SACRED DIRT

When Words Fail, Make Puppets

2012-01-25T05:30:00.000-08:00

I'm at a blank!

I know my plot, my scenes,

my characters and their backstories to the nth generation.

I have tidy rows of index cards in Scrivener

spelling me all the way to the end.

I know what NEEDS to happen next

but I just can't picture WHERE it happens.

On a ship? In a shack?
(Sounds like something from Green Eggs and Ham)
Outside? Moonlight? Storm clouds? Hammocks? Dock? Bridge?

This is no end of frustrating!

I recently read this advice from author Molly Blaisell
about writing novels.

One of the gems she writes is to Stop Rushing Yourself.

So I'm playing with the kids.

A fruit box puppet theater is a good way to try different settings for the novel...right?

While a fruit box has a perfect open shape

for marionette-style puppets,

my kids wanted stick puppets.

So I cut a hole big enough for four pairs of hands

plus puppets.

Sugar Snack helped me paint.

He's in love with "orangey."

A bamboo garden stake made an easy curtain rod.
The bunk bed ladder niched over two chairs became the base.

I scribbled with my carved bamboo pen
and India ink for the backdrops.
A chateau to start.

And a throne room for all of the kings and queens and fairies.

I sketched a few royal personages and let the kids color.

I think they're inspired by all the makeup I wear.

Especially the lipstick.

Pip and Winnie made necessary extras:
fairy godmother, more princesses, knights, horses and a dragon.
We cut out our people and glued them to foam core board
(with glitter glue, no less).

Once our people dried, I cut them out with kitchen shears
and skewered them with extra long toothpicks.
(Nice, safe toddler play!)

Happy discovery: puppets from family photos!
Same principle: I cut out our people, glued them to foam core,
cut them out with kitchen scissors
and stuck them with toothpicks.

Birdy and her cousins go for a ride...

Sugar Snack wanted to see his puppets better,

so we inverted a shallow box

and poked holes in it with a screwdriver.

Now we can do dioramas.

Has the writing blank gone away?

Uh... blank what?

Did you say something about writing?

I'm off playing with puppets.

How do you deal with your writing blanks?

A picture book that rises above the competition:
Have you seen Balloons Over Broadway by Melissa Sweet?
This book tells "The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy's Parade."
The story is fascinating; the art is a beautiful combination of painting and collage.

You can even print your own puppets and activities from the book here. Fun, and free!

And speaking of Melissa Sweet, she'll be presenting at the SCBWI Western Washington conference, April 21-22.

Are you coming?

If you're a writer or illustrator in the Northwest and want to hone your craft,

and get connected with writers, illustrators, agents and editors, I highly recommend it!

Check it out here.

Another clever treasure from Melissa Sweet:
Carmine, A Little More Red

Did you see Bonnie Becker's name up there? She's the author of one of our favorite picture books, A Visitor For Bear. I am so excited to hear Bonnie Becker's thoughts on writing!

So, there you have it.
The next time you're at a writing blank, try puppets!

Secrets, Stairs and Story Smithing

2012-01-18T00:06:00.000-08:00

We had a secret staircase.

Not a gloriously hidden one in an old castle.

If we had one of those I probably wouldn't be a writer.

The mysteries of life would already be solved.

No, our secret staircase was one of our

visit-the-grandparents landmarks,

like passing the over sized grasshoppers churning for oil

in the flat fields, or smelling salt and coconut oil as we neared the beach.

My parents drove to the end of a neighborhood street

and abandoned their three starry-eyed mountain kids

to traverse down a maze of hidden staircases

and find ourselves by the end.

Or, at least, find our avocado green station wagon,

panting away at the bottom.

Our secret staircase.

from The Secret Garden,

illustrated by Inga Moore

Secrets can be beautiful, gossipy, or horrifying.

Secrets are what we hang our hats on as writers.

We need secrets,

and mystery

and questions

to tell stories.

