Happy New Year, everyone! We haven't been doing a lot of posting lately because we've been writing and traveling and holidaying and eating and reading now we're doing things like writing and exercising and eating and reading, but it's time to give a ducky shout out. We have good news!
First up is Alma Fullerton. Walking on Glass is out!! It's just hitting the shelves this month and I got my copy from Amazon this week. It looks bee-yu-ti-ful and the story is awesome. Congratulations, Alma! Great reviews for Walking on Glass and for her recently released In The Garage are starting to come in, and it's all very exciting.
Shelly Becker has been creating a bit of a buzz with her book, Mine! Mine! Mine! Shelly's doing radio interviews and Mine! Mine! Mine! has been getting enthusiastic reviews and was featured in Atalanta Parent Magazine's 50 must read books! And Shelly just found out that Mine! Mine! Mine! is going to be featured in an upcoming Radio Disney promotion. How cool is that?!
We're looking forward to Katy Duck Duffield's second book, Poltergeists It's available for pre-order now on Amazon and the cover looks great! We got to take a sneak peek at Katy's Poltergeists a little while ago and it is absolutely fascinating. I can't wait share it with my 11 year old niece!
There will be quite a few ducky pieces in the magazine world this year. In the next couple of months you'll find Shelly's poem WHEN WAFFLES ARE AWFUL in the February issue of Highlights. In March we'll get to see Shelly's rebus, PUDDLE PLAY, and Tanya Seale's poem, NO NAP!
Last, but certainly not least, Kristy Dempsey has a wee bit of good news of her own. She's sold two picture books! In Kristy's own words, "The first is a boy-friendly pb to Bloomsbury and the second is a pb celebrating the wonders of having a better-than-best friend to Philomel." Who-hoo!!!
So, it's only January 11, but we think we're having a pretty good year so far and we wanted to celebrate with our LJ friends. We'd love to celebrate your good news, too, so please let us know if you've got something to cheer about in 2007.
Those of you who like your YA intense (and really, what teen reader doesn't?) are in for a treat with Funky Duckling almafullerton's debut novel, IN THE GARAGE.
So, as Kristy was saying... Spam can be irresistibly delicious. Everyone knows that selling Spam is a decent and respectable profession. And selling Spam in your community to help keep your neighbors well nourished is noble and upstanding and good. Yum.
Okay, okay, that is so not where I was going with that. But anyone who's ever bought a can of Spam knows it moves and breathes and takes on a life of its own. Not that I've ever bought a can. But I know these things, because Spam is a lot like brain matter. All stinky and mushy gushy, yet firm to the touch. And it jiggles all around if you plop it on a plate. Have you ever seen a brain close up? Yum.
Anyway. Where were we?
Oh yes. Spam. And community.
And writing. Yum.
I want to throw out some thoughts on dialogue. And how to use spam exercises to get the old brain working by using folks in your community.
Several of the ducklings here have been asked to read and judge entries for various contests and/or mentorship opportunities. I, having been on the committee for one such contest within the past year, noticed that the key element missing in many of these manuscripts was a clear, distinct, consistent voice. Many times, even if the voice was spot-on in the beginning, it seemed like it was difficult for the writer to carry it through from page one just to page ten sometimes. Why is that? I wondered. I pondered. I studied. I wondered some more.
I've heard it said (by the most awesome Peter Jacobi) that voice in prose is much like voice in music. Anyone in the world could sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, but imagine, if you will, all the wonderful differences you would hear if say...Johnny Cash sang it. And then Madonna sang it. And then Elvis Presley sang it. And then Patsy Cline sang it. Each would bring an unmistakable and unique sound to the same set of notes. You could close your eyes and know, without being told, who was singing each time. You could picture their body language, their every breath, the way they grip their microphone, as they move in time to the music. Because they each have such a distinct voice.
I’m finishing up some crits. Reading a long overdue chunk of a completely awesome… first draft??? The person who wrote it (not in this group, btw, lest you think I'm tooting horns) writes with amazing passion and vivid description and the dialogue… WOW at the dialogue. I can tell this person eavesdrops and observes body language and makes mental note of inflection, nuance, and the subtle changes that occur when a person's thought process spins from one spool to the next. I know that his perception and intuition must be incredibly sharp and that he must listen. Hard.
Do we listen to the people around us? Do we pick up on their subtle pauses and inflections? Do we hear it when they sigh? Do we know how to write that in? Is it worthwhile to eavesdrop.Type.Eavesdrop.Type.Eavesdrop.Type.?
Is it possible to write a string of words, any string of words, in the style of your best friend? And then your mother-in-law? And then your three year old nephew? And then your neighbor? Could a complete stranger read that string of words and tell who was whom? Because they should each have a distinct voice. Could you carry it through, page after page, until their story ends?
Sometimes the voice just reads all wiggly jiggly. When someone is successful at it however (as you know), it's one big, wonderful plate of YUM.
I've been drawn to this word lately, mostly because I see it so much everyday here at Live Journal. What is a community? What does it mean for me to be a part of the funkyducklings community? And when you're a part of a community does it exclude you from being a part of other communities? (Grace Lin and Alvina Ling had recent blog posts that prompted my thinking on this subject also.)
