Category: Blog

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Shiloh Season

SHILOH SEASON
By Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 1996

Happy Patriot’s Day!

Today was the first day of April Vacation Week. The kids were home, the sun was out, and very little writing was done. On the upside, a good deal of gardening was accomplished and everyone is tired in that give-me-some-dinner-and-put-me-to-bed sort of way. Don’t you just love spring?

Vacation Week days in this house often begin with a book, and today was no exception. The kids and I finished SHILOH SEASON, the sequel to Naylor’s Newbery award-winning novel SHILOH. As with the first book, this one got us talking about some truly important stuff … right and wrong, big lies and little lies, people who are mean, and the sometimes difficult things that make them mean. These are big topics for little kids, and I loved how Naylor hid them in this enjoyable–and sometimes intense–story. We talked for a good while after the book was done, and although we didn’t agree on everything (my sons thought it was okay for Marty Preston, the eleven-year-old protagonist, to keep things from his parents and my daughter thinks it would be a good idea for us to get a dog), it was good to sit and hear each other for a while.

My favorite exchange in the book was one between Marty and Doc Murphy, the town doctor. Marty confesses to Doc that he has done something he knows is wrong. The problem is that Marty believes it was the right thing to do. Doc tells him, “If folks know what’s right and wrong for themselves, I’ve no quarrel with that. And we’ve all got to obey the law. But beyond that, what’s right in one situation may be wrong in another. YOU have to decide. That’s the hard part.”

Indeed.

SAVING SHILOH is the third and final book in the Shiloh trilogy; we’ll start it in the morning. For now my little monkeys need some sleep…

Best,
Loree

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Big Slick

BIG SLICK, by Eric Luper
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Coming Fall 2007

Next to my own publication journey, the most exciting part of my writing life over the past year has been watching this novel grow from a 1500 word short story idea into a gritty and compelling novel about a teenager flirting with the addictive world of high stakes poker. BIG SLICK is the debut young adult novel of my friend and critique partner, Eric Luper and you should all buy it the moment it becomes available. I am serious … it is a great read.

Eric and I met in the “Manuscript Exchange” area of the SCBWI discussion boards. This was several years ago, long before folks over there started posting entire manuscripts online. (Do they realize that anyone willing to fork over $60.00 can visit that board? Critiques from the mouths of trusted colleagues can hurt … those from the fingers of anonymous strangers can kill. At least that is my humble opinion.) In any event, Eric posted a rather snotty advertisement for a manuscript exchange … I seem to recall it included the words: “no fluff please.” I’m not the fluffy type, so I offered to critique his work in exchange for honest feedback on my own manuscript. We swapped manuscripts, traded critiques, and parted ways. Several months later, however, when another writer friend and I decided to start our own online critique group, we asked Eric to join us. We three have been working together for two and one-half years now, and it has been a most productive union.

So, if you are interested in writing books for children and young adults, check out the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. If you visit their online manuscript exchange, beware of open critiques, demand “no fluff”, and hand-pick some compatible folks to work with. If you are lucky, you will find the perfect critique partner. If you are very, very lucky, s/he will teach you a thing or two about craft. If you are truly blessed, you will witness the emergence of a new star.

Best,
Loree

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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