My Birthday Wish - Help Me Have Deeper Impact

I’m Turning 50’

Happy Summer Everyone! 

Guess what? I'm not 18 anymore! I am turning FIFTY years old on June 20th and I couldn’t be more excited! When I read Carl Jung in grad school in my mid-20’s, 50 seemed so far away, but the way he described it made me look forward to it -- freedom from self. The 20’s were all about finding out what I was made of, the 30’s about starting and raising a family, the 40’s about finding meaning through work and making a difference in the community, and the 50’s extending that even farther, and really embracing life. My path has followed the Jungian trajectory perfectly! 

My Family Journey with Writopia

I had my three beautiful children in my 30’s and helped take care of my grandmother. I published my first novel in my early 40’s, and started working at Writopia Lab in NYC, a baby non-profit created by Rebecca Wallace-Segall dedicated to fostering joy, literacy, and critical thinking through creative writing to all kids and teens - a program that had a sliding scale and never turned anyone away based on their ability to pay.  The summer I turned 42, my family decided to take a leap of faith and move to Northern Westchester, and we wanted to bring Writopia Lab with us. My husband and I slowly began building the region now known as New York Metro North. All the while we watched Rebecca and her team in NYC grow exponentially, not only in the city, but becoming a Writopia Nation and opening labs in DC, Chicago, LA, and (now) San Francisco. Part of the city’s growth was paying attention to our mission of accessibility, that all children deserve and have the right to write. They have programs in treatment centers, in low performing schools, and Homes 4 Homeless. It’s been so inspiring to watch and be a part of.

We have grown out in Westchester too, and now have our own labs in Bedford Hills and Hartsdale, and with smaller hubs in Stamford, Ct. and in Rockland County (Nanuet). I have one of my first Writopians, Kaley, who started at the end of fifth grade in a small workshop at the Katonah Library, graduating from high school and attending Columbia University in the fall. How amazing and wonderful is it that I get to be part of not only her journey but many other kids as well.  Writopia is a safe, loving environment where kids can find their authentic voices and learn how to process their thinking through writing. They fall in love with the art of communication.

My Birthday Wish: Deeper Impact

And now is the time to grow in our outreach efforts, the way the city has. We have a huge immigrant population in Westchester, and haven’t been able to reach this important part of our community. There is a wonderful program called Neighbors Link whose mission is to strengthen the whole community by actively enhancing the healthy integration of immigrants.

In honor of my birthday, I am asking you to help me bring Writopia Lab to Neighbors Link and to our greater outreach efforts. There are two programs where Writopia could have deep impact  - Summer Links - which serves kindergartners through fifth grade - and Pipeline, a school-year program that focuses on teens who are at risk for graduating from high school. We would also love to be able to provide a full scholarship to one of our Westchester kids to our sleepaway camp, Wricampia at the end of August this summer.

This is why I am hoping to raise a minimum of $5000 for Writopia Lab for my 50th birthday. We will be “partying” all month of June! Check out the link to my donation page on the Writopia Website! Not everyone is in the position to donate, but what always helps is word-of-mouth - spreading the news of Writopia Lab!

Movie Trailers, New York, and What it Means to Be Alive

Special guest blogger: Kaley Mamo!

Alecia Whitaker (Wildflower), Writopians Magda, Amanda, David Levithan, Writopians Kaley and Elizabeth at the Jefferson Market Library for Teen Author Reading Night!

Good evening my turtledoves - you are in for a treat as this next post is written by one of my favorite people, high school freshman and Writopian, Kaley Mamo. She is a brilliant and insightful writer and blogs for her high school under her moniker: Confessions of a Teenage Existentialist. Last night a few of us went into the city to go to a Teen Author Reading event hosted by David Levithan down in the West Village at The Jefferson Market Library.  Kaley is here to tell you how fabulous "breaking out of your comfort zone" is!

Going into the city is like watching movie trailers at the theater - the way there is just as exciting as the actual event, if not more so. There’s so much hype during the trip, especially when you’re on a train with your like-minded friends, feeling rebellious and alive because it’s a school night and you have that Global test the next day that you’re never going to study for. Then there’s the hot chocolate that you’ll grab from a deliciously sweet shop as you walk under the twinkling city lights, and you will be liberated by the steaming cup that nearly burns your hands. Suddenly you’re the star of your own teen TV show, be it The Carrie Diaries or Gossip Girl, as you saunter down the street, laughing too loudly and dodging passers-by. And you think of watching movie trailers, because you can feel it - millions of stories at the tips of your fingers, each a new pathway, a new setting and mood and character arc. It all depends on which way you choose to go.

Then you remember what you’re doing there in the first place - you remember you’re seeing a movie, not just the previews. Or in my case, you remember you’re going to a YA author panel to meet the very people that embody your aspirations. David Levithan (Will Grayson, Will Grayson with John Green, Everyday, Boy Meets Boy), Kass Morgan (The 100, now a TV show on the CW), Alecia Whitaker (Wildflower) and more - they’ll all be there. And when you arrive, and you sit and listen and admire and become inspired, you’re overwhelmed in the best of ways. It’s a breathtaking night, and the honking of cars and roaring of sirens as you walk back to Grand Central fuels you. On the way home, you nearly drift to sleep - but the adrenaline (not to mention your friends) keeps you awake.