The dictionary defines community as:
1.
a social group of any size whose members reside in a specific locality, share government, and often have a common cultural and historical heritage.
Hmm. This definition can't apply to the ducks because we live all over the place (in different hemispheres even), we don't even share common perpsectives on our governments and we each have different cultural and historical heritages, with only a bit of overlap. I guess in some sense we reside in a specific locality on the internet. We "meet" at a specific location.
3.
a social, religious, occupational, or other group sharing common characteristics or interests and perceived or perceiving itself as distinct in some respect from the larger society within which it exists
This is closer because we do share common interests, though I'd venture to say we don't percieve ourselves as terribly distinct in any respect from the larger writing society in which we exist.
The thing that most interests me about community is that I had always perceived the word to mean "a group of like people in agreement" over something to some extent. And it is very common for the ducks to disagree. I've grown so much because of my interaction with the other women in this community because of our disagreements.
In fact, as one of the ducks said the other day..."this is the place I feel the safest" to share something that might be controversial. That every single other person might disagree with. But that will be listened to and weighed and discussed without pressure.
Which takes me to the best definition, I think, of community from Merriam-Webster:
a unified body of individuals
We are each individual, in each of our quirks, in each of our strengths, in each of our weaknesses and in each of our principles. But we are unified in our goal to respect and help one another.
Where do you experience community and how did it come about?
The ducks often do a five minute writing exercise. We go in spurts. Sometimes we'll post a topic daily. Then sometimes we'll each be busy working on different projects, distracted just enough that we forget how much we love to do these.
It goes as follows: Someone posts a topic, usually just a word or two (like "cup" or "green" or "money"). Then we each take five minutes to free write whenever we get a chance to open the post and see the topic. It can be a poem, a short (short) story, or a paragraph that might be the start of something. We do not overanalyze. We do not self-criticize during those five minutes. We barely even fix the typos. We only do the amount of revision that is allowed within the five minute time limit.
The things we produce are sometimes hideous. But sometimes inspiration strikes. And we've even sold some of these 5 minute writing exercises!
Here's one from a prompt Cass posted. She received some spam in her inbox and thought to use the subject line for our Crap on Paper prompt. Here's my COP from that day:
>fish detective
The Salmon blames the Tuna. The Tuna blames the Cod. The Swordfish points suspiciously at a naive, helpless Scrod. "If you want to solve this murder," said the Largemouth Private Eye, "go interview the Sushi Chef. I'm sure that he's your guy."
Okay, so it's not something I'll ever sell. But it is fun, in just five minutes, to try to come up with a complete idea and even to try to add a little punch line or twist. It's also not always easy. But try it anyway, you never know what will come of it. All told, I think we've made at least a couple hundred dollars off our COPs.
Well, you start with an absolutely hilariously brilliant verse that rhymes "booger" and "sugar," but after being informed that booger and sugar do not rhyme for all readers, you reconsider.
So you think, "Haiku's short," and you do this:
I love Cassandra— She uses good vanilla Not McCormick swill.
But you decide that that's too one-dimensional, so you decide to do some linked haiku, and you get this:
I love Cassandra— She uses good vanilla Not McCormick swill.
I love Cassandra— When she runs out of pepper, The universe is still.
I love Cassandra— She has more flour than I do, And that says a lot.
I love Cassandra— I love, love, love Cassandra,
But your patience with Rhymezone and, in fact, with haiku is running out, so you go on to limericks:
There once was a girl named Cassandra, Who owned an adorable panda It was black and white An adorable sight . . .
Trouble is, not only does the panda thing have little to do with Cass, but Cassandra and panda only rhyme in newbie-world (and we won't even mention the echoing word), so that simply won't do.
Whew. What next? You could try iambic pentameter--some blank verse, perhaps?
Cassandra is a ducky of the pond Of gourmet food, Cassandra is quite fond.
Yikes. Inversion. No way. And it rhymes. Not blank verse. Forget that.
So you decide to steal from other, better writers:
Cassandra is Max's mom: She always has a hot (gourmet) meal waiting. Cassandra is Mr. Slinger: She must have been one fab teacher. Cassandra is Dolores: She makes different (good) decisions. Cassandra is Strega Nona: She has a magic touch, and it's love. Cassandra is Al Capone: Al Capone? Naaaaah.
So at this point, to say you're at a loss is pretty much an understatement.
Here's the deal: Cassandra Reigel Whetstone is kind, loyal, thoughtful, funny, and tolerant in the best of senses. She truly understands the kids she writes for. She inspires me to be a better mom, a better writer, and a better person. Honestly, she deserves a crown of sonnets, but as you can see, linking haiku is beyond me, let alone sonnets, so this will have to do.
The Ducks are proud to announce the release of Shelly Becker's debut picture book,
MINE! MINE! MINE!
Join us for the fun and excitement. There's popcorn and confetti, silly string, balloons, noisemakers, and in honor of our special author--lots of chocolate!!!
