Chicago

We went to Chicago to watch Sam compete in the USA Taekwondo National Championships. He represented the Michigan team in World Class Sparring. He didn't advance, but simply getting to Nationals is quite an accomplishment.

  Sam (in blue) about to score a point. 

Sue, the famous T. rex in the Field Museum

With my sons in the windy city

Overheard #258

"In my business, they prefer the stick to the carrot."

The Riddle of the Labyrinth

The Riddle of the Labyrinth: the quest to crack an ancient code

by Margalit Fox

Harper Collins, 2013

In 1900, archeologist Arthur Evans discovered a series of tablets on the island of Crete. The tablets dated from 1450 BCE, almost 700 years before the Greek alphabet was developed. The tablets were written in an unknown script and in an unknown language, referred to as Linear B. The Riddle of the Labyrinth tells the story of how Linear B was decoded, and the contributions of the three major players, Arthur Evans, Alice Kober and Michael Ventris. The process took 53 years. The work was done before computers were available to private citizens and when paper was in such sort supply that Kober had to cut her own index cards from church flyers and greeting cards. 

From reading this book, I learned that languages may be logographic where each character depicts an idea (Chinese), or syllabic where each symbol refers to a syllable (Japanese kana script) or phonetic where each character stands for a sound. “By some estimates, only 15 percent of the roughly six thousand languages spoken around the globe have written forms.” 

I recommend this book for anyone who is interested in codes, the development of language or history.

Overheard #257

"I’m a scientist. I’m not afraid of graph paper."

First Lines and Last Lines

Yesterday at a writing day, I tried Anna J. Boll’s suggestion for analyzing the first lines of each chapter. The goal of the exercise is to keep the reader turning pages. 

I cut and pasted the first line of every chapter into a new document. Not only did I have a mini representation of my novel contained in a single page, I also got to compare patterns. I highlighted forms of the verb “to be” in yellow and references to time in purple. I underlined looser sentences. Then I started revising. In the end I rewrote most of the sentences. To be fair, I rewrote most of the opening paragraphs.  

Then I did the same thing with the last lines in each chapter, keeping an eye on how frequently I ended with a cliffhanger, irony or other enticements to keep reading. I found Anna’s technique to be an extremely effective revising tool. 

Also, thank you Gina and Juliet for posting another of my pictures on City Muse Country Muse.

Sunday

reflection

green eyes

Overheard #256

"The chipmunks are robot spy cams."

Strawberries

Pop on over to City Muse Country Muse. Gina and Juliet posted another of my pictures for Writer's Block Wednesday. They called me a "guest photographer." How cool is that?

Submission Advice

Adventures in YA & Children’s Publishing has an excellent article on queries, synopses and first pages. Seven agents talk about the most common submission mistakes. 

My favorite query mistake was from Katie Grimm. She advised against writing a query that "Makes you sound mentally unstable. Maybe you think you sound quirky or that you’ve really done your research, or you’re just that enthusiastic, but show your feet are on the ground and you haven’t been stalking us!"  

It reminds me of an author event I attended with Ruth McNally Barshaw. The audience was small, so we had a chance to chat with the author. (I won’t mention her name here, but she’s a friend of Ruth’s.) The author announced that the second book in a series was about to be released, and I said I was looking forward to reading it. The conversation didn’t go well after that. 

Author: You’ve read [name of first book in series]? 
Me: I’ve read all your books. 
Author: stunned silence. The look on her face said, “Oh, no. It’s a stalker.” 
Ruth (trying to help): Ann reads a lot. 

That’s right. I stalk lots of people.

Sunday

I planted some coleus among the ferns.

clematis

lily

Overheard #255

"You may think I’m not paying attention, but I am, secretly."

The Three-Dimensional Solution

My Work-In-Progress involves an imaginary town with a road, a river and buildings. I drew a map and wrote the draft. Somewhere in the third revision, I discovered geography problems. Some of my characters were on the wrong side the river, and there is no bridge. I re-drew the map, but there were still issues. Finally, I decided I needed to see the town in 3D. I got a very old, very dusty set of Duplos from the basement and built the town. The model helped me identify where the problems were. Now I’m revising with geography and geometry in mind. 

Sometimes it takes more than a map. Here's some Duplo-building music.

 

Another Rain-Soaked Peony

Gina and Juliet posted another one of my pictures today on City Muse Country Muse for their Writer's Block Wednesday feature. Thank you!

Sunday

After the rain

Happy Father's Day!

Overheard #254

"It was probably the only time in history when the good guys won."

Traveling Chipmunk

One of my pictures is featured today at City Muse Country Muse. Thank you, Gina and Juliet!

