On Writing and Genealogy: Shaking the Family Tree

I recently sold several articles to SCBWI (Society for Children's Book Writers and Illustrators) for their Bulletin, on using genealogy when writing. The most recent, Keeping Those Characters in Line, appeared in the January/February 2009 issue. If you're a member of SCBWI, you can log in to their website and read it. In it, I discuss how organized genealogists are, and how they have a form for everything. I list my favorites and how to download them for free. But I should warn you that using those forms may lead to a new hobby—genealogy! Then you'll have write your whole family history, because truth can be stranger than fiction!

Apparently someone at the Redlines and Deadlines blog liked it, and posted the links. Redlines and Deadlines is written by the editors at Ellora's Cave Romantica Publishers. I found a lot good advice on writing, editing, submitting, etc. But children's writers be forewarned! There's a lot of frank discussion about writing erotic scenes! LOL

Other articles in the series are Using Genealogical Resources for Research (SCBWI Bulletin, March/April 2008) which discusses historical research, and Watch Out For Those Falling Nuts (SCBWI Bulletin, forthcoming, TBA) about interviewing family members as a resource for your writing.

I cannot say enough about SCBWI. If you are an aspiring children's writer or ilustrator, do consider joining. Their publications are informative, and their conferences are first-rate.

What Would You Do With Two Burros?

New York Times posted a story of a Columbian elementary school teacher that packs up his two burros with books every weekend, and treks to a distant village in order to bring a little literacy and education to his area of the world. Brings new meaning to the BookMobile, or as he calls it, "BiblioBurro." Check it out. He's truly inspirational.

What would you do with two burros?
Assuming I had room to house two burros, I could use them to mow my lawn, or plow my road in the winter. My husband could ride one to work. That would save on gas and be better for the environment. They could be fun to sketch, but who am I kidding, I don't even sketch my cat.

My fantasy burros would be Greek (of course!) wearing worry beads around they're necks. I'd have to plant olive and lemon trees for them to munch on. They'd take long naps in the afternoon and Greek dance around the yard till the wee hours of the morning. Oh, wait! I already live with three Greek burros!

What would you do with two burros?

See Our TV Splash

My apologies—the technilogical aspects of posting this last weekend didn't work out, especially when your sweet husband forgets to pack the wireless card! Ah, well.

We made it to Taunton, MA safely this year (last year was the road trip from hell) and arrived around 5 am on Thursday, Aug. 21st. It was still dark out. Our crew consisted of myself, hubby, college boy and middle school boy. Around 5:30 a group of carowners arrived as scheduled at the boat ramp on Lake Sabbatia for our debut on Good Morning, America.

The satellite truck and crew were already there. The lake was gor-jush that morning, just as smooth as silk. Here's the pontoon boat that the cameraman would later film from.

It was great fun to watch the TV crew set-up. I'm not sure why they wanted us there at 5:30 when they didn't air until 7 am, but it was entertaining none-the-less. Sam Champion showed up a little later. I hadn't watched GMA since Spencer Christian was the weatherman (yes, I know that was eons ago), so I had no idea what Sam Champion looked like. But I knew the second I saw him; he had the hair!

Watching him prepare for the broadcast was interesting. He had his little earpiece in, and stood there studying some papers, probably weather reports from around the nation. Then, out of the blue, he would start laughing or say some random comment, like, "Strawberrry Rice Krispies," and nod. I wanted to hear the other side of that conversation!

As it became lighter out, people stopped, attracted by the satellite truck and armada of amphicars. I heard several comments, "I'm going to be late for work," and "I was suppose to be there an hour ago."

A minute before air time, the producer, Darcy, would holler out for everyone to be quiet on the set and we all held our breath. And held our breath. And held our breath. Apparently we were waiting for the news to be read, then Sam jumped in with a ten second forecast. I was amazed at the amount of information he could rattle of in so little time. And that he could remember it all! There may have been a tele-prompter there, but I didn't see one. Even if there was, he didn't have time to look at it.

After the 7:30 report, we lined our cars up—12 in all—to get ready for our splash-in at 8 am.

During that time, Darcy had us surround one car and practice our group wave. Dorky, but fun. You can see a quick clip of that here.

I don't have a photo of the splash-in because I was obviously in the car. If I had one, you would see a large spray of water in front of the car, and water sloshing over the back onto my lap. This is not what other back seat passengers endured, only me!

After we splashed in, we drove around for a bit. Here's a great shot showing all four of the original colors the amphicars were sold in—mint green in the back, ivory, lagoon blue, and red.

Here's our boy Sam taking Ron Green's (International Amphicar Owners Club President) navy car for a test drive. He did okay, but really, he just went in circles.

