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Feeling Grateful

By on November 24, 2017   /   Book Lists  

Hello Mixed-Up Filers!

How are you all? It’s been a loooooong time since I was last here. I sure as heck missed all of you!

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I love that it’s not a religious holiday, and anyone can celebrate. For me, it’s always time to just reflect and take a moment to enjoy the good in your life. Family, friends, the good things that have happened to you.

Success is something that can be subjective. For some, it’s never enough, and for others, even a little bit is something that is appreciated.

This year, has been a whirlwind, for many reasons, but I realize that there are many things to be grateful for, so with this being my probable last post of 2017, here is what I am grateful for. Writing edition:

I am grateful that I have a supportive family which lets me have time to write. It’s a huge sacrifice, and I am fortunate that my family gives me the opportunity to do it.

I am grateful to my kids, who loved hearing my story, over and over, and it was delightful to see their expressions as I was reading to them.

I am grateful to be surrounded by talented writers, here in South Florida, who get it. Who can relate to what I am going through, and I can relate to what they are. It’s great to have a support group.

And by extension, I am grateful to be in a safe and warm critique group, where they help me refine my work to get it to the point where it needs to be.

I am grateful to my agent, Nicole Resciniti, who made my dream come true this year, by being able to sell one of my books. It completed a lifelong dream for me, and made me thrilled and relieved, after years of trying.

I’m grateful to SkyPony Press, for taking a shot on me, and showing love and enthusiasm for my work.

I’m grateful to the 2017 Debut Group, which was kind and supportive. It was helpful to be able to go through it with other people experiencing the exact same thing, and always encouraging each other. I’ve said it before, but bears repeating. There are tons of books which come out every year, but I’ll always remember the authors and books from my year, since there was a bond forged.

I am grateful people who buy my book, or take it out from the library, and I’m especially grateful to kids who read it. It still boggles my mind that kids everywhere, are able to read and enjoy something that I wrote.

I’m grateful to this Mixed-Up Files blog, which is still one of the best sites for discussing kidlit, and I’m happy to still be a part of them.

I’m grateful for all the readers of this site, who help make it such a wonderful place to be.

And that means, I’m grateful for every single person in this writing community. and also SCBWI for being a great resource to writers of children’s books.

I’ve rarely had bad experiences during all the years I’ve been involved in kidlit. When I have, it’s the exception, not the norm.

So, thanks to all of you.

Know it means a lot, and know that I am grateful.

Happy Holidays, Mixed-Up Filers, and I’ll see you next year!

Jonathan Rosen is a transplanted New Yorker, who now lives with his family in sunny South Florida. He spends his “free” time being a volunteer coach and chauffeur for his three kids. Some of Jonathan’s fondest childhood memories are of discovering a really good book to dive into. His favorite of all time is Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. He currently writes middle-grade, because his sense of humor is stuck in that age. Jonathan is proud too be of Mexican-American descent, although neither country is really willing to accept responsibility. His MG debut, Night of the Living Cuddle Bunnies, is out now from SkyPony Press. He can be found at www.HouseofRosen.com.

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10 Tips for Research Travel for Writers

By on November 22, 2017   /   Book Lists, Diversity, For Writers, Writing  

One of the things a book reviewer invariably comments on is verisimilitude of a book’s setting, the vividness of the details, the authenticity of the regional voice. And how to you get that authenticity? If you are writing about someplace other than our own home town, travel is an important part about getting the research right.  One of the first writers I ever met and one who went on to become a mentor and friend, Susan Fletcher, went all the way to Iran to research her books Shadow Spinner and Alphabet of Dreams. She wanted to know what color the dirt was, the texture of the sand in the desert, and the smell of the souk. The result is a pair of books that were critically praised in America but also widely respected in their Persian editions in Iran.

I have since traveled to research my own books, both in the US and occasionally abroad. Here are some things I’ve learned along the way.

  1. Take a first aid kit and comfortable shoes. Always. You will be walking far more than you planned, and it’s just the worst when you have finally found the vista you needed most and be distracted by blisters or bee stings with no medical help in sight.
  2. Leave the computer behind. I get so wrapped up in my screen, it can b
    e a real detriment to engaging in the place I’m visiting. Most phones come with a camera, a note taking function and voice recording function. That’s all I need. I try to resist the urge to check email and social media. The kind of discovery that makes the details of my story feel authentic is not going to come from a screen.
  3. Be socially brave. Ask people questions. Engage. Most people like
  4. to talk about their home town and home culture. A month of reading in a library will not give the kind of insights that make something feel true. For example when I asked a family in a rural Oregon county what difference the reintroduction of wolves have made to their life, they said, “Now we send our kids to the bus stop with a gun.” That’s the sort of vivid detail that doesn’t come up in books and newspapers.
  5. Bring small gifts from home. I usually bring a stack of postcards from Oregon when I travel and give them as a thank you to a person I’ve had a conversation with on a train or at a pub. If I’ve made an appointment to see somebody–say a curator at a museum–I might bring something quintessentially Oregon like marionberry jam or chocolate truffles with douglas fir tips, or some small token of appreciation.
  6. Do not collect things unless it is specifically permitted. In many places even collecting a rock or shell from the ground is forbidden. In some public gardens it is against the law to remove any vegetation, even fallen leaves or flowers. Sometimes the fine is shockingly high.Take a photo. Trace the outline of a leaf, catch a sound clip of a waterfall,
  7. Track expenses. Many are tax deductible. Your flight or milage, admissions to museums, and exhibitions, your lodging, meetings that are specifically related to your writing count. The gifts you bought for your family, the play you took in just for fun, and the expenses of your traveling companions, not so much.
  8. Be open to discovery. The real benefit of going to a location is to find new perspectives and information that doesn’t get into the usual channels.
  9. Be culturally aware. sometimes the official line on a cultural or historical event is a dot off the full picture. Or, okay, an entire mile. The traditional thanksgiving story is a prime example. Take in more than one perspective. Be willing to change your story if  your version in not fair in its representation. Or be clear in your bias from the outset.
  10. Take contact information from key sources for follow up. You may be making revisions on the final version of this story 10 or 12 years after your initial research.
  11. Go beyond the guide book. Get off the beaten path. Linger. Arrive at an off peak time. Ask local folks where to go. The joy of travel is the unexpected and your book will be the stronger for it.
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STEM TUESDAY: Zoology – Craft & Resources