It’s nights like those that keep me alive. It’s not that I only live for adventures in the city, not that I hate doing anything but pretending I’m an elite, professional twenty-three year old writer who doesn’t have to go to three and a half more years of high school. It’s that to really, truly feel alive, I have to step outside of my comfort zone. My comfort zone being Katonah, or course. When I walk down the New York City streets with my writer friends on my way to an author reading or a poetry performance at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, I feel the deepest parts of my spirit shake off their early-November sleep. I am a writer of Manhattan, and there is never a time that I feel more like myself than when my friends and I are discussing our latest works and the struggles of writing and life and boys and family and trying, desperately, to live. But we are electrifying our souls as we absorb the arts of the city, the impromptu music underground in a grungy subway, the exquisite accent of our waiter at the diner, the dark mystery of the sky out the window and the way the train shakes with unknown quakes and tremors. (Side note - I’ve decided trains are the most magical form of transportation. Perhaps there will be a blog post about that one day.) And when we discuss the night, we think of movie trailers, because we saw so many snippets of what could-be. We basked in them, and almost forgot the main event. But the trailers have always been my favorite part of going to the movies.

It was an absolute awakening, to realize what made me feel alive - what made me realize that yes, I am a human being. I am a human being with a limited time on this earth, and I understand that I must find what I love, and I must spend every minute that I can doing whatever it is that makes me feel alive. It’s times like these that I don’t feel the overwhelming pointlessness of life that comes with being an Existentialist. I can, for the moment, flick off that pessimistic switch and think of doing the good things, rather than anxiously awaiting all the impending bad that will inevitably come. I listen to the inner clockwork of my mind, hear the ticking that picks up in pace when I write and walk through the city, feel the whirring and explosion of consciousness that comes when I finally feel alive. I am awake, completely awake and aware and I see those movie trailers all around, whispering in my ears that there are so many more stories out there, so many I have yet to discover. So many I will discover with another trip into the city.

Breaking out of your comfort zone is hard. Maybe you’re trapped in your town, or your family, or your friends or class or sports team or your own head. I know I’m trapped in school (see my previous post, Zombie Apocalypses and the Art of Wanting Something More), but there are fleeting moments when you will feel absolutely liberated. Take to the streets of Manhattan and start looking - because believe me, one day you will find them, whether they’re hiding in a cafe or a library or a stadium or concert venue. And even when you have found those moments, the search never really stops. There are always more movie trailers to watch.

The Next Generation of Authors Visit with John Green's Publisher!

How would you describe the world of publishing dear readers? Some look at it as merely another business, a process of supply and demand. But to aspiring authors, it is a world in which they yearn to belong.

So how does one begin?

At Writopia Lab, we focus on discovering and uncovering personal voice through memoir, fiction, dramatic scripts and poetry. Kids and teens work with published authors such as myself who support them in that process.

Writopians are both avid writers AND readers, honing their critical thinking skills through both practices, through delving into other worlds, developing empathy by creating and appreciating complex characters. They have their favorite authors, and of course may dream of being legit published themselves.

"I usually know if a manuscript is for me by the first two sentences," Julie told us late last Friday afternoon. Julie is the one and only Julie Strauss-Gabel, Penguin/Dutton publisher and editor to literary stars such as John Green, Lauren Myracle, Adam Gidwitz, Nina LaCour (and more!)

Julie is a friend and neighbor, and when I had casually asked if I could bring in some of my Writopia teens and college interns for a visit, she was more than game. (She is a veritable star in her own right, and her hyper-intelligence would make her daunting to have as a friend if she wasn't so down to earth and funny.)

"It's all about personal voice." How perfect for her to say to us?

After a quick tour of Penguin's Children's department, encompassing two floors, Julie spent two generous hours talking to us in the conference room, first walking us through the trajectory of her own career - Amherst grad, child development major, internship at Sesame Street - never considering publishing until the first job she got out of college was in subsidiary rights at Disney-Hyperion. She was a new editor at Penguin/Dutton in 2003 and was given a manuscript called Looking for Alaska by a 25 year old unknown author called John Green, and the rest is history!

(And yes, even though my teens are rabid John Green fans, they behaved themselves!)

She walked us through the lengthy process of making a book - from acquiring to several revisions with the author followed by a line edit and THEN copyediting, discussions on book jacket art and then marketing! Anna Jarzab, a colleague of hers from marketing and a published author herself brought us deeper through that maze that usually needs a year of lead time.

"What are you working on right now?" we asked.

Julie smiled slyly. "What am I NOT working on?" She has an armful of books at any given time in different stages of the publishing process. Julie only publishes about nine or ten books a year and is also constantly managing her authors' successful backlists. Publishing so few books a year, she very rarely takes on a new author. Her reputation is as a hard editor, but that is the dream - to find someone who takes an author's talent seriously enough to make them work hard and get the best out of them. After all, that's what I aspire to as a teacher, and what I hope for in an editor myself!

I think that her personal manner inspired my writers more than anything else - Julie talked to her teen and young adult visitors with the utmost respect, as though there was no place she would rather be.

AND she let them choose ARC's to take home! (You're our hero Julie!)