Check out Shelly's book at Amazon.com or your favorite indy! You'll be glad you did!
After almafullerton spent all day working on annemariepace's intro-duck-tion, I didn't feel right just writing a little 5-minute acrostic for Tanya. So I spent days reading the entire dictionary (that explains why I haven't been around much lately and by the way, it was one of those big, massive, 35-pound dictionaries), looking for nice words to say about her. And the problem is, I found that every single complimentary adjective that exists in the entire English language can apply to Tanya (it's true--if you know her, you know what I mean). And since I can't post all of those words into a single LJ-entry (Tanya, you know I would if I could), I've decided to go ahead and write the little 5-minute acrostic.
Introducing Tanya Seale (also known as the wildly popular thatgirlygirl):
Terrific with words And incredibly funny, None of your friends are embarrassed to know you (no need to try harder, thanks anyway). You ride the roller coaster of life with Aplomb--not to mention a (perfect) smile (and a barf bag). No doubt, you will...
When Alma lays pen to paper the muse sings with throaty tones, rich and deep. Pitch clear and clean. Lines complicated with joy, turmoil, redemption, angst. Poetry that resonates long after enlightened readers' eyes wander off the page. When Alma lays pen to paper the human spirit bares its naked soul with insight, raw and real. Truth far and wide. Precision packed with punch, reflection, anguish, quiet. Stories that reach deep long after enlightened readers' hearts continue beating. When Alma lays pen to paper the paper rejoices for having been made whole.
I get the pleasure of writing the introducktion for Katy. When Katy is not writing, she's running or cooking or golfing or reading or visiting schools to share the joy of Milk Cows.
Katy
Fingers paint stories of cows and gators and kids of laughter and tears
Anne Marie came to the ducks a little after the rest of us. I didn’t know her very much before that but I’m sure glad to know her now. She’s a fantastic writer, a caring friend and a wonderful mom and her crits can knock me out of the clouds I’m in – which is a good thing because I DO NOT like heights.
Honestly though, I write poems all the time. It’s something that comes fairly easy so I wanted to do something for Anne Marie that took a little time – a whole writing day (and an aching back from leaning over) to be exact – to show how much this amazing lady means to me and the rest of the ducks because she’s worth the time, the aches, and so much more.
Glad you made it into our little pond AM. Love you.
Here's my addition to the Introducktions. Lucky me, I get to introduce Kristy Dempsey. :-) Make note of the name, folks. This gal is going places. She writes both touching and humorous picture books and some of the most wonderful poems I've ever read. Not only is she a great writer, she is also a wonderful, giving person.
Kristy and all the ducks are well aware of my lack of poetic abilities, so I don't think it will hurt her feelings that she gets an acrostic instead of a haiku or a villanelle or one of those other profoundly poetic pieces. So... here goes:
K ind-hearted R adiates a special combination of grace and compassion (except when she gets a form rejection). I 'm a better person for knowing her S alsa Dancer Deluxe! T alented writer and poet Y ippee! We're so happy she's a duck! Quack!
Okay, I'll admit, "Y" is kinda lame. But have you ever noticed how few words begin with the letter 'y'?
Many of you know us but in case you need a little insight into just how weird we really are, we thought we'd introduce ourselves. Only we'll be introducing each other instead. Call it an intro-duck-tion, if you will.
Ahem. I'd like to take this moment to introduce Shelly Becker. Shelly just had a book come out with Sterling Publishing, MINE! MINE! MINE! Shelly is a picture book writer extraordinaire and a genius when it comes to good rhyme. MINE! MINE! MINE! is a rocking, rolling, rhyming picture book about sharing. So in honor of her most wondrous debut, I thought I'd share a little poem about Shelly.
Sweet Shelly Becker uses Spell Checker, and also checks Rhymezone.com, to polish each word so none are absurd, and each of her books are da bomb*.
*Everyone in LJ land is hip to the slang, right? "Da bomb" means "Great; awesome; extremely cool." But then, I didn't have to tell you that, right? Okay, okay. It's a forced rhyme that Shelly herself would never use. She's da bomb when it comes to rhyme.
I just watched one of those inspiring sports movies --the kind that makes me get teary at the end when they win, (or lose,) the big game. The situations and the characters are different in each of those movies, but they always show a common path to success. Each player has to dig deep, to push himself to the next level. But passion and perseverance aren’t enough to win the big game. To win, they always need a cohesive team. I’ve seen that theme played out over and over again, and it never fails to choke me up at the end.
Tonight was no exception. The movie ended and my dh was predictably asleep and I was predictably crying. I kept thinking about my team; the women who push me to to go deep with my writing. Together we make assists, rebound and take the safe shots, and the big ol’ risky ones.
Allow me to introduce our team, The Funky Ducklings.
Shelly Becker Kristy Dempsey Katy S. Duffield Alma Fullerton Anne Marie Pace Tanya Seale and I’m Cassandra Reigel Whetstone
Sometimes we “win” and sometimes we don’t, but playing on this team is a gift. We are lucky ducks.
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funkyducklings
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