Questions to help unleash your story:

What are my Main Character's greatest secrets?

longings?

Who does she listen to?

trust?

Who needs her help?

What are her vices?

temptations?

What does she care about?

What changes her?

Who loves her?

What Questions do you ask your story?

Do you have secret staircases,

-places or memories that represent a portal into mystery,

danger and espionage, orphans and castles,

imagination

and the great What If?

Secrets are why we read books,

why we keep turning the pages.

So, writer friends:

How do you weave secrets and mystery into your writing?

I'd love to know!

Powerfully Mysterious Picture Books:

The Secret Box - Barbara Lehman

Rainstorm - Barbara Lehman

The Mysteries of Harris Burdick - Chris Van Allsburg

Snow Moon - Nicholas Brunelle

The Secret Circus - Johanna Wright

from The Mysteries of Harris Burdick
by Chris Van Allsburg

Books with Deep Secrets for older readers:

The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett,

illustrated by Inga Moore, Candlewick Press

from The Princess and the Goblin
by George MacDonald, ill. Jessie Wilcox Smith

The Princess and the Goblin - George MacDonald

The Princess and Curdie - George MacDonald

Wolves of Willoughby Chase- Joan Aiken

Dragon's Keep - Janet Lee Carey

What Artists Play

2012-01-11T13:47:00.000-08:00

When we were small, my dad played artist games with us.

Games like:

Animate Your Lunch

Color Wheel of Fortune

Can Anyone Decipher Daddy's Handwriting?

Guess the Picture Book Illustrator

But my favorite game by far was Hide.

All it required was a pen, paper and an alphabet letter. Restaurants and waiting rooms loved us - those quiet kids in the corner, smiling as we turned our "H" or "A" into ladders, hats, baskets of fruit.

We gave my dad the hardest letters we could think of, but he still transformed "Q" into a Sistine Chapel masterpiece.

Another favorite dad game was Think Pinks,

a kind of rhyming word war.

He'd start me out with a pairing...

Clunky monkey

and I'd retort with

jolly dolly

or burly squirrelly, thin pin, tall ball, long song...

You get the idea: rhyming ping pong.

I guess you could call it Poet Training.

Maybe that's where I got my word games obsession.

We made chameleon viewfinders this week.

I cut chameleon shapes into mat board

with my trusty kitchen shears

and then took the kids to the beach.

(in January. It was freezing. Nice, huh?)

Scavenger hunt!

Which skin worked best?

Sugar Snack tried himself as camouflage

and Birdy tried to dive in. Brrr!

Once we warmed up at home, we made chameleon floats,

Rose Parade style.

I scribbled pages of chameleons, gave the kids paintbrushes, glue and grain

and let them loose.

After taping on Popsicle sticks, there was a chameleon float parade.

Little petals of rice and lentils bespeckled our floor for days.

We may not play a strategic game of backgammon,

but we artists know how to make messes,

and how to play with our words!

Some excellent chameleon books:

Blue Chameleon by Emily Gravett is simple but brilliant.

Her soft, playful art is lovable, and just look:

chameleon as a sock!

chameleon as a boot!

How cute can you get?

Chameleon's Colors by Chisato Tashiro found its way in Pip's owl bag.

I love the vibrant colors and feel of this book. Clever, clever, it makes me want to have a paint party.

A Color of His Own by Leo Lionni is a gem, even after being in print for thirty-six years.

Curious George Learns the Alphabet by H. A. Rey is a great example of the game Hide.

Gifts for little bookworms

2012-01-04T05:30:00.000-08:00

Upcycled book bags are all the rage in our house,

especially when paired with great books.

In Pip's bag:

Joseph Had a Little Overcoat by Simms Taback

Fanny by Holly Hobbie

I have so much love for Joseph Had a Little Overcoat

that I have nothing to say -

other than that it is utterly brilliant and wow-ing in all respects.