I really wanted to steal all the books there. Plus, I gasped out loud at seeing books I’d been anticipating for years and were not published yet. It was terrifying and thrilling to meet some high-end publishers and learn about the publishing process. -Maxine

Going to Penguin Publishing and meeting Julie Strauss-Gabel was absolutely fantastic. It was intimidating and extremely exciting to learn all about the publishing process - after Friday’s trip, I started brainstorming ideas for a possible novel! I loved getting an up-close look at publishing, and I learned what it takes to become a published author. The trip was so helpful and inspiring. --Kaley

And what about me?  I've published one, written others, and have yet to publish that second novel. Yet I keep my seat at the table not only because of the contacts I've made, but because as I age it becomes less about me and more about others. My dreams and passions have morphed and changed to empowering my students, to arm them with compassion and confidence, to help them on their journey. My friends - fellow authors and editors alike - love that about me.  And they know that I value friendship over publishing. Yes, having another novel out there would be wonderful, but it would be icing on an already rich, delectable cake.

Striving for Excellence

As a writing teacher and mentor, part of my job is helping kids get ready to submit their work for - you got it - public scrutiny, either in the form of a reading, publishing in a literary journal or for an award.

I have to practice what I preach as well - having goals inspires us to write at our highest level, and more importantly, to complete projects.

It is both rewarding and inspiring to help them strive toward excellence.

Tomorrow is the deadline for my Westchester Writopia kids in grades 7 through 12 to submit to the prestigious Scholastic Art and Writing Awards. I have nine students submitting work, and all are worthy, in my humble opinion, of some kind of recognition. (In the last three years, Writopians have won the most awards out of any group of kids.)

Yet it doesn't always happen, does it? We don't always get rewarded or recognized for our efforts. Last year I had two students submitting, both in the same age group and category. Both are excellent writers: yet only one of them was awarded a gold key.

(I think there might be a chance that I was more disappointed than she was.)

I want my students to feel empowered by their writing and their voice in the world. And they do! They are.

So I'm anxious, excited, proud: if some of them don't win, so be it. All of us suffer some slings and arrows for our art, and we keep on trucking, keep refining, keep practicing. And we learn that any art form is subjective. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder - yet we have to be in it to win it, and to feel strongly about our right to be in the game. (Or at least fake it!) You all know very well that this is something I myself struggle with. (Why wasn't Writopia around when I was a kid?)

This month, Writopia Lab in Westchester will be hosting two Open Mic events, to celebrate the students who have finished pieces this past fall. The first one will be at our beloved bookstore in Larchmont, The Voracious Reader this Sunday, January 8th from 2PM - 3:30PM. The second one will be on January 20th at the Mt. Kisco Library, from 5PM - 6:30PM.

If you live in the Westchester area, please come and support these wonderful emerging writers and let them know that they are all winners. (And if you know of a child who loves to write, this is an Open Mic, so they are welcome to come and participate in these events.)

Thinking Chocolate & Decision Fatigue

Here lies Thinking Chocolate, so dubbed by this week's group of young Writopians, who after an hour or so of character hijinks and plot shenanigans, need to resuscitate their writing mojo with a snack.

Fortunately, The Voracious Reader doubles as a tea shoppe and is happy to oblige their whimsies. It takes energy and brain power to create and brainstorm these fantasy stories.

Last Sunday, there was a fascinating article in The New York Times Magazine entitled: Do You Suffer From Decision Fatigue? discussing studies on how we get mentally exhausted from all of decisions and choices we are faced with. By the end of the day we are worn down and more apt to have poor impulse control and less will power. (As writers, we are constantly making decisions when we are creating new worlds.)

Now it has been proven that a little bit of glucose will replenish your mental capacities, and help you make better decisions.

Thinking chocolate:  not too small to make you want more, and not too big to make you sick. Just the perfect amount to stimulate the brain.

Here they are, modeling with the chocolate: Sam, Claudia, Meagan, Johnnie and Peter. After a dose of thinking chocolate, they are able to dive back into their tales with gusto.

We are only together three hours each morning, and when 1PM rolls the kids can't believe how fast the time has flown. "Can't we write all day?"

With thinking chocolate, anything is possible.

Writing with Tweens

The summer has been a hiatus from my own writing, but that doesn't mean I haven't been playing with words, plot and character development all along. Since the end of June I have had the privilege of instructing kids, tweens and teens all day long in the art of fiction writing, and Writopia in Westchester has quadrupled with the addition of our Larchmont location, hosted generously by Francine Lucidon at The Voracious Reader.

This has been a week of amazing 12-13 year olds, who type faster than I can think. We have some beautiful edgy realistic fiction, science fiction, fantasy and fairytales - even a mystery is being constructed. On Wednesday we were interviewed by Brian Donnelly of The Daily Larchmont, and he wrote an article called: Bookstore Lab Molds Young Readers into  Writers that came out yesterday.

These tweens will finish their short stories or the first part of their novellas today, and I look forward to working with them more during the school year.

And my new wordy addiction? Move over Scrabble, Lexulous, it's time for Whirly Word! (It's on my I-phone - I am armed and dangerous!)

Writers are Observers

How can we enrich our stories through observation? Writers of all ages have a keen interest and curiosity in the human condition. Learning to observe and be present in different environments is a muscle that needs building and takes practice. I have to work on it all the time - I've always been a daydreamer with a strong imagination, but it is constantly learning how to be present that has taken my writing to another level.

Many of you know that I complement my passion for writing with teaching kids, tweens and teens, and that I have been building Writopia Lab, a NYC based award-winning program out in Westchester. (We run week long 3 hour writing intensives during the summers and holiday breaks, and weekly 1.5 hour sessions during the school year.)

