My Blog

I had a great visit to LaSalle Intermediate Academy, a middle school in South Bend, IN, last week. I spoke to more than 800 well-behaved, energetic and thoughtful kids. It was a wonderful school and I enjoyed every minute of it. Great questions, too, although I’ve been giving lots of thought to one particular question. A girl stood and asked me, what advice would you give to young writers like myself? I answered that she should not worry about publishing but spend her time working on her craft. Write every day, in journals as well as other forms. And pay attention to the world around you. When someone acts a certain way, don’t criticize, don’t dismiss but try to figure out why. As writers, no matter what genre, you have to understand human nature.  But I think I’d also add this: you can be a great reader and not a great writer. But you can’t be a great writer without being a great reader. So in addition to writing every day, read everything you can get your hands on. And then imitate. It might be the best way to find your voice.

If you find yourself in St. Joe, Michigan, next Saturday, August 16, please stop by Marie’s Hallmark, 219 State Street, and say hello. I’ll be signing books from 11-1pm. I can’t wait to be on the lake and in St. Joe. See you there! 

My good friend Jamie Holland Hull said in one of her blogs that she can’t write in a gorgeous setting.  I agree. Give me a room, a desk and and my computer and I’m all set. I always take my computer on vacations because I like to write every day, even if only for 15 minutes. Usually I write early in the morning, before anyone is awake. If we happen to be in a hotel room, then that means I’m writing on the bathroom floor so I won’t wake anyone. Which can get a bit cramped. But that’s okay.

Check out Jamie’s webpage, newly redesigned:

www.jamiehollandhull.com

The prolific and respected kidlit blogger, Jen Robinson, featured No CREAM PUFFS on her blog today. It was such a nice review. My novel is a “baseball” book, but I’ve always thought of it as being about so much more. Jen thought so, too. I love that she liked Huey (and called him complex, which he is). And that she thought the 1980s theme was done just right. And she quoted perhaps my favorite couple of lines in the book: 

“I can feel Mom’s eyes on me, but I won’t look at her. What if this is her fault, not Dad’s?
But then I see how she’s looking at me, her eyes soft. And I feel this space widening between us, like what happens when you’re in the lake and you don’t hang on to each other’s rafts.” (Page 125)

Thanks, Jen!

Here’s the link:

http://jkrbooks.typepad.com/blog/

Okay, so I haven’t spent much time in St. Joe, Michigan, nor do I know anyone who lives there. But for some reason I used the town in both of my novels. In TALL TALES Meg says that St. Joe was one of the towns where she lived. In NO CREAM PUFFS Madison remembers how her friend, Sara, stopped off in St. Joe to call her on her way home from vacation.  So, what’s the attraction? Could be that I know it’s a nice sized town, right on the shores of the great Lake Michigan.  I’ve always loved the lake, and loved Michigan. We used to vacation there when I was a kid. Otherwise, I just don’t know!

Funny thing is, I’ll be in St. Joe next month, on Saturday, Aug. 16, from 11-1pm signing books at the Readers World bookstore.  If you’re reading this and live in the area, please stop by to say hi!

Well, it was a good weekend for NO CREAM PUFFS. On Saturday it was reviewed in the Chicago Tribune. Also on Saturday the Albany Times-Union named it as one of this summer’s best reads. Here are links to both publications.

http://blogs.timesunion.com/thelist/?p=159

http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/booksmags/chi-kids-21jun21,0,200237.story

When I went back to speak in Indiana last month, I was interviewed by a reporter from the Beacher, a local newspaper in Long Beach.  Here’s the link to that article:

http://www.bbpnet.com/pdf/2008/BeacherJun12.pdf

Way to go, Madison!
 

Tomorrow night I’m headed to another mom-daughter book group meeting, but this time we’ll talk about NO CREAM PUFFS. Because it was so recently released, I haven’t addressed any groups who have actually read the book. Can’t wait. So much mom and daughter material! Madison, the main character, loves her mom but is so bugged by the things she does and says. Aren’t most 12-year-olds? It will be fascinating to hear everyone’s take on it, the girls who at 13 are really spreading their wings. The moms who were once 13 themselves.  I love doing these. It’s such an honor and so interesting to hear the feedback. 

I’m on a whirlwind Indiana tour right now, visiting middle schools and talking with kids about writing and my new book. Yesterday I went to my old middle school, Boston Middle School, and also Kesling Middle School, our rival across town. How great was it to talk in the school I used as the model for TALL TALES? Or to be up at Notre Dame in Long Beach, telling the students that I set NO CREAM PUFFS in their town? Or to be down at South Central Middle School, telling one of the students that I modeled a party in TALL TALES on one of her mom’s slumber parties?!!

The local paper had a really nice article about me and my book. Here’s the link:

http://thenewsdispatch.com/main.asp?SectionID=22&SubSectionID=22&ArticleID=14071

And if you live in the area, come see me today at 1pm at Reader’s World, Marquette Mall, Michigan City. Hope to see you there!

My good friend and fellow writer Mitali Perkins, author of RICKSHAW GIRL and the First Daughter books, blogged about my signing on Wednesday. Thank you, Mitali! Here’s the link:

http://www.mitaliblog.com/2008/05/karen-days-book-launch-party.html

If you weren’t able to make the Wellesley signing, (because of traffic, little league pictures or any of the other events going on that day!) please think about coming to my next local signing, Sunday, June 8, at 2pm at Newtonville Books in Newtonville.

I’m off to Indiana next week to run a fiction writing workshop for kids, sign books and speak at four local middle schools, including Boston Middle School where I went to junior high. I haven’t been in that school since I lived there, more than 20 years ago. I’m bringing child #3 with me. Not only will she see where I went to school, but it’s also the school her grandparents and great-grandparents attended!

Friday night I had the pleasure to be guest speaker at a mother-daughter book group here in our wonderful city. The group had read TALL TALES for their May meeting. I talked a bit about how I became a writer, the long process of revising, rejections and publishing. The girls and moms were very attentive and interested and asked great questions. Should Dr. Bennet and Carrolyn have been more rounded out as characters? Why couldn’t mom help the kids? I love going to these small groups because it gives me a chance to really connect with moms and kids. But it’s also fun talking to people who have read the book (versus booksignings where I’m launching a book and no one has read it yet). In small groups we can really get into the nitty gritty parts of the text. For example, I can talk about themes, my favorite parts of my books!!

But the best part of the evening was the writing we did at the end. I gave the girls some writing prompts which helped them put together a main character. It was so exciting to see where the girls (and their moms) went with this exercise. It reminded me of how important it is to help kids tap into their creative energies. You never know what they’ll end up doing with it.

Thanks Elizabeth and Leonora for hosting!