In the spirit of such clever thriftiness,

Pip's owl bag was made from my favorite overalls.

I loved those overalls, but the nineties are over.

My toothy six year-old will have more fun with them.

Pip's bag has scrappy, feathered wings that spread out

or button in

with ric-rac and button eyes

and grandpa's old tie for the strap.

Winnie's panda bag

is made from old jeans,

a belt, buttons and more of those lovely scraps

(thank you, Sharon Clark!).

What Winnie found in her bag:

Fanny and Annabelle by Holly Hobbie

Chameleon's Colors by Chisato Tashiro

Holly Hobbie's books are at the top of our list because

girls who read

and make their own dolls

and write their own books?

- well, we can't help liking those kinds of girls around here.

Read on, my friends!

Write happy!

Make things

and have joy!

Cheers!

2011-12-28T05:30:00.000-08:00

To my blog kindreds, my stars and garters, my stellar pals:

Here's to words and worth,

Joyful dirt,

Bright, hoped for things

and clean pages.

Happy Holidays!

Happy New Year!

Gifts for good monsters, and other brainstorms from Santa's workshop

2011-12-21T05:30:00.000-08:00

What do you give your good monsters?

Here's what mine will find beneath the tree:

The bag is inspired by Tickle Monster, by Josie Bissett, illustrated by the talented Kevan J. Atteberry.

I got happy-growly about monsters when I won the art lottery recently - Kevan J. Atteberry sent me a gorgeous monster print which I'm framing up for Sugar Snack's room. Thank you, Kevan!

More of our monster book stash:

The Sea Serpent and Me, by Dashka Slater, ill. Catia Chien

Sylvia and Bird, by Catherine Rayner

(of my delicious fave Augustus and His Smile, raved about here.)

The girls helped me sew up the book bag.

See that red pom-pom tail?

They say you teach a man to fish and he feeds himself for life, right?
Well, I taught them how to make pom-poms.
They are set for life.
They can make fake snowballs and luggage tags
and monster tails. Who needs college?
And we are deluged by little ball-y pom-poms and yarn bits
on every surface.
ad infinitum.

The elves have also been helping to make gifts.

Gifts for our paleontologist pals:
dinotopeancils. pencilausoars...

...dinosaur pencils.

(involving plastic toys, pencils, a drill and glue.)

Gifts for our writerly / readerly crowd:

button clips

(paper clips meet buttons. The girls also made some to sell for "market.")

Gifts for our dolled-up gals:

Hair button-ups.

(same idea: buttons meet bobby pins.)

and

personalized paper doll cards.

(I will put up a link for the free printable version of this soon.)

Gifts for lonely doors:

an art project I did with the girls' class -

Holiday Wreath, Revisited

(involving sticks and yarn. shazam!)

Here's to happy, lovely, contended growl-y moments
this holiday season for you and yours!

More beast-y books, and what we're reading around the house:

The Friendly Beasts, illustrated by Tomie dePaola
The Nutcracker, by E.F. Hoffmann, ill. by Maurice Sendak
One Candle - Eve Bunting, K. Wendy Popp
A Little House Christmas, by Laura Ingalls Wilder, ill. Garth Williams
The Shine Man, Mary Quattlebaum, ill. Tim Ladwig

When Elves Visit

2011-12-14T15:12:00.000-08:00

When elves visit,
be they wee bairns,
or white-whiskered and jolly

it is best to
provide snacks

and woolly stockings.

Might I also suggest

a means of documentation -

for doubters, and writers alike.

How else will people believe us?

I've started keeping a notebook and pens at the ready,

in case elves, or story lightning strikes.

from How Six Found Christmas - Trina Schart Hyman

Story lightning is what happens to writers

when they are competently going about their business,

holding a conversation perhaps

and without warning, they stutter to a stop

and stare off into space.

The muse has hit,

a problem with the novel has clicked into place,

fresh inspiration has upended over their heads,

or ...

elves.