This morning I took my young 9 and 10 year old Writopians on a field trip (with parental permission of course) around our lovely town of Katonah for an hour this morning. Notebooks and pencils in hand, we started on a patch of grass near the Katonah United Methodist Church where we are holding workshops. We warmed up by making up a story together about an old man in a wheelchair and his undying love for lizards.

As we sat in the grass, enjoying the gentle breezes and warm sunlight dappling through trees I asked the kids to jot down words and phrases that they associated with the environment, with being outside. Next I spoke a little about character building through observation of atmosphere.  "How would your main character feel in this moment?" We have to know absolutely everything about our characters, even if a little detail about whether or not they like the smell of fresh cut grass never makes it in the story.

Wednesday's are the beginning of the middle of our camp-like workshops, and the perfect opportunity to discuss character. These Writopians have found their story and the beginnings of a narrative arc. Their plots have been sketched out, but now is the time to see how their main character will drive the plot forward.

We imagined the ways in which our characters would walk and look at the world. Are they loose? Are they tense? Are they happy? Sad? Bewildered? They giggled as we walked and I explained how scrunching our shoulders or loosening our knees can make a difference in how people feel and behave.

We walked around town with the notion of observing our own thoughts, and then maybe exploring what our main characters might be thinking. We went into four different stores, enjoying the bewildered and amused looks we got from store owners when I asked if these young writers could practice their observation skills. It was fascinating.

Our first stop was Noka Joe's, a wonderful treat and novelty store. The kids took notes, and I made suggestions for how their observations could be incorporated into their stories. Next was the Katonah Barber Shop - the barbers really didn't know what to do with us, but they didn't say no. (It is beautifully air conditioned and smells lovely, and each of the four barbers have their names on plaques by their stations.) Next was another grooming place, but for dogs. It is a two-week old store called: Must Love Dogs, owned by Jessica Rina, and she let us come in and watch her blow dry a labra-poodle. The kids loved it. Our last stop was Kellogg's department store, where we all grooved on it's old-timey feel.

We came back to the church and opened our computers, but before we went back to our stories, I asked them to string some of the words they had written down into a piece of prose or poem. (No, it doesn't have to rhyme!) The kids spent ten - fifteen minutes choosing some of their words and composing atmospheric pieces. Heaven!

They were able to go back to their fiction with increased vigor and sense of fun and discovery. That's what writing is all about, isn't it?

Mojo Lesson from Sexy Sax Man

Is it hot enough for you? My brain is fried, but I'm having a great time getting my sillies out with Writopia kids. Yes, of course they are working hard to finish and polish their original pieces, but that doesn't preclude FUN. We have two plot-driven stories going where anyone can take a break from their own work and add a paragraph to the craziness.

And today these 9th grade boys introduced me to the Sexy Sax Man, Sergio Flores, who has cameos in our action-packed comic sci-fi stories.

Sexy Sax Man, you have given me an Aha! moment. I have been lamenting my own writing mojo these days because I've been so busy teaching (and yes, gallivanting with Potter-heads in Florida) but you've shown me that you take your mojo wherever you are, as indeed my grandmother did.  (My grandmother trained herself to write anywhere - even at the airport!) While it is undeniably true that I need more training and more practice, (I-just-need-a-five-hour-block-of-time where I can get back into my story!) my mojo hasn't left me, it's just been channeled somewhere of equal value: Teaching!

Waiting, Clapping, and a Contest

Image by Kaptain Kobold via Flickr

I'm sitting at my desk, waiting for emails.

At least I'm not waiting for inspiration to strike. My new-ish WIP has been put aside for the past couple of weeks as I pull together a schedule for Writopia Lab's summer program in Westchester. I am very excited: there is some buzz, and I want to be able to keep up the momentum by emailing responses back right away, answering inquiries, walking parents' through the registration process.

I also might as well come out and admit it: I'm waiting for my agent and/or editor to get back to me about The Land of the Lost and Found, although that will likely be a phone call, and not an email.

It's been at least a month since my agent hit SEND on the document.

It will probably be another month or two, before I hear anything. I'm sure "they" (the publishers) want to see how Edges is doing. (Which is another thing I get asked all of the time.) And the answer is: I don't know. Well, to be honest, my fear and my suspicion is that it has DIED.

So peeps, if you haven't yet already, please become a fan on Facebook, and if you are able, pretty please give Edges a boost on Goodreads and Amazon with some good ole' stars. 

Clap if you believe. It worked for Tinkerbell, didn't it?

In fact, I'm going to have another contest. I have two audio-books to give away. Rate Edges on Goodreads and on Amazon. I will enter your name twice if you take the time to do both! (Let me know in the comments section by Friday, June 24th). I have also announced a contest for a signed book on the Edges' Facebook page as well.


And look, in the time it took to write this, I got another email from Vistaprint, asking if I need more business cards. (First 100 free!)

See y'all on the flip side.

Writers are Shiny

It's wonderful when all aspects of one's life harmonize and sing. As both a writer and a teacher of writing, I feel this joy and vulnerability when my Writopia students' shine and are recognized.

On Friday, June 3rd, I took two of my students along with their chaperones, to showcase a few minutes of their prose at Writopia's city-wide Spring Reading. 

