermont libraries in need after Irene.  Please check it out and help if you can.

The Schoharie Free Library suffered flooding as well; once plans are underway to replace lost books, I’ll share information about how to help here, too.

Polly-Alida Farrington has shared a blog post with more information on NY libraries that were affected and how you can help.

And finally, thank you SO much for donating and sharing this and spreading the word. Libraries are the hearts of their communities, and these communities really needs their libraries back.