After the shoot was over, we all drove around for a bit longer. Here were two of the best passengers of the day. Not the adults sitting up in front, but the two dogs sitting in the back seat. They were so good, you'd swear they were statues.

Then the real fun began!

Unfortunately, Lake Sabbatia has some type of weed growing in its waters. They wind around the props and make it hard to turn. Sometimes we drive out and the front bumper looks like a mustache, there are so many. We definitely remove those before we head north to New Hampshire. We don't want those growing around here.

By 9:30, we were on the road looking for some breakfast. Stopped at McDonald's and some people there recognized us from the show!

Have you read this far? Here's a clip from Good Morning America. Right after you hear Sam say, "They really do look like little cars out there," you will see us in our car. I am in the back seat (you can miss the white hair), middle school boy is next to me. Hubby is driving and college boy is co-captain. I'm sorry, I couldn't figure out how to imbed it the blog post. (Anyone?)

You can see more videos on my son's website, Amphicar Ventures, or on YouTube. I'll post more later about the rest of the trip.

But I'm a fan of Sam's now. The perfect hair and teeth belie the fact that he is warm and generous. Was it worth getting up at 1:30 am to drive there? You bet.

TV or Bust?

We're taking the family on the road and leaving tonight (tomorrow morning actually) for Taunton, MA for the 2nd annual Taunton Swim-In. What is a Swim-In you ask? It's where Amphicar lovers converge on an unsuspecting lakeside community and invade their waters with our bobbing cars. Great fun!

And this year, Good Morning America promises to be filming during the weather reports tomorrow (Thursday) morning. If you keep a sharp eye out, you may see my husband's car splashing in. It's baby blue (lagoon blue to amphicar aficionados) but there may be other baby blue cars so . . . .

If hope to blog all weekend, technology willing. Other activities will include a spin to Cape Cod, a car show, a pig roast and spectacular fireworks over the lake. If you want more amphi-information, go to my son's website at amphicarventures.com.

New at the Gallery

We had a rotation recently at the gallery so my work has moved to a new location. As usual, I have original framed art, notecards, prints, and books available.

The Parrot is an image new to the gallery. It measures approximately 30" x 22" x 4".


These woven flower baskets are new too. So many people that enter the gallery are looking for something inexpensive to take home and these fit the bill. They measure about 4" and cost $15.95.

On Writing Difficult Scenes

For the record, I have been keeping up everyday with WFMAD, Laurie Halse Anderson's writing challenge for the month of July. Some days I only write 100 words but that's okay. I've added over 5,000 words so far and that's 5,000 more than I would have had without WFMAD.

Here's a trick that helps me to want to write the next day—leave off in a place where you know what's going to happen next. That way you're not facing a blank page hoping your muse will show up.

So the other day I was writing a particularly difficult scene. By that I mean it was difficult for the main character, not for me as the writer because I was sitting someplace cushy, probably munching on something yummy. And yet it was difficult for me to put my character through that. It physically affected my body—I was tense and literally felt ill to my stomach. As a writer or an illustrator, these are the emotions I'm hoping to get across in my work. Whether I succeed or not is something for you to judge.

I'm one of those writers that finds it difficult to put my character in harm's way, but I'm working on it. I heard Bruce Coville speak at a NESCBWI conference and he is the master of this. From the way he spoke, I would venture to say that he relishes getting his characters in trouble. So I try to remember his glee when I need to do something bad to my MC.

My Day at the Farm Museum

Yesterday I had a reading and signing at the NH Farm Museum, which was great fun. It was part of their Children's Day and the weather was beautiful. I had tons of people show up for the reading in the barn and we had to get more chairs. A good problem, no?

I didn't take the time for the whole museum tour (mostly because my family went boating for the day without me and I was missing them) but what I saw was great. They had buttermaking, cheesemaking, basket making, a blacksmith, and many interactive things for kids to play with—a cornmeal grinder, and old-fashioned washing machine (snicker), a tool sharpener, weaving loom, etc.

My favorite things there were the chickens running around everywhere and the mules pulling the hay ride. Also watching the sack race, and the kids trying to get those wooden hoops to roll. Hilarious! A great place to bring the kiddos!

Hey, Elm Street School!
I want to give a shout out to the students at Elm Street School. I visited them just before the end of the year, and I have to say, they were the greatest group of kids I have had the pleasure of presenting to. They were great fun and full of good questions. Actually, I am partial to the fourth graders there as I had presented to them the week before at the Belknap Mill Hosiery Mill program. Here I am showing them the original jacket art from Carrot in My Pocket.

Here I am showing them the cover. (Note to self: don't wear beigey clothes if you want good pictures.)