Here are two pictures of my Writopia students: both are finishing the fifth grade at Katonah Elementary School. Above is Caleigh Boyer-Holt with yours truly, and here is Beatrix Roberts.

The event was held in the Courtyard Gallery - a gorgeous open space downtown at the The World Financial Center, where Scholastic's Art and Writing Awards is having an art show through the end of June, in honor and recognition of the 2011 winners. You can see behind us some of the excellent work, from teens all over the country. Every year since 1923, Scholastic has hosted a contest for teens in seventh grade through twelfth. (Past winners include Andy Warhol, Sylvia Plath, Truman Capote, Richard Avedon, Robert Redford and Joyce Carol Oates.)

Since Writopia kids won more regional keys and national medals in the Scholastic Writing Awards than any other group of kids in the entire nation, our National Director, Rebecca Wallace-Segall was invited to host a reading in this space.

Beatrix Roberts, otherwise known as "Bea", was brave enough to kick off the event by volunteering to read first. She has been working on a dystopian novella - based on an image of a girl alone in the woods - and has delighted in watching it take shape and finding the tension in both controlling the narrative and letting the process guide her. She was so poised, her voice strong and beautiful: she brought a tear to my eye.

Caleigh was equally magnificent. I started working with her last fall, and we had an immediate connection, not only because of the writing and the spectacles, but because of growing up in the church: her mother is the rector of the Universalist Methodist Church in Katonah. (I grew up in an Episcopal Seminary in NYC where my father worked as a priest.) Caleigh's understanding of emotions is incredibly nuanced and developed for an eleven year old. I often have to remind myself of how old she is when reading her work! She has been finding her voice through weaving together stories of anthropomorphic wolves in Alaska, who not only battle the "toe-walkers", but themselves.

Both girls will be published in our on-line literary journal this summer, The Parenthetical, and have fallen in-love with the concept of layering and revision, wanting to nurture their burgeoning talent as writers.
 
And tonight, I will be missing the Fireman's Parade in Katonah, an experience I hear from everybody as Norman Rockwellian. Why would I miss such an event? Because of one of my students, that's why!

I have the honor of going to Horace Greeley High School in Chappaqua for the debut of Writopian Lindsay Gittelman's play, SNAP. Lindsay is in the tenth grade, and she has written many stories with me since last summer, including SNAP. She joined a playwrighting class at school this spring, and turned this short story into a play. Part of the class is to use fellow students to play the characters, and direct it herself. I am so excited and proud.

It is a joy to watch others' flush with excitement when they receive acknowledgement for their hard work and effort. We all don't have to be superstars, but we do need to be heard, to know that our voices matter.

Caleigh, Bea and Lindsay, you all are superstars to me. And you are so shiny!

Related articles

• The 2011 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards Ceremony at Carnegie Hall Honors the Nation's Best Teen Artists and Writers (prnewswire.com)

Anticipation, LeakyCon 2011, and the MET

Image via Wikipedia

I am full of anticipation for many things on this gorgeous last day of May, but I am not lost in wanting or waiting. I am smelling the flowers and watching the sunlight dapple through trees. I am signing more and more kids up for writing intensives this summer for Writopia Westchester.

As ever, I am excited to meet new people and further develop my relationships!

And . . . drumroll . . . my sister and I are officially on the roster for Lit Day at Leakycon 2011 in Orlando, Florida on July 13th! (Primal whoops, screams and happy dances goin' on over here!) Check it out!!!!! I will be on panels, lead a writing workshop, AND sis and I will do a presentation about our grandmother's (Madeleine L'Engle's) contribution to literature.

Yeeee haaaaa!!!!!   AND we'll be gettin' our Harry Potter freak on!

Another less obvious anticipation: I am leaving in about ten minutes to train into the city to meet my former boss from Four Corners Community Mental Health Center in Moab, Utah. He will be waiting for me on the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art at 3:45! He is retired now, and I haven't seen him in about fourteen years, but I think I might cry, I am so excited!

Oh gosh - gotta run - will write more tomorrow, for sure!

The Week in Review

Image via Wikipedia

This title makes my life sound so important! Ha! But hey, I've got some horns to toot, not my own so I can be all BRAGGY.

Ten Girls Write Now high school students were invited to The White House last Wednesday - (yes, the one with the Obama's) to participate in the National Poetry Celebration because yes, they are the next generation of poet's! Huzzah! And TWO of them were also Writopia students! They had a wonderful afternoon poetry workshop, and an evening event featuring performances from Elizabeth Alexander, Billy Collins, Common, Steve Martin, Rita Dove, Alison Knowles, Aimee Mann and Jill Scott.

Wow!

Speaking of Writopia, I am very excited to announce our partnership with The Voracious Reader in Larchmont! This wonderful kid/teen bookstore is expanding to include a tea shop (called The Proper Cup) and has a dedicated space in which we can have Writopia workshops! I am THRILLED!

And I'm almost scared to report this because the deets haven't been ironed out yet, but my sister Charlotte and I have been invited to participate in Lit Day at the Harry Potter conference in Orlando this July!

Oh, and it was my daughter's SIXTH birthday! The end of an era. We had a fairy garden party.

That's it - the Week in Review!!!!!!

