This was in the parking lot at school today. What is curious is that the following poem from my middle grade WIP has a similar scene. When I wrote this poem, I wondered if kids would do such a thing. I guess I have my answer.

First Mission

So what’s our first mission?
asks Jackson.

I think out loud. How about creating a crime scene?

A crime scene? Brilliant!
he says.

Let’s see what we can find at my house. Let’s go,
I answer.

We sneak into the garage.

We rummage through some boxes 

labeled Halloween
.
Eureka! I shout,
picking up the yellow caution tape
and my white sidewalk chalk.


Whose house?
Asks Jackson.

What about next door?
We walk to their driveway. 

Jackson sprawls on the cement.

Quit wiggling, you are suppose to be dead,

I say as I draw his outline.

He jumps up, admiring
his crime scene body,
Cool!

We drape the yellow tape on the sidewalk

Jackson and I hide behind bushes.
We watch.
Cars slow down.
Someone stops and takes a picture.

Lilly walks by shouting,

you know I can see you. How lame.

We didn’t answer.
Mighty Ninjas can’t be seen.

We honor the code of silence
.
Who’s she? Jackson whispers.

I am currently working through the manuscript and polishing it. It was suggested to make it in present tense so I am going through the entire book. I never thought the day would come when I would be really word smithing. That’s what I am doing and so fun.

A recent book that I found (and ordered as a Ebook through Amazon for $4.99) is The Emotion Thesaurus. Very helpful for emotional description.

More slices can be found at Two Writing Teachers.

So I have these internal talks about ebooks versus real books. I have an IPad and have heard how wonderful it is to have ebooks uploaded. They are great for traveling I have been told. They are less expensive a lot of the time.

So this past weekend, at the SCBWI-OR Spring Conference, I found a great new tool, The Emotion Thesaurus. When I looked on Amazon, it was $4.99 for the Kindle version. So I purchased it. I quickly discovered that while it will be handy for when I am traveling, I will be getting a paperback version soon.

Not only did I discover that I love the smell of the pages and the mere act of holding a book, I track across the page better with a real book. I find it hard to concentrate reading on a screen. It’s fine for emails and short reading.

So I will continue to support real books. I need them in my hands. What about you, ebooks or real books?

More slices can be found at Two Writing Teachers.

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After two weekends away (and they were much anticipated adventures), it was a weekend at home. So needed! I love going away but I also treasure home time.

To wake up on Saturday morning and not rush around was a treat. My husband and I went to Home Depot, taking Buster on a social out. I am hoping to get him socialized enough to become a therapy dog.

The front yard has been sad of late. The warm weather, sunshine, and spring is the perfect setup for crazy weeds. So I was able to spend time pulling them up. The roses are about to burst.

So after the time outside, and the heat of the day rising, it was time to read. My reading group is reading The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. I wasn’t sure when I started it but what a fantastic read. The text is engaging while raising questions about how we treated people in the past.

What was your weekend like?

More slices can be found at Two Writing Teachers.

I am having one of those days. I should have planned better but I didn’t. So tonight a list about the last week:

Allergies
Sunshine
Reading
Sleeping
School
The coast
Very warm weather
Tiredness
Pollen
Asthma flare-up
State testing
Allergies
Friends
Galleries
Pollen
Wind
Walking
Books

This afternoon the wind settled and the allergies improved. I am so glad. I cannot miss school.

More slices can be found at Two Writing Teachers.

Front: Susan Dobinick, Kelly Bingham, Cathy Velasco, Jone MacCulloch, Helen Frost,
Back: Elizabeth Schwartz, Hatsy McGraw, Dennis Robbins

This is the group who attended “Where Story Meets Poetry: Writing the Poetry Novel.” I am still digesting all that was presented by our fabulous instructors, Kelly and Helen.

And as a way to practice new learnings, a tritina from the workshop notes:

Think soft allowing the flow of poetry
Drafting creates possibilities that shine
Poems reach emotional territory first

Above all else, story comes first
Your word choices enhance the music of poetry
While conflict allows your characters to shine

Your scenes are mini-stories that shine
Pushing the images and language first
It’s all where the story meets poetry

Poetry novels shine for readers’ hearts first

I highly recommend any of the workshops at Highlights Foundation. What an amazing facility, great food, and great people.

As a bonus, I was able to see a cousin in New Jersey.

Slices can be found at Two Writing Teachers.

A few weeks ago I wrote about my book HERE.

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to visit a high school book club,and talk about my book. If you are writing for children, having students act as beta readers is quite a help.

