) to read her publishing story and congratulate her.
2. I just finished a revision pass on CIRCUIT BOY, the companion book for my MG novel MAPLE GIRL. It’s time to get feedback now, so I’ve submitted to my online critique group and will print out a copy for my reader-boy J tomorrow. He will be much, much tougher than the online critique partners, in a good, brutally honest 11-year-old sort of way.
3. Fabulous Zach at North Country Books says the inside illustrations for CHAMPLAIN AND THE SILENT ONE are done. He’ll send them soon, he promises. I can’t wait to see them!
4. We’re having a reading celebration in my classroom after school tomorrow. There will be books and brownies, two of my favorite things.
5. It’s very close to the end of school, which is bittersweet but mostly sweet.
So I’m reading one of our new school library books during my 9th period planning time today. I’m almost to the end of this amazing, amazing book with a main character I love more than any character I’ve met in a long time, and I’m weeping all over the attendance sheets, when a kid walks up to my desk.
“Uh…Mrs. Messner?”
“Yes?” I look up, tears streaming down my cheeks, my face red and puffy, as if I’ve been stung by many angry hornets.
“Uh… Uhh… I was going to ask…. uh….”
“Sorry. I was just at a really good part.” I hold up my book.
“Oohh…” The kid is a reader and understands. “I just need a computer pass.” He gets it, copies down the title of my book, and leaves me to finish the last two chapters.
…for an unforgettable Sunday afternoon in Blue Mountain Lake.
As the waves lapped the shore and the black flies swarmed, Spitfire won the Adirondack Literary Award for Best Children’s Book in the MG/YA category at Sunday’s ceremony. There’s a very cool wooden plaque with an Adirondack chair over my computer now…
…but really, the best part of the award was spending the day with such an amazing group of writers and readers and taking in the majesty of Blue Mountain Lake. The awards ceremony was held at the Blue Mountain Center, a turn-of-the-century Adirondack lodge that’s now a private retreat house for writers & other artists. Check out the great room. I have serious fireplace envy…
To get here, we turned into a drive that said No Admittance, wound our way around numerous twists and turns of a dirt road, and crossed two charming bridges —
We actually took these photos from the water, during a boat tour before the awards ceremony.
Bob from the Blue Mountain Boat Livery made sure we saw all the sights and told us many a tale of history and a few tall tales, too. He knew the best beach for swimming, where to find the loons, and where to meet some baby seagull chicks nesting on a rock. Can you spot them?
Mama Seagull kept a close eye on us while we snapped this photo!
If you know the Adirondacks at all, I don’t need to tell you what a special place this is. The people who live here are pretty amazing, too, and the Adirondack Center for Writing is just an incredible group. Thanks so much to all the judges and ACW volunteers who made Sunday the magical day that it was, and congratulations to all of the writers whose books were up for awards. Some amazing work comes out of these hills.
I appreciate the plaque and the very cool stickers that will go on my books now, but when I think back on Sunday, it’s the people at the Blue Mountain Center I’ll remember the most — people who love reading and books with the same passion that they love the Adirondack waters and woods.
) gave us the perfect excuse this past weekend — a book launch at the Flying Pig Bookstore for her new picture book biography, Elizabeth Leads the Way: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the Right to Vote.
Tanya kept us captivated with stories of how she wrote this book, how Rebecca Gibbon’s charming illustrations evolved, and how the early drafts of those illustrations sent Tanya back to the research phase of the project again and again. The result is a truly spirited book about a woman who deserves to be a household name. E and I have read our copy five times since Saturday. Every time, Elizabeth Cady makes us smile with her determination.
The rest of the day passed in a blur. There was a long pizza lunch. The girls colored; we talked. There was a meandering trip through the beautiful Shelburne Museum. The girls ran through the grass, asked questions, climbed trees, worried the security guards at times (they weren’t going to touch those Monet paintings…they were just pointing…), and made fast friends in the way that only children and people who write for them can.
The day passed so quickly that we barely caught the last ride on the carousel before the museum closed. There was no music, so we made our own — a rousing version of “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.” The lady running the controls sang along. In other company, it might have felt corny, but with the six of us going up and down and round in circles in the late afternoon sun, it was a perfectly fitting way to end the day.
1. Burlington’s Discover Jazz Festival – We’re spending tonight on the Church St. Marketplace, enjoying the music (okay…and some Ben & Jerry’s, too).
2. Saturday plans for a girls’ day with two writer pals and their daughters.
3. The Adirondack Literary Awards this Sunday in Blue Mountain Lake, hosted by The Adirondack Center for Writing. ACW is a great organization that hosted the first children’s writing conference I ever attended. I’ve been to some great workshops and other conferences since then, but the ACW World of Children’s Literature Conference will always hold a special place in my heart. I got my first manuscript critique on the novel that would become Spitfire, listened to Joseph Bruchac tell stories, and sat next to Paula Danziger at dinner. And I thought, “Maybe I can really do this writing thing.”