Writing Stories with Eighth Graders (WSEG)

I offered a free Writopia workshop entitled Writing Games at the Mt. Kisco Library this weekend. I had a BLAST! I wasn't expecting a huge turn-out on such a beautiful day, but I had my figurative bag of tricks with me. I was pleased when two eighth graders showed up: Eden G. from Armonk and Aron L. from Yorktown. A girl who writes all of the time, and a boy who only writes when he has to. For school. You know I liked that challenge!

Now, when I just have one or two kids and we're playing writing games, that means I get to play too. 

Yee-freakin'-ha! Yes, a Writopia teacher is a published author who is half camp counselor (fun and funny, warm and engaging) and half savvy editor/teacher (astute, insightful, serious, open, sensitive). In fact, we are always looking for more teachers! If you know of anybody who loves kids and is a published fiction author in Westchester, let me know!

But I digress. We wrote three stories together in 75 minutes. We all started with the same prompt: he jumped down from the tree and wrote for 5 minutes, establishing a main character and a conflict, then  passing it on to the next person in our "round table", every 5 minutes, pushing the story forward. I also made sure that we ENDED the stories we STARTED. I was in heaven, because all three turned out to be pretty science-fiction -y, which I love to read but don't write myself much. My job with them was to give "lessons" on story structure along the way, indeed inserting them myself when need be. FUN!

And here's the thing: we were so excited by our three stories in seventyfive minutes, that I promised to post them all on my blog! So NOW I must do that . . . in three separate blog posts . . . coming up! They will be entitled WSEG Story 1, 2, and 3.

Why aren't you working on your WIP, you may well ask. Well. One WIP is floating out there with my editor. I don't have a contract yet, so my fingers are crossed VERY tightly. (Will you cross yours too?) I have another WIP that I have to get back to. I will! I promise. But first this . . .

Creative Writing is for Everybody

Did I catch your attention? Did she say that creative writing is for everybody? Really?

I put my money where my mouth is, not only in my own writing, but in working with kids of all ages on theirs as well. Two years ago I began working alongside Writopia founder Rebecca Wallace-Segal in New York City, and last summer I was thrilled to be trusted to spearhead the Writopia movement in Northern Westchester when I moved to Katonah. Now I am equally excited to help foster the Writopia  growth throughout Southern Westchester as it's program manager.

Creative expression isn't just for those who have confidence in their own creative juices, in fact it's just as important for those un-inclined, to fall in-love with some aspect of personal expression.

I invite you to hop on over to Writopia's blog to read an essay I just posted about this very subject. It starts like this:

As Writopia Lab continues to grow in Westchester, our partnerships with local libraries, schools, and bookshops remain crucial to how our writing community fits within the broader network of institutions that advance literacy. Because of this, I'm afforded frequent opportunity to interact with many like-minded kids, educators and authors. They, along with the many enthusiastic librarians and booksellers I meet, sometimes make it easy for me to forget that not everyone sees value in learning the art of written expression.

Yet I am sometimes asked why creative writing should matter at all for kids who are not considered predisposed in some way as writers.

Want to read more? Click here!

One Reader at a Time, Part Deux

Good morning! This week I will turn my head from pimping my novel to Girls Write Now and Writopia responsibilities. For GWN, the time is upon us for putting together the Anthology, and for Writopia, we are enrolling for our summer programs in Westchester - not only in Katonah, but now I will personally be involved in further developing the Larchmont/ Scarsdale area.

But first I wanted to share with you my time on Saturday at the Barnes and Noble in Wilkes-Barre Pennsylvania! It was very different from anything else I've experienced, and must be noted. My expanding philosophy of one-reader-at-a-time is serving me well. I am building relationships . . .

I drove from Katonah to Wilkes-Barre in under three hours, and when I walked in with my family, there was a table in the front with copies of Edges on it, and a pen with a poster of me saying signing and discussion! Right there in front of the doors! The boys were impressed, but hunkered down in the kids section with the husband. (The girl had soccer, so she stayed with neighbors).

It wasn't really the forum to engage people as a group, but I am open, and  willing to try anything! The staff couldn't have been lovelier. They hooked me up with a venti mocha at the café, and checked in on me periodically with questions of their own!

I have to admit though, that I was uncomfortable at first. I felt like a Barnes and Noble greeter: "Welcome to Barnes and Noble! Would you like . . ." and in the beginning, people would nod and rush past. Sales! Talk about pimping your novel!

Fortunately, I was there also to meet Alison - a fellow blogger,  reader and friend - face to face for the first time, and Lauren, a teen blogger I had recently met on Twitter. Lauren is absolutely amazing. She is in tenth grade, and started blogging about books three years ago because nobody in her community liked to read as much as she does! She has read over 50 books so far this year, AND does well in school. Here I am with Lauren and her BFF Emily, courtesy of Alison's camera! We all wanted to hang out and talk, but it was a little awkward because there was no place for them to sit! So we all experienced this slight strangeness together, and I did end up reading a passage, although not as dramatically as I would have liked.

Lauren hasn't read Edges yet, so she bought a copy and I personalized it for her. On the drive back, I felt bad because she's a blogger and probably doesn't have to buy any books! Later I tweeted that she could have first dibs on an ARC of the next one . . . needless to say, I hope that she loves it and isn't disappointed!

Alison stayed by my side the whole time - three hours - and we talked to many people, gave away bookmarks, and even sold a few books. One teen even told me that she had just checked it out from her local library! So people are reading Edges, one reader at a time.

