MY WRITING WAY

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By Stephanie Jacob Gordon

It didn’t take me long to discover that by becoming a writer I was choosing a lonely life.  After all, how many “normal” people can you communicate with when you are rarely in their “real world”?  And how many non-writers really want to be in the “mind world” that you are creating inside your head?  It seems to me that “real world” people are very afraid of “writer” conversations.

If you are just beginning your writer’s journey you probably have a few friends left that think what you are doing is wonderful.  Writing books for children is a laudable endeavor.  It’s so cute.  They grin at you, tell you children are our future, and verbally pat you on the head.  All the while they are thinking, since books for children are so short, with a simpleton’s vocabulary—picture books being a prime example of simplicity—how long could it take you to write nine or ten and be ready to go to lunch tomorrow?  You can read…you can write…how hard could it be to turn out a book for a child?  It’s only a child’s book, for pete’s sake!

You know different….  There are rules for writing for children.  Lots of rules.  And, you need to learn them before you can break them.  What is an SASE?  Do I need an agent?  What is proper manuscript form?    What is an SASE?  I have this friend who likes to draw…?  You no longer have time to chit-chat on the phone; clean your house, to do all the things you did before you were a WRITER.  “Can’t anyone in this house get their own snack?!”

And if you sell something, you not only need more time to write, but you need time to worry…can I do it again?  Instantly successful or not, you must accept that your BIC (butt in chair) life will be a singularly lonely one when it comes to the usual adult interaction.  It is your fingers on the keyboard, your brain searching for inspiration, your talent doing the creating.  You-you-you.  You are a writer, you are alone, and nobody gets you!  Or do they?

Of course WE do.  Your fellows, we writers who persevere without time to go to the bathroom, without applause, without sales, without species to show for our single-minded and devoted endurance, we get you.  We speak your language.  We forget to eat lunch.  We are just like you.  And, we are not really hiding.  But where are we?

We are in SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers and illustrators) classes, workshops, conferences, picnics, and schmoozes.  We are volunteers for these SCBWI events.  We are in writer’s programs and classes at colleges and universities.  We are in critique groups formed from and for learning the art of writing for children.  We are lurking at bookstores and libraries reading your books, other writers’ books, our own books, to ourselves or to dozens of children for story time.  We are writing in coffee houses, we are writing any place that has WIFI, we are writing on the internet, and sometimes we are lost in our heads while we walk to the park with the dog, but we are out there.  Look carefully.  Come find us and join us.  We are waiting for you.

By now you know that I have a writing partner, Judith Ross Enderle (Judy to everyone).  We met at UCLA extension in Eve Bunting’s Writing for Middle Grades class.  Lucky us for two reasons: we MET in EVE’S class.  We had both taken Sue Alexander’s Writing the Picture Book class, but not at the same time.  Both of Sue’s and Eve’s classes were amazing.  These two wonderful writers were so giving of help and so sharing. And they gave us the best foundations; taught unselfishly, and made sure we had a clear understanding of the “rules” we needed to know for writing for young people.  They taught us to love the process.   I had just begun my journey and I already had three dear and lifelong writing friends; Judy, Sue, and Eve.  I miss Sue.

I am not exaggerating when I say I have hundreds of writing friends, some I love and a few I call sister.  And if I don’t already know you…  “Hi there, it’s really nice to meet you!”

Now I will tell you something about myself that few people will believe.  I am shy.  Quit laughing!  I am!  I don’t like to talk to people who I believe have authority.  I do not do conflict.  It is hard for me to go up to someone and introduce myself.  I even hate having to call to handle business, or to talk to a doctor, and calling a restaurant to make reservations…I have nightmares about it.  Yes I know they couldn’t care less that I am calling.  Yes I know they will never know who I am.  I didn’t say it made sense.  Especially since I always end up talking to strangers when I stand in line at the market.  But then, they are strangers from the “real world” and I don’t care what they think… do I?

You know where this has never bothered me?  When I am at a writer’s of books for children gathering.  When I say hi to a fellow writer, they smile.  When I introduce myself or meet someone new, they smile.  And when I have to call a children’s writer I don’t know, I can hear them smiling over the phone.  I am sure you have heard somewhere that our business isn’t dog eat dog; our children’s book world is bunny nibble bunny.  I can deal with nibbling.

We writers are a great bunch of people.  You should get to know us.  If you want to belong—WELCOME!

NEXT YEAR!

Writing for the Long Haul

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Sometimes at writing conferences, I give talks to other writers, new or established, about writing for the long term. It’s hard to get that first book published, sure, but it’s also hard to stay published, given the industry’s ups and downs and twists and turns. At no time has that been more true than today as changes in technology affect us all. (There’s also self publishing, but that’s a whole other topic.)

