Author: Loree Burns

10. Science teachers … all of ‘em;

9. Hanging out with my Houghton editor, Erica Zappy;

8. Meeting Houghton editor, Monica Perez;

7. The lovely science teacher who realized my computer, which died moments before my presentation, was simply unplugged;

6. Sharing my appreciation and gratitude for James Micarelli, the science teacher who changed my life, with a room full of science teachers;

5. The exhibition hall and the raffle prizes (oh, but I wanted to win a microscope!)

4. The coolest science T-shirt sale ever (including one about saving the planet and teaching science which I am kicking myself for not buying);

3. Chatting with Andy Boyles from Boyds Mills Press;

2. Science books, science books, and more science books (including this one, given to me by the author, science teacher Steve Rich;

1. Science teachers … all of ‘em.

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In a moment I am off for a day at the National Science Teachers Association conference in Boston. I’ll be speaking at the Science Education Presidential Awards Luncheon, a celebration of our nation’s best science teachers. Science teachers, you may recall, are very important to me … especially this one. I’m pretty excited about this event, and, truth be told, even a bit nervous.

That is, I was nervous. Last night, however, I made several resolutions. The first was never to get worked up and anxious over a presentation. I also decided not to dwell on rejection or worry about book sales or sweat parking tickets or begrudge my children their petty arguments. Instead I will wake up each morning, stick my head outdoors, breathe deeply the new day, and thank all that is good to not be stuck in an elevator.

That’s right. Last night I got stuck in an elevator.

It was the worst three minutes and forty seconds of my entire life.

Nothing … not one single thing that I can think of … is worse than being stuck in a metal box in the bowels of a building with a handful of complete strangers who are breathing your air.

And so I am off to my presentation with a carefree attitude and a smile on my face. No worries here. And I am wishing all of you a worry-free, elevator-free weekend, too!

 

Check out this podcast created by the talented kids at Elmhurst School in Portsmouth, Rhode Island. They interviewed Gordon Morrison, another nonfiction author, and me during the fabulous ‘March Into Reading’ celebration in Newport last month.

Didn’t they do a great job?

Isn’t Gordon Morrison lovely?

Don’t I talk FAST?

Nice work, boys and girls! And thank you Gloria Schmidt, Elmhurst librarian and podcast director, for sharing the link.

 

This morning’s post reminded me of John Steinbeck’s JOURNAL OF A NOVEL, The East of Eden Letters (Penguin, 1969). Here’s an explanation of the book excerpted from the Publisher’s Note:

“John Steinbeck, in writing East of Eden, unblocked himself for the daily stint ahead by writing a “letter” to his close friend and editor, Pascal Covici. It was written on the blue-ruled pages of a large notebook, size 103/4” x 14”, which Covici had supplied. After the two opening letters, which filled the first few pages continuously, the letters appeared only on the left-hand pages; on the right, when Steinbeck felt ready, he proceeded to the text of the novel. He usually filled two pages of the text a day with a total of about fifteen hundred words. Both the letter and the text were written in black pencil in Steinbeck’s minute but clear longhand. The writing covered the period from January 29 through November 1, 1951. There was a letter for every working day until the first draft of the novel was finished.”

The letters were published as JOURNAL OF A NOVEL the year after Steinbeck’s death. They make for fascinating reading. I can’t help but wonder what Steinbeck would think of them having been published. Do you suppose he would have published them himself on his blog, if there had been such a forum back then? Or would he, too, have been shy of sharing the warty bits of his writing process?

 

I’ve been thinking a lot about this blog and about my writing process and about how the two are sort of mutually exclusive for me. Being a Blog Hound myself, I know that it can be useful to read about how other writer’s work. And I love to be useful. But here’s the thing …

I don’t want to write about how I work while I am working.

I mean, it is all well and good to tell you that there were some rough moments during the writing of TRACKING TRASH in the same post that I tell you how that stuckedness resolved itself. But to tell you I am well and truly stuck on a Work In Progress and then just leave that negativity hanging out there for all the world to read is just too darn hard for me.

