Honorable Mention

Just when I thought I was coming back down to earth, I had to go read Jane Yolen's journal. She talked a little about the workshop. But, what blew me away, is that she mentions me...little old moi! I am/my story is one of the "standouts."

Just when I thought I was coming back down to earth...my head has been totally re-inflated and I'm floating in the stratosphere. :O

Jane Yolen Workshop, continued

Day three- November 11th

Sunday was our day to have individual time with Jane. Each of us got fifteen minutes alone with her. During that time we could ask her any question we wanted or discuss her critique of the story we sent ahead of the workshop.

During the time each of us "disappeared" to be with Jane, the rest of us continued critiquing each others' work. By this time I was much more relaxed. I chose to read a story I haven't shared with anyone except my husband. It's a story I'm rather fond of, but one I've never bothered to submit because...I didn't think it was something a publisher would be interested it. But I thought, "What the heck? Why not see what these ladies think?"

My story called, "Not Even the Dragon," is your basic sort of fairy tale - princess, tower, dragon and prince - with a surprise ending. All of them liked it, said they could identify with it, and thought it would be something many, many children could identify with as well. Again, it is not picture book ready. I need to work on it, set up a dummy, edit it down, all in the hopes that I can then "see" it in PB format. But there's potential and I was given suggestions of where to submit it.

My time with Jane arrived. She looks right into your eyes when she's talking to you, letting you know you've got her full attention. I wish I'd had more questions to ask her. I'm sure there are question I don't know to ask. But Jane did quickly and easily answer the ones I had, and she said that in the publishing business one simply has to take one step at a time. That you learn as you go.

I was the second to last to meet with her. After the last of our illustrious group saw her, lunch was served. Baked potatoes (with all the toppings) chili, and salad.

After lunch Jane went through the SCBWI list of agents and made what comments she could about them. Then she autographed books for us. The picture above is her signing her book Take Joy for me. After that we went wild taking pictures. The whole week-end the weather was perfect. No matter where we gathered, indoors or out, it was hard to believe it was November.

The day was coming to a close. We were all tired from our brains being over stimulated, from excitement, from lack of sleep. We had shared both written and personal stories, we had shared a lot of laughter and, at least for me, experienced an unexpected camaraderie. I have been writing in a vacuum for many years, but now I'd made contact with people who might become part of a net-work. I didn't feel so alone. Most importantly, I didn't feel so insecure about my writing ability. I learned many things, but two things cling to me like black dog fur on a white sweater. 1.) I know more than I thought I did. 2.) I'm ignorant about many things. But that's life. We learn as we go.

As I gathered my things, Jane was there to say good-bye. I don't know what it was, maybe it was still feeling awed to be in her presence, maybe it was my old shy introvertedness rearing its head, but I stuck out my hand to shake hers. Immediately I felt like idiot as Jane opened her arms, reached up and hugged me.

"Thank you," was all I could say.

I was out the door, I was in my car, I was driving away. The week-end was over.

(and for some reason this blog is not allowing spaces between paragraphs!)

Jane Yolen Workshop, continued

Day Two - November 10th

Saturday's activities began at 8:30 AM, and got down to the business of critiquing almost immediately. A story was read and those who had a comment would make it. Jane was the last to speak. Her ability to critique, to pin-point a specific problem, to make a helpful suggestion is nothing short of genius.

One by one women read their pieces; PB stories or a chapter from a WIP. A few women had Jane read their stories. After three pieces were read and critiqued we'd take a small break.

As I listened to the stories I once again had a fit of doubt. I was hearing some fabulous stories and excellent writing. I was convinced I was out of my league. Again I shuffled through my papers trying to decide which one to read. I was heartened to find the lady I was sitting next to was experiencing the same thing. She leaned over and whispered, that the story she wanted to read was one of her favorites but she don't think it was publishable. She also said she was nervous about reading it.

All too soon she was reading her story. It was hilariously funny! We all agreed it would make a wonderful PB. She was relieved.

And now it was my turn. By this time I knew that none of my stories are anywhere near PB quality. But there was nothing to do except plunge in. I decided to read one of my retold Anansi stories and explained a little bit about the trickster spider.

Being from the Caribbean I've heard Anansi stories. And I have this wonderful old book of Jamaican tales written in Calypso. They are difficult to read and even harder to translate. Because they have a great deal to do with food and its acquisition, one of the problems with the original stories (in this day of PCness) is that the majority of them are violent, bloody and cannibalistic.

I decided to read my little story called "Why Dogs Beg." And I decided to read the conversational parts in Calypso. What was I thinking! My hands were shaking, I'm sure my voice was quivering. But like the woman next to me I was surprised and delighted at how well the story was received. Jane's only comment was that she thought it ended a bit to quickly and she gave me an easy solution to the problem. She also had a publishing suggestion for me.

I had passed through my initiation. I was finally beginning to feel that I might fit in, that I might be among peers. I even began to feel that maybe, just maybe, I might actually be a fairly decent writer.

