From the Badlands of South Dakota

Greetings from the Badlands of South Dakota where I have been enjoying a late summer vacation. One of the highlights of the trip is that after a day of hiking in the Black Hills with my friend Gary, I've had time in the evening to do some leisure reading, something I've done very little of this summer. I don't have any strong recommendations, I'm afraid, but the current book I'm reading is GETTING INTO GUINNESS; ONE MAN'S LONGEST, FASTEST HIGHEST JOURNEY INSIDE THE WORLD'S MOST FAMOUS RECORD BOOK, by Larry Olmsted. As you can probably guess, it's about the folks who make it into the book of records, including the author. Right now, I've got a shot at the world's hungriest appetite. We are heading into the town of Interior, SD, population 67, to find something for dinner tonight. Your spud, who is picking up  an Internet connection from a motel parking lot, David.

Summer Escape

April 1962
Porto Vergogna, Italy

The dying actress arrived in his village the only way one could come directly—in a boat that motored into the cove, lurched past the rock jetty, and bumped against the end of the pier. She wavered a moment in the boat’s stern, then extended a slender hand to grip the mahogany railing; with the other, she pressed a wide-brimmed hat against her head. All around her, shards of sunlight broke on the flickering waves.

Twenty meters away, Pasquale Tursi watched the arrival of the woman as if in a dream. Or rather, he would think later, a dream’s opposite; a burst of clarity after a lifetime of sleep.

Opening of Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter

I lost myself in this complex, cinematic novel set in Italy, Edinburgh, and Hollywood. The characters and language are marvelous. I enjoyed it so much I immediately read an earlier book by the author, The Financial Lives of the Poets.

Still Summer for Me

i am sorry to be late on the summer posting round, but I wanted to give you a few highlights.

I started the summer off with a trip to Toronto to meet Joe Morse, the fantastic illustrator of HOOP GENIUS: How a Desperate Teacher and a Rowdy Gym Class Invented Basketball. The two of us hit it off immediately and I loved seeing Joe's art and having dinner with him and Lorraine. We had a fun presentation together at the Central Toronto YMCA. It was interesting for me to hear the process Joe went through to create such excellent images.

The next weekend I attended ALA in Chicago and getting to meet Christy was a huge highlight. I'd been connected to her for years since she was the art director for STRONG TO THE HOOP fourteen years ago. I love the illustrations by Leslie Jean-Bart and have been eager to meet Christy since we started the Spuds. We finally got our chance over spectacular desserts at the Macmillan reception. It was a great initial conversation and a taste of what's to come. The next day Stephanie arrived and it was wonderful to be a trio for a brief time.

The rest of my summer was very good time at my desk working on 25,000 words of FOR EXTREME SPORTS-CRAZY BOYS ONLY. It was fascinating research and I feel like I learned a ton. I enjoyed meeting a bunch of new people who are passionate about what they do and an inspiration to all kinds of people. I sent that to my editor on August 30.

September 1, I received the fun news that HOOP GENIUS has been chosen as one of the Top Ten Sports Books of 2013 by Booklist. Some terrific titles are on the list and I'm honored to be among them.

At the beginning of September, I arrived at Anderson Center in Red Wing, Minnesota, which is one of my favorite places in the world. We have an interesting group of five residents, including a photographer from China who speaks no English, but cooks magnificently. I am working on a new picture book and revisions to a YA novel. Here's a picture of my writing studio. From the room in the top, I can see miles down the Mississippi River Valley, which is helping with ideas.

 I am so excited about the prospect of sharing this remarkable place with Spuds in the spring.

An Awesome Book I Read This Summer

Our topic this round is an awesome book that I read this summer. This wasn't easy, because I was lucky enough to go to ALA and pick up a bunch of ARCs of forthcoming YA novels. Some that I loved: Reality Boy by A.S. King, Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick, This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales, and Tumble & Fall by Alexandra Coutts. But if I had to choose one that totally blew me away? This one.

I know, I know, you're thinking, "That looks rather dull." Here's the thing. I heard a rumor about a few copies of this pre-ARC being available at ALA, and I hunted it down. I asked the lady manning the Dutton booth and she dug one out for me. Then she took the rest, a stack of about ten, and set them out. Now I saw people completely ignore this rather plain-looking stack in favor of colorful, shiny, conventionally bound ARCs.
People? Big mistake. Huge. Because I think Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith will be the most talked about YA novel of 2014. I dragged that six pound stack of paper on the plane with me and devoured it by the time I landed in Boise.
Here's what the summary on Goodreads has to say:

In this truly shocking, grotesquely original coming-of-age, end-of-the-world novel, sixteen-year-old Austin Szerba interweaves the legacy of his family’s history in Poland and immigration to the United States while narrating the story of how he and his best friend brought about the end of humanity and the rise of an army of unstoppable, human-sized (six-foot-tall) praying mantises in small-town Iowa.
To make matters worse, Austin's hormones are totally oblivious; they don't care that the world is in utter chaos: Austin is in love with his girlfriend, Shann, but remains confused about his sexual orientation, stewing in a self-professed constant state of maximum horniness, directed at both Robby and Shann. Ultimately, it's up to Austin to save the world and propagate the species in this sci-fright journey of survival, sex, and the complex realities of the human condition.
And here is what the shiny ARC looks like:

 Awesome, yeah? I loved this book.

From Paris to Oz: An Extraordinary Summer

I have found through experience, that if you follow your muse and work on the things you love, sometimes life lifts you up and carries you off to new lands and chance encounters never even dreamed of. That is what happened to me this summer. It all began when my book, When Stravinsky Met Nijinsky, became the inspiration for an author residency at the American School of Paris last May.  I met my daughter, Ruby, in Paris and her expertise in dance and choreography enriched the residency with movement while I led creative writing and book-making activities. What a team!