Writing: You Have to Be In-Love

Image by andyi via Flickr

Less than an hour ago I was worrying over word choice in a manuscript AND hoping that my kids are better by tomorrow when we drive 90 minutes to the illustrious R.J. Julia in Madison, CT in the evening for Edg-ification (Ha!) when my computer bleeped that I had ten minutes until a SKYPE visit with a classroom in Utah.

Yikes! I had completely forgotten! It was with a Novels and Publications class at The American Leadership Academy in Spanish Fork and was my very first classroom visit! The class had very interesting questions, and had read the first chapter of Edges. It really hit home that writing a novel is one of the hardest things that I have ever done! You have to really be in-love with the process to do it.

Otherwise, you wouldn't do it, would you? I almost didn't, but here I am in my 40's, beckoning the call. What we love calls to us, but it doesn't mean that it's not soul-wrenchingly hard. If becoming real is a process for ourselves, shouldn't it be for our characters? And is there any writer out there who doesn't struggle with words? 

Speaking of which, I sent my manuscript to my agent on Monday. Usually, that makes me feel GREAT, but I felt . . . meh. After seven drafts, a fully realized baby is not in my hands anymore. There were parts of it, and Edges, that I didn't want to write but felt compelled to. The story drove me. Now it's just a waiting game. It's good enough. But will it be good enough for this competitive market?

I need to give myself permission to take a break from fiction writing for the next couple of weeks. I need to throw myself into other aspects of my life through April, other than "writer". Absence will make the heart grow fonder, (as long as I don't stay away too long), and I've got plenty to keep me busy with the business aspect of writing for now. I have a marathon of co-editing coming up for the Girls Write Now Anthology, "author" visits to RJ Julia tomorrow, and Barnes and Noble in Wilkes-Barre, PA on Saturday at 2PM. There's the kids' spring vacation to consider - I am a mom too, after all! And of course, Writopia.

Even when I'm not writing fiction, I am thinking and talking about writing, reading and teaching. Yes, I am in-love, even though the publishing biz can be a harsh mistress. And through all of that, we have each other, don't we? Our growing community of artists and writers, and those who love us! How are you all today? Let's have a virtual or a real coffee date. Who's in?

Madeleine L'Engle, Empire State Hall of Fame, & Fifth Graders

Cover of A Wrinkle in Time

What's on my mind?

My grandmother is to be inducted into the Empire State Hall of Fame next week on April 1st and I have been invited to accept the award on her behalf. She will be honored with the likes of Dorothy Parker, Ralph Ellison, Herman Melville and others. (We will also be celebrating the 50th year of A Wrinkle In Time on February 12th of 2012.) I need to write a short speech illuminating her already well-known contributions to the Empire State and to literature.

I only have 2-3 minutes and there's so much to say! 

But I'm also thinking about tomorrow: I will be representing Writopia and leading workshops all morning with 5th graders in Scarsdale, NY at the Young Writer's Workshop. All participants will create a short short story in 45 minutes. Impossible? Nay! Not with Writopia!

There's something about working with 10 year olds that is so inspiring and it also happens to be the age group that is first attuned to A Wrinkle in Time and GETS it.

Ten year olds have a freedom with their intellect and imagination that gets choked as we get older, and develop the inner critic. (At Writopia, we strive to help develop the inner editor!)  A Wrinkle in Time has inspired fifth graders to both read and to write, to enter the world of the impossible. Their imaginations break down those barriers! It's the same with Middle Grade Fiction. You can write about the impossible and have it be believable. Toads can be best friends, wolves can talk, Martians and Venutians can interface. (Wait, isn't that TRUE?) My grandmother had a firm grasp in Story as Truth, something that fifth graders inherently know.

And what about Meg? The groundbreaking (in 1962) FEMALE protagonist and math nerd who is our unlikely heroine. How many generations of fifth graders has Meg inspired to be whatever they want to be? 

Okay, this is short, but there will be more ruminations all week long as I PREPARE for Friday night, which also happens to be my 12th wedding anniversary! (Yes, I am leaving the kids with my mom, and bringing HIM!) The next day, I will put my own author hat on for the Festival and represent Edges to the best of my ability, but on Friday night, I am all about being the gushing granddaughter! (And doting wife . . .)

Now I go and teach . . . fifth graders!

Related articles

• 90-second version of A Wrinkle in Time (boingboing.net)

Writing Wisdom from Fifth Graders

Image by Pink Sherbet Photography via FlickrHappy Friday everyone. I've just come from a glorious session of working with fifth graders in a Writopia workshop. Monsters, bar-mitzvahs, and political intrigue in 15th century Wales. Their unself-consciousness is what I aspire to in writing. We adult writers need to tap into our inner ten-year-olds. Give us the support of time, space and encouragement, and we fly.

Here's what these 10-year-olds are saying:

"Writing is cool because I can control the world I'm creating - I can do whatever I want with my characters. When you're a kid you have a craving to control something bigger than you are and when I write, no-one can tell me what I can't do. Writing helps me make bigger choices."

"I've always wanted to go back in time and be part of a mystery. I create what I want to experience."

"You have so much stuff in your head and you just want to get it out - let your mind go loose - it doesn't matter what you do - it's your own creative world and you're the boss."

Don't they make writing sound COOL! Why isn't everybody doing it? Don't you just want to go and write now, after reading this? Go on, go. Turn off the internet, open up a word document, and open your mind . . .