By on November 21, 2017   /   For Writers, STEM Tuesday, Zoology  

Reading Like a Writer

I am a student of nonfiction. If you hope to write nonfiction well, you have to be. When studying a book, I prefer to read it three times:

That first read is for pure enjoyment: letting the writing wash right through me and learning cool facts – did you know that venom is used to control diabetes!?!

On the second read I focus on the craft and writing techniques I can learn from.

By the third read I’m looking for specific examples of a technique that caught my eye on the second read, like how the author used sidebars to include material that is supportive but not critical to the main text.

This approach is not much different from my scientific approach to observation. When I recently came across two beetles wrestling, I first watched from above, impressed by their phenomenal horns and robotic legs; then I knelt to get a closer view and wondered why the smaller one was winning; finally, I held each one in my hand to use a magnifier. When I felt the little one’s extra spiky legs grip my finger, my questions were answered.

Want to read like a writer?

Focus on one element at a time. Reading the STEM books the first time, I noticed that many included dialog.

I wondered: Why does an author use dialog in a nonfiction book?

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To get a closer view, I focused in on Sy Montgomery’s Kakapo Rescue: Saving the World’s Strangest Parrot.

 

  • Chapter 4, page 21, starts with a direct quote, “Codfish Base from Lisa’s nest.”

That quote caught my eye and had me asking questions: What is “Codfish Base?” Who who is Lisa? Why does she have a nest? It’s a fantastic hook and has me diving into the chapter.

  • Chapter 5 includes dialog at the beginning as well, from page 29:

    “There’s a penguin in the freezer,” she announces.”

    “Really?” asks a volunteer. “What kind?”

I wondered: Who says that? Where is it “normal” to have a penguin in the fridge? If that doesn’t have you wanting to get to know these characters, I don’t know what will!

  • The dialog on pages 44-45 is entirely different. It is a tragic scene – the death of a kakapo chick.

I wondered: Why did the author choose to use dialog to show this particular scene? For me, the words of the characters played out the scene so well that I was reacting emotionally right along with the characters.

Compare how other authors use dialog. Just like with the beetles, my next step was to put texts from two different authors under my magnifying glass.

I asked myself: What are the most effective ways to use and frame quotes?

  • Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.orgFirst I read the “Wild Rhinos” section on page 8 of Emi and the Rhino Scientist which uses snippets of quotations embedded within a paragraph:

How do you describe a rhino?

You’d probably start with size. “Rhinos are really big animals,” says Terri. Only elephants are bigger land animals. Their wide bodies are propped up on short, thick legs that end in three-toed hooves. Rhinos have thick necks with giant heads and one or two horns. A rhinon may look like a slow-moving tank as it lunmbers around, but don’t be fooled. “Rhinos can move quickly,” says Terri. They can whip around in an instant and run as fast as deer. Rhinos share speed with their close relative the horse.

I noticed how Mary Kay Carson has used dialog but the paragraph is also chock full of other information. What impact do the quotes impart? Why did Carson use quotes here instead of pure expository?

  • Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.orgI compared Carson’s technique to other texts which make use of quotes in a similar manner. An example is the passage about bearded lizard venom on page 92 of Caitlin O’Connell’s Bridge to the Wild.

I listed ways in which O’Connell’s and Carson’s use of quotes were similar.

  • Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.orgI contrasted those texts with a different framing, a full scene played out using primarily dialog. An example can be found on page 55 of Pamela Turner’s Gorilla Doctors: Saving Endangered Great Apes.

I asked myself: How did the framing of the dialog change the impact? In what ways were the techniques similar? Different?

What did I learn? When an author uses direct quotes from an expert, the quote often provides information and lends authority to the text, but quotes can also work to generate curiosity, create rounded characters, add humor, etc. and, how an author frames those quotes can dramatically change their impact.

Try it Yourself!

After reading and analyzing other writers’ use of dialog, try it yourself.

  1. Audio record a conversation.
  2. Write a text using quotes from that conversation.
  3. Write a different text using the quotes in a different manner.
  4. Compare the impact of the two texts. Compare to a friend’s draft.

Many people don’t think about the craft of nonfiction, but I learn heaps when I study works of gifted writers who carefully craft their text. Happy reading! Happy Writing!

What other STEM texts have great examples of dialog techniques? Share in the comments below!

—

Heather L. Montgomery writes for kids who are WILD about animals. She reads and writes while high in a tree, standing in a stream, or perched on a mountaintop boulder. Visit her at: www.HeatherLMontgomery.com

 

 

The O.O.L.F. Files

One way to really understand STEM is to illustrate the subject of interest. Our Out of Left Field (O.O.L.F.) STEM Tuesday topic this month is science illustration. Visual science allows accurate interpretation of an object by combining knowledge of the subject, visual and tactile study of the subject, and artistic skill. Learn more about science illustration and careers, see some cool examples, and even explore a free online course at the links below.

Links:

 

 

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