Have Books, Will Travel

I was visiting an elementary school in St. Michael, Minnesota, last week, and thought to myself, "I have the best job in the world." I was teaching a fun lesson on a subject that I love, students were stopping me in the hall to give me hugs and hand me notes saying I was "cool", teachers were thanking me for getting their classes excited about writing, and everyone was telling me how much they liked my books. On top of all that, I was getting paid.

Visiting schools is one of my favorite parts of being an author. Unlike my friend Laurie whose job sent her on the road 157 days last year (for expert advise and entertaining stories, check out her blog site, The Accidental Business Traveler), I only have a handful of out-of-town travels each year, which makes my overnight school visits feel almost like a vacation. And because I feel like I'm on vacation, here are a few of the perks I indulge in when my school visits take me out of town:

* I strive to eat at only non-chain restaurants. I'll take a diner's hamburger steak dinner with American fries and Texas toast over the Perkin's special any day of the week. And always ask the locals for their favorite places to get a good meal; plenty of times the best cafe is hidden around a corner that I would have otherwise overlooked.

* I ALWAYS check out the local bakery. I can remember the small town's mint brownies, moon pies, and apple fritters, long after I've forgotten the name of the school I visited.

*The local library is another great spot to hang out, as are the antique shops, where I can spend several pleasant hours scouring the shelves for vintage Cracker Jack prizes to add to my collection.

*Time in my hotel room allows me the luxury of reading without a hundred household chores staring me in the face. Heck, I don't even have to make my own bed! I also get to indulge in television watching which I don't do at home. Ten minutes of tube time can sometimes be enough to remind me why I don't have a working television...and then I can go back to reading again.

*A swimming suit is a staple in my suitcase in case the hotel has a whirlpool where I can soak in the evening.

*And before any school visit that will involve a long drive, I stop by the library and check out a bagful of CDs. Showtunes, music from the 40's and 50's, and middle grade audio books are my favorites. They really do make the miles fly by. And I've been known to stay sitting in my garage after a five-hour car trip so I can listen to the end of an especially engaging audio book.

*Finally one last item I've learned to pack to make sure that my time away from home is pleasant: earplugs. Noisy hotel air conditioners and close-at-hand interstate traffic no longer keep me awake at night, and I get up in the morning well rested and happy to spend time with a new school of students.

A Big Day for this Spud...

I'm thrilled to share this, which was in Publisher's Marketplace today:

THE RAFT and THE
COMPOUND author S.A. Bodeen's first four volumes of a middle grade series,
pitched as "Swiss Family Robinson" meets "Lost," about a recently-blended family
on a sailing trip in the South Pacific as a bonding adventure for the new
step-siblings and step-parents, when things go terribly wrong, to Jean Feiwel
and Liz Szabla at Feiwel and Friends, in a six-figure deal, by Scott Mendel at
the Mendel Media Group (world).


Happy dancing, for sure.

New sights for a new view...

Traveling is part of my job, which I love. Although this year I've done more Skype visits than ever before, I still get to do a lot of "real" school visits. Last February I went to Brazil, where I spoke at four international schools in four different cities, so my travel buddy Karen and I got to see four very distinct areas. Brasilia was a fascinating city, one that was actually planned and built after the automobile was invented, so it has a seriously efficient road system.
We arrived on a Sunday, and our host was the elementary school principal. She drove us around to look at the sites of the capital city, including the inside of the national cathedral,which had these huge angels hanging down from the ceiling.


Then she took us to a massive park where there was a lovely fountain.


At the same park, there was a Sunday festival, which meant people selling their art and wares.



There were snacks and drinks to purchase as well, and Karen and I shared a chilled Agua de Coco...



And of course, I did have some work to do the next day...

Imagine

I have enjoyed the various tips others have provided about filling the well and have caught up on them after a wonderful week of visiting eight schools in Fargo. Lauren recommended me to them after she'd been there last year and I recommended David. The Red River valley is a great potato growing area so it makes sense to go spud to spud.

I heard a terrific interview that Terry Gross conducted with Jonah Lehrer, the author of a new book on creativity titled IMAGINE. He discussed ways to improve creativity and recommended three of my favorites: walks, naps, and exercise. I aim to do one of these every day and on a good day will do all three.

http://www.npr.org/2012/03/21/148607182/fostering-creativity-and-imagination-in-the-workplace

I found much in the interview that went well with our discussion. Happy well filling.

Tulips and Starbucks

Yesterday I received an email from MoveOn that Starbucks had come forward in support of the issue of Equality in Marriage and was being busted by the far-to-the-right-wing-nuts, so this morning when my son groaned about having to ride the bus to school I offered to drive him, then stopped at the local Starbucks and bought myself a soy latte. On the drive I was astonished by the blooming Forsythia, Magnolias, and daffodils everywhere. I sighed at the light green clouds that hover around the tree branches, soon to become full-green foliage. I stopped to buy some groceries and bought a bouquet of pink tulips for my studio today. By the time I arrived in my studio this morning I had perked up. My well was filled and now, I am ready to begin again.

I am in the midst of a deadline on a book that brings me great joy and great angst. I have never painted a book in this short amount of time and sometimes the panic gets so strong that I hit a wall. Yesterday was such a day. I felt stuck. More than stuck. I had hit the wall and it hurt. When I am not on deadline, the ideas flow. I feel free then, able to take long leisurely walks, meet friends for coffee, go to meetings, schools, movies, plays, readings, etc. All of which inspire my muse. But when I am on deadline and have to say no to everything, it is the little things that fill me up. Like driving my son to school and looking at spring springing, buying a latte, and bringing home tulips. Now to work! 

Five Well-Tested Strategies

Filling the well is an appropriate topic for me this round, since the last few weeks have been so hectic I haven’t even checked in with my fellow spuds on this blog, let alone gotten much work done. I count myself fortunate to even remember that today is my day to contribute! Now that the metaphorical storm has passed, however, I am settling back into my normal routines. And that means filling the creative well.

My best strategies include:

*Driving while listening to Tom Petty at high volumes

*Exploring local beaches with the natural musical accompaniment of the waves

*Sailing

*Rereading favorite books

*Talking with fellow artists

While I cannot always perform every strategy on a given day, I can always do at least one of them, and they always work! And so even though my list is short, it is long enough for me to accomplish my goal: fill the well and get back to work!

The gift of new ideas

New ideas come in the form of surprises sometimes. I'm reworking two books right now, and on a trip to visit our son in Utah two weeks ago, I watched a little girl with Down's Syndrome excitedly tell her mom that the pizza parlor we were in served bread. Her enthusiasm for the basket of bread delighted me and I realized that my story needed some of her wide-eyed delight for the simple things in life. I realized that I needed this for myself too. God bless that little girl!

Another story having to do with wheels was getting yawns from the publishers, until I watched the people at my mom's new board and care home navigate in their walkers and wheelchairs. Wouldn't a child who is obsessed by wheels be delighted to ride in a wheelchair with his grandparent? Wouldn't a grandparent love being the center of positive attention in his or her wheelchair? Another surprise that ended up in a story.

It has been an arduous two months for my family, but in the middle of it all, joy has reared its beautiful head and shown me that seeds of hope and ideas are all around, especially where they're least expected. We are here to help each other and I'm amazed at the gifts that are available when one is open to them.