Literary Pursuits
I have never been a writer who suffers from the agonizing pains of writer's block.
Rather, I am one of those writers who suffers from what I call writer's jam: I can't figure out which direction to go. Like that initial feeling when you enter the Art Institute of Chicago and think, "Where do I go first?" I feel mystified because there are so many wonderful choices. Should I go to the miniature rooms downstairs, to the French Impressionists, or to the current exhibit? Or when I'm dining in a fine restaurant and the waiter brings the tray stacked with an array of scrumptious desserts. "I want that one," I say, pointing to the double-layered chocolate cake. "No wait, I'll take the strawberry shortcake; oh, jeez, wait, maybe the caramel cheesecake?"
The tantalizing treats pull me in different directions, similar to intriguing topics jamming my writer's brain.
Should I keep working on the rewrite of my novel? Or should I dive into the middle grade book bubbling on the back burner? How about writing an article talking about everything I've learned from children? No, I've got to write that review of the fabulous book I finished at 2 a.m. this morning. Wait. First, I need to record in my journal the amazing dream I had last night. Bottom line, I really need to write Book Four of my early chapter series.
The best antidote for writer's jam is to start writing. The right side of your brain will figure out the proper direction. Here are a few projects I'm currently working on. Let's see, which one should I describe first? For now, I'll concentrate on my series of early chapter books featuring two unlikely animal friends, Daphne and Priscilla.
Daphne is a super-sleuth, slightly chubby, miniature dachshund with a psychic nose. She's like a private investigator: she can sniff anything out.
Her gorgeous sidekick, Priscilla, is a haughty, high-maintenance calico cat, who practices yoga, is a vegetarian, swings like a trapeze artist, and sleeps in expensive bowls.
After a rather harrowing introduction, the two animals become the best of friends. Good thing, given their human guardians—10-year-old Todd Michael, who's obsessed with Googling; 8-year-old Sally, animal lover; warmhearted Nanny; and dog walker, Mitzi the Lovable Ditzi—need all the help they can get.
The Daphne and Priscilla series hearkens back to Harold and Chester of Bunnicula fame—without the vampire bunny, but with plenty of hapless humans making wacky mistakes that Daphne and Priscilla must unravel while providing a fair amount of bedlam on their own.
In Book One, the children secretly adopt Daphne but keep her in hiding, as their high-rise doesn't allow animals. Daphne falls in love with her family and must find a way to solve this dilemma so she can stay. At the final hour, just as the children are about to take her back to the breeder, Daphne uncovers a solution allowing her to stay in her happy home.
In Book Two, Priscilla arrives on the scene. This is her last chance for adoption—two other families have taken her back because she is a haughty trapeze artist, who roams all night and is beyond finicky. If Priscilla doesn't make it with this family, she'll be forced to live in a long-term facility for cats without homes. It behooves Priscilla to ingratiate herself into Daphne's world, but Daphne despises her until Priscilla masterfully discovers how to win her over.
In Book Three, Daphne and Priscilla are accidentally stranded inside their high-rise apartment, when Mitzi the Lovable Ditzi, locks them and the keys inside. Who will take care of Daphne and Priscilla? Will the two responsible animals wreak havoc while left to their own resources? When the food bowls are empty and the water dish is dry, super-sleuth Daphne strategizes and solves yet another predicament.
Children love to catch adults making wacky mistakes, and it's easy to cheer Daphne and Priscilla on as they navigate daily life through the pandemonium that inevitably ensues.
After I finish Book Four, maybe I'll go back to rewriting Strawberry Fields Forever, the novel that helped me secure my MFA in creative writing. This adult story is complex, featuring a young couple straddling two different periods: the conservative 50's and the revolutionary 60's. Ann and John meet in the late 60's while attempting to define their own lives and find balance in a tumultuous era. Their relationship mirrors the times, while they explore and experience a new zeitgeist heralding freedom and the collapse of the restricted, tight-lipped rules of the 50's.
Much of the story is informed by two major accidents—one miraculous and one tragic—with a fair amount of grief, sadness, joy, growth, identity crises, and discovery layered in between.
My middle grade novel, Penelope's Ghost, bubbling on the back burner, is the story of a young girl growing up in a small Midwestern town during the late 50's. Her mother operates the restaurant inside the rambling old hotel on Main Street in the center of town. The hotel proprietress is her mother's best friend. Between the two women, they have four daughters (two each)--narrator Penelope, 11; her sister Jennifer, 12; Maggie, 13; and Maeve, 10. The hotel, reportedly haunted by several ghosts of bygone eras, is the small town's lifeblood and the tide of busy daily life ebbs and flows around the ramshackle structure.
The current inhabitants range from the former mayor, a 94-year-old minute man who listens to the opera and grows suspicious herbs on a hotel windowsill, to a former actor who has come back home at the young age of 80 to retire and continue acting on her own unique stage. The ghost of another talented artist, a Carnegie Hall pianist, heard playing Rachmaninoff at strange hours of the day and night.
The four friends create their own adventures, imaginative and realistic, weaving their daily lives with those of the zany hotel inhabitants. Adventures abound, including sleepovers in Room 20 and all-night vigils held in hopes of spotting the roaming ghosts. Life in this small town is never boring, transmitting equal parts of joy and grief while the girls navigate the struggles of small town secrets and disappearing alcoholic fathers.
My reading life is a lot like my writing life. I often ponder, which wonderful book should I read today? Nonfiction? Fiction? Biography? It's hard to decide, so I usually have about four books going at one time, depending on my mood. I go for what feels right in the moment. One of my greatest joys in life, after completing a satisfying read, is to grab more books off the shelf, sit down with a steaming cup of hot tea and choose which engaging story I'll immerse myself in next. I read the beginning pages of each book, and then let my energy lead me in the right direction. The joy of reading is a lifetime gift.
Favorite Fiction
Here are my favorite reads of late—check out my blog for an updated list.
| Picture Books | |
| The Day the Babies Crawled Away by Peggy Rathmann |  |
| Officer Buckle and Gloria by Peggy Rathman |  |
| The Secret Circus by Johanna Wright |  |
| My Mama Had a Dancing Heart by Libba Moore Gray |  |
| Middle Grade | |
| Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett |  |
| Shakespeare's Secret by Elise Broach |  |
| The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall |  |
| The Willoughbys by Lois Lowry |  |
| Young Adult | |
| Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver |  |
| If I Stay by Gayle Forman |  |
| The Lonely Hearts Club by Elizabeth Eulberg |  |
| What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell |  |
| Adult Fiction Books | |
| A Short History of Women by Kate Walbert |  |
| Blame by Michelle Huneven |  |
| Heroic Measures by Jill Ciment |  |
| The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein |  |