 Have a great weekend!

Race To Nowhere

Image by Visions By Vicky via Flickr

High Schools all over Westchester are hosting viewings and discussions of Race to Nowhere, a film that documents the growing stress upon students in the United States.

Many of my friends, old and new, gathered last night in the auditorium of John Jay High School in Cross River to watch this film together. We knew what it was about, and thought it would be much like preaching to the choir. None of us want to see our kids saddled with five hours of homework a night, to see them resort to losing sleep, taking drugs to stay awake, and ultimately cheating, just to get an A that will propel them through the college application mill.

I had so many feelings watching this movie. Anger and sadness for kids who are under so much pressure; happiness that I myself am doing what I love; worry about the unintentional pressure I put on my own kids; and even sadness for my own childhood, where I was under such pressure to "perform" as well.

Wanting to have a personal antidote to this school madness, I felt pleasure and gratitude at being a part of Writopia, where there's value in individual expression, finding the story, and solving the very problems you've created. And indeed, a couple of my own students' parents have called me after they've seen Race to Nowhere, telling me they were glad their child is enrolled in Writopia, that their child is falling in-love with writing, with learning. That's what every teacher wants to hear.

Then again, I'm faced with the fact that Writopia looks fantastic on a resume, and that to motivate our young writers and build their confidence, we encourage them to enlist in the prestigious Scholastic Art and Writing Awards. They might not win, but I believe that chances are they will, and THAT looks good on a college application. I also take pride in the 100% success rate I've had working with the students on their college essays. So does my warm and fuzzy teaching style, the "let's have FUN!" attitude, still end up as a gear in the mill?

While I can take solace in Writopia's non-profit mission and that my students can value achievements that serve their personal expression instead of the No Child Left Behind legislation, I feel badly for all the wonderful public school teachers out there, forced to shelve the values that prompted their careers, and to "teach to the test" in order to stay working. I feel badly for parents who only want their kids to have every opportunity, and badly for the kids who have a higher risk for depression and anxiety.

It has been discovered that homework does not have a direct correlation to achievement in elementary school, and only a modest correlation in middle and high schools. How many adults take home five hours of work with them after they leave work? And most students feel that homework is stupid busy work - who knows better than them that it's not helping them learn? Can you imagine how much of a toll that takes on their overall health? A statistic was cited last night: ten years ago one out of ten college freshman were taking psychotropic medication, and today that number has risen to one in four. A monstrous public health problem.

We live in a society where success is measured by how much money you make. I myself struggle with that paradigm. Now the income gap is widening, and kids think that they're losers if they don't fit the mold that maybe only 1% of people do. Why do we have a system in which every student is mercilessly geared toward a Harvard application? Not every student needs or wants a Harvard law degree or MBA, and shouldn't our future teachers, auto mechanics, carpenters, and writers be able to pursue what they love and have that process be valued? 

Even though I didn't require any convincing, Race to Nowhere was a real slap in the face, seeing what we as a Nation are doing to our future, turning our kids into mini stressed out versions of ourselves and robbing them of their childhood. The college application mill we've imposed upon our kids (virtually from birth now) doesn't allow much room for creativity, experimentation or failure.

The most valuable thing my grandmother ever told me was that if you are not free to fail, then you are not really free.

We need permission to fail, to learn from our mistakes, to grow, to be human. This race to nowhere is not helping our children grow up prepared for the beautiful and sometimes bitter twists and turns of life. More than ever, we live in a culture of entitlement and disappointment as our dreams for ourselves fit one narrow paradigm of achievement. We must come to enlarge that paradigm: to value curiosity and abstract thinking, to value all members of our community, no matter what gender, race, sexuality, learning style/ability, artistic temperament, or where they fit on the economic spectrum.

We need to focus on the process of becoming human, rather than being a "product" with X amount of money and material things. We need to understand that failure is part of that process, and that learning to pick ourselves up and dust ourselves off is an important skill. Now who is preaching to the choir? ;-)

Open Mic and My New Living Room

It's raining cats and dogs and I am finally sitting in my new living room, and finally sitting on the new couch that we bought 6 months ago. Yes, finally. (Breaking rule of NOT repeating words.)

And look at the beautiful paint job husband did! Everything is (one more time . . .) FINALLY coming together: the book AND the house!

I've been feeling like a published author since Thursday evening, after my wonderful inauguration at Books of Wonder. It helped me feel less anxious about the Open Mic event at Borders in Mt. Kisco last night (although I was worried about attendance - because most of my Writopia kids are planning on reading at the event next Friday, December 17th).

The barometer was Borders and the kids' happiness and everyone was thrilled, so the event was a success! (And people bought books!)  I had two girls from my 10-year-old group and my 3rd grader, Finn, brought two of his friends from school to read their poems for the Open Mic portion of the afternoon. Two girls, three boys, and me. An exhilarating part of the evening was the Q&A, where the kids and I answered questions about the writing process. The girls waxed eloquent about Writopia! It was a joy to watch their confidence build the more and more they spoke - indeed, I had the same experience on Thursday night - I was nervous reading, but during the Q&A when I realized that people were really interested in what I had to say, I completely relaxed!

And now I can relax in my living room with my family on a Sunday afternoon. Tomorrow maybe, I can get some writing done, somewhere other than my bed!

Related articles

• Young NYC writers are invited to submit their pieces for public display (timeoutny.com)