Ruby in Paris

I was able to not only visit the Theatre Des Champs Elysees where the legendary riot broke out during the premier of The Rite of Spring, (the subject of When Stravinsky Met Nijinsky), but I was able, through many amazing and magical circumstances to get a seat and actually view the centennial performance of Le sacre du printemps. 

In front of the Theatre Des Champs Elysees.

Two years ago, I began a story set in Venice. When I began the story, I did not dream of visiting Venice. I researched photographs and read books on the city and used my imagination. Then with the McKnight Fellowship, I decided to visit the city of my story...

View from the Accademia bridge

I spent ten days there walking, floating, photographing and soaking in all of the light, water, weather, sounds, smells and tastes that I could.

Watery streets and gondolas

I met two friends from my past there and together we saw two operas at La Fenice, visited many museums and explored the islands in the Lagoon.

I found the most fantastic bookstore in Venice- books everywhere!

Ten days was not enough. I think I need to move to Venice for a year at least! 

Before returning to Minnesota, I stayed in London for a few days. I filled myself with art by visiting two museums a day, attending a performance of The Tempest at the Globe Theatre, and even visited Circus Space, an amazing circus school in the heart of London.

My favorite publisher and bookstore- Persephone Books!

Circus Space

 Upon returning to Minneapolis, I did not even have time to download my travel photos before returning to painting sets at Circus Juventas. I had Witch's castles to paint, and Emerald City towers, trees, gateways, magical caravans, and poppies too. There were volunteers to help me, but basically I painted Oz for two months, taking breaks to watch the rehearsals of these amazing young performers.

painting the Wicked Witch's castle

Rehearsal and view of Oz partially covering the Witch's castle, and gateway.

When the rehearsals turned into performances, there was no hint of a circus school or arena, instead it was the magical land of Oz with tornadoes and poppy fields, emerald cities and gorgeous performances. I ushered nearly every show just so I could see it from every angle. What those kids create with all of their hard work is truly magical.

Poppy Queen with Emerald City in background. (Dan Norman- photographer)

Triangle trapeze with a house- tornado. (Joey McEachron- photographer)

4 man high in Teeterboard- Emerald City (Dan Norman-photographer)

Cooper, my son as the Tin Man, on Cyr Wheel (Joey McEachron, photographer)

And now it is fall-- or nearly there. My son has started his final year of high school and will soon begin classes at Circus Juventas again. My daughter is returning to Europe, via Iceland. My husband continues writing his novels. And I am returning to new stories, but that is another story. 

Another Summer Gone Too Soon

Around these parts, living on Whidbey Island, summer means sailing.  This year we spent plenty of time on the water—playing on beaches and in driftwood forts, catching Dungeness crab, and even discovering a few new anchoring spots (after all these years!)—but we also took some other road trips.  The best of these involved a visit to Glacier National Park where we were blessed with glorious weather, gorgeous scenery, and plenty of wildlife sightings.  Mountain sheep, goats, marmots, a coyote—every turn in the road seemed to bring a new critter to photograph and marvel at. 

The weather was in the 90s on our journey so there were plenty of stops to swim in rivers, lakes, and swimming pools, but the highlight of the trip (if you ask our son) was when we were walking our dog Skipper along Canyon Creek in NE Washington (on our way to Montana).  Ben and I had been talking about the possibility of encountering bears, and he had just finished reading a What To Do If You Encounter a Bear brochure we had picked up at a tourist information kiosk.  As we walked along the trail and Ben started making nonsense noises (“The brochure said to make noise when you’re in the woods, Dad”) we heard a branch snap in the woods and Ben said, “It’s probably a bear!”  “It’s probably not,” I replied.  “I’m going to check it out,” said Ben, stepping a few yards off the trail, into the woods.  A moment later he turned back to me, eyes wide, and said, “I just saw a bear!”  “No, you didn’t,” I said, figuring he was just trying to get a rise out of Daddy.  So I stepped off the trail and looked in the direction he indicated.  I saw something black amongst the tree trunks maybe twenty yards away.  Probably some abandoned piece of mining equipment, I reckoned (such junk/artifacts littered the area).  Then the black “thing” turned its head, and I said, “THAT’S A BEAR!”  We backtracked to our vehicle, hearts racing and smiles plastered on our faces….

Momma had to work, so she was not with us on this particular trip.  Although she was sad to miss all the Glacier sights, she was just fine with missing our bear encounter!

Summer vacation ended last week, but the memories will last a lifetime.  And now it’s time to return to writing….

Summer Vacation

I know it's not my turn to blog, but it's a stormy Saturday afternoon - a rare one in Southern California - and I'm in the mood to write.  Thanks for letting me!  This summer's highlight for me was a trip to Switzerland, Germany and France with my husband.  We reconnected with my cousins, "The Swiss Family Rabils," and saw beautiful castles, cathedrals, cobblestone streets, and flowers in every color and size.  I've included way too many photos from our trip, but it was so hard to choose!  I also attended the L.A. SCBWI conference and had a chance to meet my editor at Chronicle, Melissa Manlove.  She's lovely inside and out.  My agent was there and she hosted a party for her clients.  It was great to sit down for a couple of hours with fellow writers.  The conference was over the top wonderful, as expected!   I got some writing done in the middle of all this and am teaching an on-line writing course.  In a couple of weeks it will be back to Cal State to teach Children's Literature and Expository Writing, as well as some Senior Seminar courses.  

Our hotel in Lucerne.

My cousin's daughter, Maggie.

A Saturday market.

My cousin's son, John, going up.

My cousin's son, Marcus, digging in.

On the Rhine.

The view from Heidelberg Castle.

A fiddler in Strasbourg.

A castle on the Rhine.