I am pretty sure that Clement C. Moore

had his handy Moleskine notebook

tucked into a pocket of his pajama gown

ready for such a visitation.

The shoemaker and his wife, as well.

The Elves and the Shoemaker - Freya Littledale, Brinton Turkle

The Elves and the Shoemaker - Jacob Grimm, Jim LaMarche

How do you prepare for elves

and story lightning?

Birdy's bonnet is my latest whim.

I cut up a red sweater that never wore right,

stitched it and added flower ribbon.

Voila.

Peace talks

2011-12-07T06:00:00.000-08:00

I talked with the kids about peace this week.

"Peace is when your heart isn't troubled. It's also -"

Their dad chimed in,
"-tiny! I have peace.
A tiny piece
of rice."

The evening erupted into wild fits of hilarity.
"I have piece! of pizza! ...piece of paper, piece of pie.... "

Peace talks all done. Try again next year.

A little more sacred dirt to remind me that both life and children do not fit into boxes.

Would you like to know what my children squabble over the most?

The singing manger scene.
"Give me the baby Jesus, stink-head!"

That's right. Maybe next week we can talk about love. We'll see how that goes...

The sketches are part of my homemade Advent calendar,
done old-school style in
India ink and Prisma colors on Canson paper,
cut out like paper dolls, glued onto envelopes and attached to mat board.

When we need a little hope...

2011-11-30T06:00:00.000-08:00

Who says angels smile all the time?

Jelly jars,
colored beach glass
and beeswax candles
on my grandmother's silver tea tray...

I lit a candle with the kids last night.
We talked about hope.
about promises
and longed-for things.

Eight years ago, I was told I couldn't have children.
I was lost at sea,
grasping for a new direction,
for something to hold on to.

That Christmas, my sister-in-law gave me a present,
a simple linen square, sewn with one word:

hope.

I stared over and over and over at that sewn word,

trying to own it.

hope.

It became my tangible reminder
that help is never far,
even when we can't see or feel or think through our hard times.

And that season, eight years ago, is when I started writing, actually sitting at a desk, plotting and birthing stories. Which I'm still doing today.

My four sweet endings, you've seen.

Hope is worth every penny of the wait.

Hope is the thing with feathers

That perches in the soul

And sings the tune without words

And never stops at all

- Emily Dickinson

We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.

- Oscar Wilde

For you, my artist and writer friends, hopeful by nature,

hopeful for someone, somewhere to pick up your work and be changed,

may your work be rich and deep,

may your hearts be lightened

and your hopes become solid.

A beautiful book about hope:

Gleam and Glow, by Eve Bunting, illustrated by Peter Sylvada

What To Do With Windfalls

2011-11-23T06:00:00.000-08:00

sometimes whirlwinds blow in

intrude on those carefully crafted goals

send sacred mud

in spades

and shovels

do i sigh and grumble over my lost tasks?

truthfully? too often.

but when i'm paying attention,

i stop and look at my happy wildebeests,

soak them up with my eyes

douse them with kisses

and then we go play in leaves

gather up our thankfulness by the armful

press them flat in big books

mound them in bowls

wear them as necklaces

string them in garlands

and leaf chandeliers

a reminder

that life is fleeting

and we have so much

to be thankful for

What do you do with unexpected windfalls?

Or maybe that should be, how do you deal with interruptions?

Or, for my writer friends: what is the secret to finding time to write while taking care of your brood?

I'd love your tips!

My latest happy book drool from the library:

The Dog Who Belonged to No One by Amy Hest, illustrated by Amy Bates is book that needs to be in my collection permanently.

The story is heart-warming and sweet, the overall design perfect - a kind of sepia tone to the pages, with a sort of silent movie style to it. And the pictures! Oh! I am smitten with Amy Bates' work. She captures the characters' essence beautifully.