You may be saying. “But Loree, how many people actually read your blog? How many people would actually realize you were stuck?” And the answer is: not many. But among the few are some pretty important folks … like my editor. And my agent. And my writing partners. Do I want them reading all the gory details?

No, I do not.

I want them imagining me writing away in the wee hours, creating pages and pages of perfect prose that will be on their desks soon. I want them imagining me transferring passion to the page with ease and confidence. I want them imagining perfection. Because if I know these people—each of whom I adore—are imagining perfection, are EXPECTING perfection, then I will drag myself through the rough days working, working, working to get my pieces to a place that is good enough to share with them. I will do everything in my power to give them perfection.

All of this to say that I am drafting my new book. And that I cannot blog about it yet!

 

Here are still more pigeons from the Book Bunchers. Their work was inspired by Mo Willems, of course, and his latest Top-Secret pigeon book. Read more at Mo’s pigeon website and at Mo’s blog.

Thank you for your patience, Blogreaders!

Thank you for your creativity and passion, Book Bunchers!

And thank you Mo Willems for creating books and characters that we adore!

The Pigeon Wants a Pedicure
Illustration by Margot, Grade 1

The Pigeon Wants a
Illustration by Kara, Presschooler

The Pigeon Wants a Cracker
Illustration by Mary, Preschooler

The Pigeon Wants a Hamburger,
Illustration by Justin, Grade 2

The Pigeon Wants a Knuffle Bunny
Illustration by Sam, Grade 3

The Pigeon Wants a Skirt
Illustration by Victoria, Grade 1

 

Here are some more pigeons from the Book Bunchers. Their work was inspired by Mo Willems, of course, and his latest Top-Secret pigeon book. Read more at Mo’s pigeon website and at Mo’s blog.

The Pigeon Wants a Taco Sandwich
Illustration by Catherine, Kindergarten

The Pigeon Wants a Pony
Illustration by Julia, Grade 2

The Pigeon Wants a Friend
Illustration by Hannah, Grade 1

The Pigeon Wants a Harley Davidson
Illustration by Andrew, Grade 1

The Pigeon Wants a Rib
Illustration by David, Grade 1

 

On Tuesday I ran my third Book Bunch class at the local elementary school. My first- through-third graders are very good at recognizing my themes, so I had to be extra sneaky this week. Here are the picture books we read in the order that we read them; can you guess our theme?

LEONARDO THE TERRIBLE MONSTER

EDWINA, THE DINOSAUR WHO DIDN’T KNOW SHE WAS EXTINCT

KNUFFLE BUNNY

At this point themes were being shouted wildly. Monsters? Crying? Tuna salad? Happy endings? All very good guesses, but none of them were our theme. And then one smart little cookie raised her hand and said, “I saw a pigeon in that book. And that is weird, because the pigeon is from another book I know.”

Aha! The perfect clue. And the perfect segue to our next book …

DON’T LET THE PIGEON DRIVE THE BUS.

The kids went crazy, some with joy at seeing a pigeon book, the rest with excitement at having figured out that our theme was …

MO WILLEMS!

When order was restored, I mentioned that there was (Gasp!) a new Mo Willems pigeon book coming soon. And that the new book’s name was being kept very secret because Mr. Willem’s had been running a contest in which kids were encouraged to guess the last word in the new title. For the record, I also mentioned that the contest was over, that the winner was to be announced in mere weeks, and that Mr. Willem’s was surely inundated with entrants and would not under any circumstances accept their late entries and post them on his website. But the Book Bunchers were not to be denied.

And so we chose names and designed jackets for the new pigeon book. Since it is too late to send our ideas to Mr. Willems, I’ve promised to post the creations here. Bear with me, okay?

The Pigeon Wants a Harley
Illustration by Ben, Grade 3