I’ve been publishing with established publishing houses for over two decades–okay, well over two decades (reluctant grin!) but I still remember the early years when I thought I’d end up a little old lady and still be trying to publish my first book! And I well remember the amazing thrill of The Call–when you hear for the first time that you have an offer on your manuscript–an editor actually wants to publish it. She/he likes your work, is sending a revision letter to help you polish (yet again), is sending a check for real $–wow! Now, I’ve been in love, married, had two wonderful children, so I won’t say it was the most wonderful day of my life, but it certainly ranks high on the list! I’ve now published over 50 books, for every age level from chapter books to adult, but they’ve been mainly for young adult (YA) to middle grade (MG) readers. I can tell you the thrill never fades. And the fun comes not just in selling manuscripts, seeing your books on the shelves of stores or libraries, or signing books for your readers. The act of writing, of creating characters and stories–the process itself is and must be a particular pleasure (tho hard work, too, at times) if you want to be a writer for the long haul.

Early in my career, when rejection slips and letters descended like a New England blizzard, my family knew that I had to be left alone for a few days to work my way out of the dark hole that rejection threw me into. A hug was acceptable, but I didn’t want comforting speeches. When they heard the click-click of the keyboard, then they could stop tiptoeing around me, and life would be back to normal: Mom was writing again. Because a writer needs not only talent, constantly honed to make his/her writing skills sharper, but persistence as well. As Winston Churchill said, you never, never give up!

My visual metaphor for a genuine writer is that of old time lumber jacks who, for fun and games, would challenge each other to race on a rotating log in a river. They’d run very hard to make the log go round and round until one or both fell off into the chillly water. Running very hard to stay in the same place, like Alice and the White Queen–this is what authors do most of their careers–and when the inevitable dunking comes–you just climb back on the log and you start again!

Writers write because we love to do it, we love spinning our stories, creating our characters, growing our worlds, working with wonderful editors, and even the crazy ins and outs of the publishing industry will not defeat us.

Writers write, and we love every minute of it!

KidsBook Mavens Debuts

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To blog or not to blog. That was the question when five children’s book authors met this past May at a private writers’ retreat in Ohio.

Though everyone thought a blog was a good idea, no one had yet felt she had the time to devote to a solo blog, especially when added to all of the social media we were already committed to visiting frequently. Oh, yes, and then there was the time needed for writing. And we are all writers. But the idea of a blog wouldn’t leave us alone so we decided to blog together.

First we worked with lists of potential blog names. Some had already been taken. Some didn’t meet the approval of all of us. Some were just plain silly. What would represent all of us? Our goal was to share our love of books, their creation, and more. We wanted to explore our experiences as authors, pass on writing tips, and celebrate our enthusiasm for the written word. Together we had a huge range of experience in the children’s literature arena. And so we chose to call our blog KidsBook Mavens.

We are published picture book, middle grade, and YA authors. We have written for magazines and children’s television. We include freelance editors and a small, independent publisher. This makes us Mavens: authors who are experienced and knowledgeable.

While each of the Mavens will introduce herself, I will tell you that We Mavens have a long history as friends and writing associates. Let me introduce myself: Judith Ross Enderle. My friends call me Judy.

I’m the daughter of a 100 year-old plus man who visits the library every three weeks. My mother was a teacher with a major in English. Reading and writing are in my genes.

One of my early books was a teen romance, S.W.A.K. Sealed With A Kiss. It made the New York Times Besteller List. Recently I reread this book. How my writing had changed!

My daughter, Monica Enderle Pierce, is now an author. Her first adult novel, GIRL UNDER GLASS was released about six weeks ago. It’s an e-book and has garnered four and five-star reviews thus far. Reading and writing are in her genes, too. I’m a proud mama.

And I am half of a writing team. The other half, my best friend Stephanie Jacob Gordon, will introduce herself when it’s her turn to blog. We write picture books like Two Badd Babies (Boyds Mills Press) published as Jeffie Ross Gordon and Smile, Principessa! (Simon and Schuster, eBook). I met Stephanie in a writing class at UCLA. Our teacher was Eve Bunting. We also studied with Sue Alexander. Though we’ve been published individually, more often we’ve chosen to write together. Current projects include: All the Never Nevers, a middle grade novel about grief, bigotry, and magic. This manuscript is now circulating. And heading off to our agent this week:  Shagaman an adventure/mystery short chapter book set in 1906 California, based on the bigfoot legend. Of course, there are more books in development.

Please watch for KidsBook Mavens’ scheduled posts the second Wednesday of every month. Don’t be surprised if some of us slip a few other posts in between, when we have something we want to share.  Welcome to our blog!