Another book that you simply must see!

from The Dog Who Belonged to No One
illustration by Amy Bates

from The Dog Who Belonged to No One, illustration by Amy Bates

Why Picture Books Matter

2011-11-16T06:00:00.000-08:00

Stories were different, though: they came alive in the telling...

like seeds in the beak of a bird, waiting to fall to earth, or the notes of a song laid out on a sheet, yearning for an instrument to bring their music into being... Once someone started to read them, they could...take root in the imagination, and transform the reader.

Stories wanted to be read... They needed it. It was the reason they forced themselves from their world into ours.

They wanted us to give them life.

- John Connolly, The Book of Lost Things

It's Picture Book Month.

Some say picture books are a dying breed,
that it's better to skip kids ahead to bigger and better
as soon as possible.

My two cents?

Picture books go deep,
offer layers of learning,
teach children before we even realize they're paying attention.

Picture books teach art, rhythm, humor, language, nuance.

Picture books help us observe,
listen, question,
discover.

And
picture books give us
snuggles with best friends,
undivided parent time.

If books are seeds to the imagination,
and picture books seeds to a life of learning,
what will our culture become
if we lose them?

For some great posts by authors and illustrators on why this particular book form is so important,

check out Picture Book Month.

Some autumn picture book love:

Scarecrow - Cynthia Rylant, Lauren Stringer

The Apple Pie that Papa Baked - Lauren Thompson, Jonathan Bean

The Stranger, Chris Van Allsburg

So Sleepy Story, Uri Shulevitz

Rain Rain Rivers, Uri Shulevitz

Charlie Needs A Cloak, Tomie dePaola

The Fairy Door

2011-11-09T06:48:00.000-08:00

Pip and Winnie's fairy door.

Do you ever find portals while reading?

Lucy Pevensie's wardrobe

Alice's rabbit hole

Harry's Platform Nine and Three Quarters

Dorothy's tornado

Meg Murry's tessaract

Characters in these stories are ordinary people,

minding their own perfectly normal business

when whoosh! -

in zips a talking rabbit, a parliament of owls, an envelope in emerald ink,

bag ladies spouting Latin -

and the next thing they know

they've been carried away into a gloriously different world -

and life is never the same.

Children, lunatics and writers

live on the edge of that line between fantasy and reality.

Life is good here.

It takes less work to believe in books,

to look for fairy doors

and hang out near them, hoping for a way in.

At least, that's my excuse when I find myself

wishing for Diagon Alley,

an invitation to Camp Halfblood,

or to see Aslan face to face.

What are your favorite story doors?

Chalkboard paint and iridescent white acrylic

transformed a boring corner of Pip and Winnie's bedroom

into trees crossing paths

over a secret door to fairyland.

I think they like it.

The fairies, I mean.

If you look very carefully,

you can see them glowing.

And more fairy finds:

Wish baby
- a gift from my friend M. Bloom.

Her blog, We Bloom Here is full of lovely handcrafted inspiration such as these darling fairy people.

M. Bloom

Another blog for the fairy-hearted:

a faerietale of inspiration

Ruthie Redden

is compiled by Scottish artist Ruthie Redden, who has a knack for making and gathering beauty.

Books with great doors:

The Wishing of Biddy Malone

by Joy Cowley, ill. Christopher Denise

The High Rise Glorious Skittle Skat Roarious

Sky Pie Angel Food Cake

by Nancy Willard, ill. Richard Jesse Watson

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, C.S. Lewis,

ill. Christian Birmingham

The Princess and the Goblin, George MacDonald,

ill. Jessie Wilcox Smith

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, L. Frank Baum,

ill. Lisbeth Zwerger

A Wrinkle in Time, Madeleine L'Engle, ill. Leo and Diane Dillon

A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens, ill. Trina Schart Hyman

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland,

by Lewis Carroll, ill. Barry Moser

The Lightning Thief, Rick Riordan

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, J.K. Rowling

Add more favorites in the comments;

I'd love your recommendations!