Ten writers for children. All with something to say.

11/14/08

What keeps me (Edie Hemingway) writing is...




  1. my insatiable curiosity.  I'm always searching for ideas, eavesdropping on conversations and writing them down before I forget.  My kids (grown now) called it "asking too many questions."
  2. playing the "what if" game.  Once I have ideas, I follow where they lead.
  3. my characters, who won't leave me alone once I get to know them.
  4. the 5th grade student who asked during my author visit, "Do you have a body guard?"
  5. my faithful students.  How can I continue to teach creative writing if I'm not creating my own?
  6. my 9-year-old grandson, a budding writer himself, who keeps asking when he can read my next book.
  7. a deadline.  Solid as a rock.
  8. my discerning editor, who knows how I can make my story better and who cares enough about my work that she's willing to go to bat for it at an acquisitions meeting.
  9. my writer friend, who shares the literary heart and holds me accountable by saying, "Let's send each other a page a day."
  10. my husband, who gently prods and sometimes, not so gently, gives me ultimatums, such as the time he said, "I won't go on the trip to Alaska with you unless you finish your novel first."  You can see above that we did not miss that trip to Alaska! 

5 comments:

David LaRochelle said...

What a great picture of you and your husband! And congratulations on having such a supportive spouse!

Mark said...

Another inspiring entry about the many sources of suppoort all writers need. Is that the dredge outside of Fairbanks?

Edie Hemingway said...

Yes it is, Mark! How great that you recognized it. I remember now that you've lived in Alaska.

Somehow my formatting got mixed up in the translation from paper to the blog this time, but at least I got my photo up successfully.

john said...

Edie, tell us more about that dredge. What does it do and why are you standing in it. Thanks for the post and for raisinng my curiosity

Edie Hemingway said...

Hi John,
Well, I put the photo up primarily to prove that my husband's not-so-gentle ultimatum to finish my novel did work and we did get to Alaska. Mark could probably give you a better explanation of the dredge, but here's a simple attempt: It's somewhat like a huge machine panning for gold. The dredge is placed over a water-filled pit, and a revolving bucket digs into the thawed gravel and brings it up into a washing trommel that shakes and washes it to separate the gold from the waste. The gold is collected in a sluice box, and the rest of the gravel is carried out a shute and dumped in a waste pile. The photo of us standing in the giant gold pan is merely a tourist gimmick! Glad it piqued your interest.