I briefly touch on my writing process and the inspiration for the story. Then I took questions.There were such great comments and questions:

Are you in the book?
The scene where Darrah kisses Jackson and he reacts in disgust, I think you should change a nd it should be a brief kissing scene, little romance. ( This from a boy. It appeared that the scene was debated).
Who was my inspiration for the characters?
Apparently the teacher in the story was debated.
And there were questions about the family of the main character.

I also touched on the importance of belonging to writing organizations such as SCBWI and Willamette Writers.

Foloowing the meeting, one of the students asked me to read her work. She participated in the NaWriMo.

This morning, I had an email from a the chair of the book club with the above photo. What a way to begin the day with this:

“Although the target audience is younger, Tilt deeply resonated with people my age. Loss, friendship, grieving are universal, and I can’t wait for it to get published so that more people can read it! I can already see myself stumbling across your book in Barnes and Noble, chancing upon it in a moving library, or just finding a stranger on public transport engrossed with it. It has so much potential! “

I am continuing to polish, polish, polish. In forty-eight hours I will be on the east coast going to “Where Poetry Meets Poetry: Writing the Poetry Novel” at Highlights.

Stayed tuned, I will share about my weekend next week.

More slicers can be found at Two Writing Teachers.

And here’s a recent haiku from the Shiki Kukai Monthly competition. It was for the free form: sky colors:

a stolen memory
apricots
in the gloaming

The events of yesterday in Boston are horrifying. As I read in another slicer’s post, the has been too much sadness this school year. I love the idea of #26 acts of kindness, first for the Sandy Hook tragedy and for the Boston Marathon (26 miles). My heart goes out to Boston. And all those involved.

It can be so overwhelming, these tragedies piling up on each other. We seem to get to take a breath and focus on the rhythm of life and then the shoe drops, again.

I look for the little things. The things that can make a difference in a person’s day. That’s why today at Family Library Night, I was happy to watch parents and students select a poem written either by themselves or another student for National Poem in Your Pocket Day, Thursday April 18. I provided the poems, ones students wrote last month or they could write their own poem. There were book pockets to decorate for putting the poem into and ways to share for Thursday.

A poem is such a simple thing to bring a little joy into life during days and weeks when dark clouds want to brood. Share a poem with someone on Thursday, even if it’s not in a pocket.

For more slices, visit Two Writing Teachers.

As a child, I was a frequent flyer at the public libraries. I participated in the summer reading programs and read my way through the Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys mysteries, Bobbsey Twins, and then onto Agatha Christie books. I remember when I could finaly ride my bicycle to the library to get books.

Bookstores, indie or big box weren’t part of my childhood landscape. I was lucky to purchase from Scholastic (if that’s what it was called) with my allowance. So the library was my bookstore.

As an adult, I have spent my fair share at the bookstores. How can I walk into one and leave empty handed? But since about 2007, I rediscovered using the public library. The ease of looking up materials online, having them sent to Gladstone Public Library and picking them up on my way home is perfect.

Recently, the Gladstone Public library has been the center of controversy. Even though, a measure was passed in 2008 to build a new library, over the last year there’s been opposition to building it and it pretty much been put on the back burner.

So this weekend, I dropped by the Gladstone Library to pick up materials and inquired about the status of the library. The staff is fabulous but of course they can’t say much. They directed me to the coffee house across the way for the information.

Seems like not only does the Gladstone City Council not want a new facility but now they want to privatize the library services.

I can not believe this. It will mean a cut in services. I have written city council. I hope they will reconsider.

More slices can be found at Two Writing Teachers.

Last year Irene Latham started the progressive poem. The poetry community is contributing to the progressive poem again this year.

When you listen to your footsteps (Amy VanDerwater)
the words become music and (Joy Acey)
the rhythm that you’re rapping gets your fingers tapping, too. (Matt Forrest)
Your pen starts dancing across the page

Tomorrow the poem heads to Dori Reads

Here is the whole month:

April
1  Amy Ludwig VanDerwater
2  Joy Acey
3  Matt Forrest Esenwine
4  Jone MacCulloch
5  Doraine Bennett
6  Gayle Krause
7  Janet Fagal
8  Julie Larios
9  Carrie Finison
10  Linda Baie
11  Margaret Simon
12  Linda Kulp
13  Catherine Johnson
14  Heidi Mordhorst
15  Mary Lee Hahn
16  Liz Steinglass
17  Renee LaTulippe
18  Penny Klostermann
19  Irene Latham
20  Buffy Silverman
21  Tabatha Yeatts
22  Laura Shovan
23  Joanna Marple
24  Katya Czaja
25  Diane Mayr
26  Robyn Hood Black
27  Ruth Hersey
28  Laura Purdie Salas
29  Denise Mortensen
30  April Halprin Wayland