4. My kitchen cabinets are white. They used to be dark, dark brown. The walls, which used to be a strange gray-brown-mystery 1950s wallpaper color, are a buttery yellow now. The counter is…a work in progress. And most of what was sitting on it is now on the floor on the porch. If I could only find the toaster, I’d be all set…
5. I’m revising CIRCUIT BOY, the companion book for my MG novel, MAPLE GIRL. I’m through my second pass of revisions and need to back off and look at the bigger picture now. Next week, I’ll be shrinking the font to size 8, single spacing, and laying out the pages on the porch (as soon as I move the stuff from the kitchen counter) so I can go nuts with my beloved Post-It notes and figure out where threads are disappearing and where characters need to resurface. This will be fabulously fun for me in a geeky, writer-girl sort of way.
BIG congratulations are in order for author/bookseller Elizabeth Bluemle and her partner Josie Leavitt this week. The Flying Pig Bookstore has won the Lucille Micheels Pannell Award, honoring bookstores “that excel in inspiring the interest of young people in books and reading.” If you’ve ever set foot in Flying Pig, you know that describes Josie & Elizabeth’s store perfectly. Yay!!!
And…if you’re still looking for another reason to visit, you should know that Flying Pig is hosting Tanya Lee Stone’s launch for Elizabeth Leads the Way this Saturday. Here’s the official Flying Pig blurb…
Store Events – June 7, 11:00 a.m.
Time: Saturday, June 7, 2008 11:00 a.m. Location: THE FLYING PIG BOOKSTORE Title of Event: Tanya Lee Stone, author of Elizabeth Leads the Way
Join the prolific Tanya Lee Stone as she reads from Elizabeth Leads the Way, her new picture book about pioneering feminist and suffragette Elizabeth Cady Stanton.
My daughter and I are really looking forward to this one!
…because I got the final cover for Champlain and the Silent One today, and Fabulous Zach at North Country Books gave me the okay to share it!
New book covers make me positively giddy. I haven’t talked about this one in a while, so I’ll share the blurb, too:
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 Silent One’s 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.
~Champlain and the Silent One, September 2008
New blog readers might not know that my mom, Gail Smith Schirmer, created the paintings for the covers of both Spitfire and this new book. Her work can be seen in the Pat Rini Rohrer Gallery in Canandaigua, NY and here on her blog – gailschirmer.
4 people, 1 small hotel room, 7 museums, 5 monuments & memorials, 1 living history village, and many miles later… I have some highlights to share.
Here we are on the steps of the National Gallery.
I’m that one… in the pink shirt. On that top step.
Now do you see?
By the pillar… No, the other pillar.
I actually squealed (and got a slightly dirty look from a National Gallery guard) when I saw this painting…
I loved Blue Balliett’s Chasing Vermeer and have always wanted to see “A Lady Writing” in person, but I had actually forgotten that the painting was here until I turned a corner and saw her. Stunning.
The Smithsonian is simply amazing. We spent time in the National Gallery, National Portrait Gallery, Museum of the American Indian, Museum of Air & Space, and Museum of Natural History, where the gems and minerals were just incredible. (I thought of you and Samantha,
We also checked out the International Spy Museum, which not only has cool spy stuff like a lipstick pistol but also tons of fascinating history on espionage and its role in world events.
Ford’s Theater was closed, but we toured the house across the street where Lincoln died after being shot. I was impressed with the small historic site but even more impressed with this man…
…a National Park Service guide who told the story of Lincoln’s assassination to a different group of visitors every ten minutes with the animation and enthusiasm of someone reporting it for the very first time. I love people who do their work with passion. And yes…it was neat to stand in the room, too.
Did you happen to see the National Memorial Day Concert on PBS over the weekend? I was there.
Okay, technically, I was at the dress rehearsal on Saturday night and not the actual concert. We packed a picnic and joined the crowd on the Capitol lawn for an evening of music from the National Philharmonic, United States Army Band, Sarah Brightman, Idina Menzel, Rodney Atkins, and Gladys Knight.
It was a gorgeous night, so sitting out on the grass with the kids, listening to music was just perfect.
We also drove down to Colonial Williamsburg for a day, toured the Governor’s Palace, and checked out the historic park.
My favorite stop was the apothecary, who had an authentic 18th century amputation kit.
(If you’ve read Spitfire, you know why I was excited to actually see the tools.)
Monday was our monument and memorials day, appropriately enough. I especially liked seeing the World War II Memorial, which is new since my last trip to D.C.
Looking back at the Washington Monument…
All along the memorials, we saw flowers, photos, letters, and other tributes to people’s loved ones. So very many stories that we won’t soon forget.
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