Author: Loree Burns

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Tracking Trash

Good moring, and welcome to day two of my blog. I think it is high time we got down to business. The business, of course, is books.

I am a book person. I am fascinated by them. I am in love with the idea of them. I read books constantly and across genres (although I certainly have my favorites). I write books constantly and across genres (although I have my specialties). I buy them, I borrow them, I loan them, I praise them and I criticize them. Books are an essential part of my life and it is only fitting, therefore, that I build this blog around the books in my life.

The book I would like to talk about first is called TRACKING TRASH: FLOTSAM, JETSAM, AND THE SCIENCE OF OCEAN MOTION. Haven’t heard of it? Don’t worry … that is because it will not be published until Spring 2007, and because the the marketing machine behind its debut has not yet launched. How do I know about it and, perhaps more importantly, why do I want to talk about it? Well, because I wrote it, of course!

TRACKING TRASH is my first book for children and it will be published by Houghton Mifflin Company as part of their “Scientists in the Field” series. Writing this book has been an amazing experience, from the beachcombing trips to Washington, to the research cruise on the Pacific Ocean, to the editing process, to my first-ever struggle with writer’s block, to the photo research, to the design. That is as far as the experience has gone so far; the book is currently in the hands of a book designer who is incorporating my text and the photographs into an irresistible non-fiction book for middle graders. I can hardly wait for a glimpse of the final layout.

You can learn more about TRACKING TRASH and my research trips at my website (www.loreegriffinburns.com). And I suspect this particular book will appear in this blog fairly frequently. It is, after all, one of my favorites!

Best,
Loree

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Nerves

Hello … and welcome to my blog.

This is my very first entry and I am entirely unconvinced that anyone is going to read it. Still, I feel nauseous. The very idea of keeping a journal or a diary makes my stomach ache. This wasn’t always so. When I was ten I wrote constantly in a baby-blue diary with a tiny golden lock on the side. I kept the tiny golden key on a chain around my neck. As it turns out, the key was unnecessary for opening the diary, a fact brought to my attention by a girl named Cathy, who was my babysitter, and who broke into my diary. Need I tell you that I was devastated? I’d like to say that Cathy felt remorse upon being caught, and that I forgave her, and that we are now great friends who laugh over the entire episode. She didn’t, I didn’t, and we aren’t.

In any event, here I am, sixteen years later, keeping another diary. Oh, and publishing it for all the world to see. I’d say I’m over it, wouldn’t you? Besides, I did learn some important lessons from the diary debacle, and I think they will keep me on track with this blog:

First, I will hide my blog carefully, at least until I am ready for it to be seen. (If you are reading this, then you are one of a small handful of trusted souls who are privy to its existance. Or else a friend of one of those souls. Or a truly interesting person … seriously, how did you find me?)

Second, I will write in my blog only when I have important things to say about my writing career. (I’ll talk about the road to publication, my first book, and the new projects I am working on. I’ll also post information about upcoming school and library visits, presentations, and writing life news.)

Third, I will never, ever, EVER write the names of boys I like in my blog. (Enough said.)

Best,
Loree