A round-up of writing advice

If people knew how little I know about writing, they would never ever ask me for advice. Fortunately, Seattle writer Laura Wight asked several amazing Pacific Northwest writers and illustrators to shoot from the hip about what works and what doesn't. She interviews two writers who were influential in my only formative years, Brenda Guiberson and Peg Kehret (who was my very first writing teacher!), as well as other terrific local book creators, including fellow new puppy mama, Joni Sensel.

Check out Laura's article!

. . .And straight on till morning!

Those aren't new gray hairs but cobwebs from digging around in old New York Times (thank goodness for our wonderful public libraries!). Even though I'm trying to stay focused, I couldn't help being distracted by a November 27, 1927 NYT article written about J.M.Barrie. Did you know what he studied for the law at Edinburgh University, writing all the while? Contrary to my image of him, he seemed a rather outgoing and gregarious old chap. But here's what made me do a double take: that writing he did while studying for the law (and other shenanigans) included completing a 3-volume novel. And, then about 10 years after the first performance of the play, Peter Pan, he destroyed the entire manuscript! All three volumes. And this in the day before word processors!

Reading this tidbit encouraged me to no end.

How so? Well, instead of trying to inflate the rather flat current draft of WIP (the fourth), I clicked and dragged it right over to my trash can. I suppose Mr. Barrie burned his multi-volumed work of art so my method was less dramatic but, I must say, still amazingly satisfying.

Now if I can just find a bit of pixie dust for draft number five. . .

Fireworks!

Those fireworks you see exploding in the sky tonight aren't just to celebrate the 4th of July but they're also to celebrate the great news that Two Bobbies: A True Story of Hurricane Katrina, Friendship and Survival won the Southern Independent Book Award!!Woo-hoo! One of the best things about this award is that the nominations are made by some of the best folks in the whole wide world: indie booksellers.It's such an honor to have our book recognized in this way.

As if being able to write Bobbies with my dearest friend, Mary Nethery, wasn't enough, we get stickers to boot!


Thank you so much, SIBA!

Yummers

Inspired by a recent post by Jaime Temairik Hedquist, I bought a flat of local (Whatcom County) strawberries on my way to Shangri-Lar. These berries are the definition of heaven -- not beautiful but richly red to the core. The perfume nearly made me loopy.

Upon my arrival, those I didn't consume ravenously, I converted into two luscious wonders: Strawberry Ice Cream (oh, I love my Cuisinart ice cream maker!) and pectin-less jam. Just in case you've managed to score some fresh-from-the-field strawberries, I'll share my recipes.

Strawberry Ice cream:

1 pint ripe strawberries, stemmed and sliced
3 T fresh lemon juice
1 c sugar, divided
2 c milk
1 c heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla

In smal bowl, combine berries with lemon juice and 1/2 c sugar. Stir gently and allow berries to macerate (what a great word!) for 2 hours. Strain, reserving juices. Mash or puree half the berries.

In medium mixing bowl, combine 1 c milk and remaining sugar (1-2 min). Stir in remaining milk and cream, reserved strawberry juice, mashed berries and vanilla.

Pour this into Cuisinart freezer bowl and let mix until thickened, about 15-20 min. Add the reserved berries and mix 5 min. more. Store in airtight container, if you can avoid consuming this scrumptious concoction in one bite.

Old-Fashioned Strawberry Preserves

Combine:
2 lbs. berries
4 c. sugar
2 T vinegar
1 pinch salt

Bring to rolling boil and stir for 15-20 minutes. I mashed up the berries at the end. This is a sloppy, gloppy jam perfect for homemade brioche (which I make from the Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day cookbook).

Bon appetit!

Holey Moley

I know I've sent you to Author's Magazine before but go again! A recent Author's Minute featured a snippet of an interview with David Hewson and I was challenged/intrigued by what he had to say:

"The strength of fiction is that it has holes, gaps. If you look at books you really like, they don't have a sense of completion because that's inviting you as the reader to come to your own solution."

I read this and thought of Lois Lowry's The Giver,

and Karen Cushman's Catherine, Called Birdy,

and an old favorite of mine, Rodman Philbrick's Freak the Mighty,

all of which leave us wondering, leave us coming to our own conclusions about what happened after we turned the last page.

So I'm going to write like I knit and leave a lot of holes! How about you?