Somewhere in the middle of our readings lunch was delivered; a boxed lunch containing huge deli sandwiches with pickles, potato chips and a cookie.

After all the stories were read Jane talked about publishers. She went through the list provided by SCBWI and told us what she knew or didn't know about the editors. She warned us it's all terribly arbitrary and subjective. An editor could be having a bad hair day or have gotten out on the wrong side of the bed or may be sick or be having personal problems the day he/she reads your story and summarily rejects it, even if its a wonderful story and worthy of publication. She said editors don't seem to understand how time can affect a writer. By the time they get around to you and your story for editing and/or revisions, you have moved on to something else and it can be quite difficult to get back into the mood to work on the piece they accepted 2 or more years before.

Dinner was served. Linguine and Alfredo sauce, salad, rolls, chicken pieces to go on top of the salad, cheese cake for dessert. At the dinner table we shared stories about our lives, our background, our interests. We were a diverse and eclectic group of individuals, and yet there were things that overlapped. Some of us liked to bird watch and go barefoot. Some of us had lived in the tropics, though in parts of the globe. Some of us had grown up in musical homes. And that got me to talking about my father.

As I told a few stories about the remarkable man he was I realized it was his birthday. On Saturday November 10th he would have been 91 years old. He was being remembered by me on his birthday to a group of writers. Even now, as I write this, four days later, a few tears leak out of my eyes. Eighteen years after his death, I still miss him. But for a moment, around the dinner table he was, in a very real way, right there with me.

Stay tuned for day three.

Jane Yolen Workshop

What an honor to be a part of this workshop. There were a total of 15 of us, all women, all children's writers, all published.

November 9, Day One
Meet and greet began around 5 PM. At dinner we introduced ourselves and told a bit about our writing back ground. I discovered I was with a group of high-powered authors. Suddenly I felt out of my league, like I had jumped into the deep end of the pool after just learning how to tread water. But it was too late to do anything but go on. Besides I really didn't want to be anywhere else.




Dinner was a yummy chicken stew with salad, rolls and brownies for dessert.

After dinner Jane spoke to us about writing (what else?) Her motto is BIC, Butt in Chair. A writer must write every day or the writing muscle will wither and atrophy.

On the process of writing:
First there is uncovering, which is the inkling of a story idea, a thought tickling your brain. Second there is discovery, the process of developing the story, characters, plot, of doing research, etc. Some writers, she said, can get lost in this process. Third is recovery, which is the actual writing and revision of the story.

She then went on to explain about outer and inner landscape. A story's outer landscape can be as much of a character as the people in your story. Your story characters live, work, play, run, walk, cry etc, within a landscape that affects and effects them. The outer landscape is a component of the character's inner landscape, which is his/hers psychological motivations. Outer landscape tells something about the character of your story and provides mood. An example is, if the Hound of the Baskervilles had taken place in a meadow it would not have provided the same atmosphere of terror. How a character interacts with the landscape is part of the story and helps provide your character with his/her inner landscape.

Next Jane went on to talk to us about contracts. There are several things to look for.
1. Rising royalties. Starting at the usual 10%, if your books sell more than say, twenty thousand or go into reprints your royalties should rise to 12% and then 15%. A publisher should reward an author for being successful.
2. Ask for more than the usual 10 books they ofter. Ask for 20, 25, 30. All they can do is say no.
3. If you and the publisher think the book is going to be important i.e. an award winner negotiate for more money. The amount is contingent of the type of award.

Next she went on to talk about agents. Jane said in this day and age with the complications of rights, the legalese of contracts and the difficulty of getting a publisher to look at your work, that having an agent has become a necessity. She told us if we didn't have an agent to continue submitting our work, but to also submit to agents. She said a lone author cannot get the kind of contract from a publisher that an agent can.

If you get an agent be sure to have an escape clause in your contract. If you and the agent are not a proper fit you should be able to give the agent a six week to three month notice that you want to part company. Make sure you get all your material back and have a list of the places the agent submitted your work.

No legitimate agent will ask money from you. They don't get paid until the publisher pays them.

Lastly she talked about critiquing. Always start by saying something nice about a person's work. Without rewriting the piece, try to give specific suggestions. "This doesn't work for me because..." "Why does this take place is such a short amount of time, it seems rushed to me..." "The ending seems abrupt, I think if you added just one or two more sentences..."

By the time she finished and had answered our questions we were all pretty tired, especially Jane who had crossed a time zone. We said good-night and went to our respective beds to sleep.

Except I didn't sleep well. I was too excited, eager and nervous. Why? because the next day I was going to be sharing a story with the whole group and they were going to critique it. I brought several stories with me. But which one was I going to read? Periodically I woke during the night, would turn on the light, read my selection and try to decided. Finally around 4:30 AM I gave up trying to sleep. I got a cup of coffee, wrote in my journal and finally made up my mind.

Stay tuned for more.