This little fellow likes to sun on my front steps. He has a tunnel under the lawn and hiding places under the rose bushes. I call him Chip. The dozen or so chipmunks that live by my kitchen window are all called Dale.

Update

Just when I'd been happily ignoring my blog, it wins an award. Thank you, Juliet and Gina at City Muse Country Muse.

They are also going to use some of my previously unpublished pictures as writing prompts for their blog. I'll post a link when that happens, but don't wait to check out City Muse Country Muse. Their poetry is breathtaking.  

In other news, I've been a revising fool this spring. My goal is three chapters a week. So far, I'm managing.

The Giant Backyard Project continues. More pictures will be forthcoming. My poison ivy experiment failed: nothing died. My next attempt will be to cut the stems of the poison ivy and apply the Round Up to the cut surfaces. Stay tuned for updates.

Sunday

Irises are tricky. I like light through petals.

peony

I'm sure someone will tell me what these mushrooms are called.

Overheard #253

"Try to be gracious, even if it hurts."

Too Easy - Early Answer

 

Yep. The Mystery Photo was a stack of egg cartons waiting to be returned to the farmer's market. 

 goes to Lori, Tim, and Gina for guessing egg cartons

 

goes to Debbie for guessing an army of soap sliver people, waiting in line for a washcloth

 goes to Charlie for guessing bent birthday candles

goes to Z for guessing skirts in a chorus line

Mystery Photo

 

What is it?

Is this too easy?

Awards will be posted on Wednesday (5-29-2013).

Overheard #252

"I would never arm-wrestle a pregnant woman."

Stepping Back

Kristin and Donna Marie asked for longer range pictures of my Giant Backyard Project. We have too much shade for a lawn, and the weeds had taken over. Last summer I started taming the feral garden.

This is the entrance to the garden. I planted the vinca on the left of the path last spring, and the patch to the right earlier this year. The hosta bed on the far right used to be confluent, but the deer have thinned it.

More of the vinca and hostas.

I had a large lush European ginger plant under the large oak on the left of the top picture. It disappeared, but I have found "babies" throughout the garden. I transplanted them to a rock garden, and they seem to like it.

This is the other side of the vinca I planted last year (around the corner from the top picture). The stones under the rain spout help prevent erosion.

I'll post more pictures later in the summer, as the plants fill in and I get more weeding done.

Click on the pictures to enlarge.

Sunday

 trillium

 mayapple

crabapple blossom

wild apple blossom (I think)

lily of the valley

Experimenting with Vines

Many years ago, I planted a pink climbing rose and a deep purple clematis together. In June, they cover their trellis with gorgeous blossoms. A few years back, a poison ivy vine joined the party, but I ignored the problem. 

Last fall, I decided to eradicate the poison ivy. I cut back the rose, so I could get to the poison ivy roots. When plants share a trellis, they rub against each other, and the rose thorns became coated with poison ivy toxin. Introducing poison ivy toxin under the skin is A Very Bad Idea. Trust me on this.  

This spring, the poison ivy is back. I decided to spray some Round Up on a piece of aluminum foil then dip a Q-tip in the Round Up and paint it some of the poison ivy leaves. (Simply spraying the poison ivy is likely to get all three plants.) The possible outcomes include: 

A) Nothing 

B) A few poison ivy leaves will wither, and the plant will remain robust. 

C) The poison ivy plant will die. Forever. 

D) The poison ivy, the clematis and the rose will all perish.

I’ll keep you posted.

Overheard #251

"Never ask anyone riding a bicycle to help you fix your car."

Sunday

wild geranium

I believe these are wild blue phlox. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

botanist's valentine (I made that up.)

sweet white violet

I have lots of violets in my yard, but no pure white ones.

Happy Mother's Day!

Overheard #250

"When it comes to pitch, at least try to be right some of the time."

Interesting Links and a Correction

Anna J Boll posted an interesting revising idea. She made a chart of the first sentences of each chapter in her novel. This is a way to check if chapters start with too much exposition. She can see if chapters tend to start at the same time of day, like when the main character is waking up. Most importantly, she can judge if each chapter starts with a hook. I’m going to try this. 

Elizabeth Wein’s wonderful novel Code Name Verity won the Edgar Award for the best young adult mystery/thriller in 2013. She also has a new book coming out, Rose Under Fire. I have never met Elizabeth Wein, but I loved Code Name Verity and can’t wait to read her new book.  

Correction: I misidentified a plant in my April 28, 2013 photographs.

This plant is called Spanish bluebells, which is a monocot. I said they were Virginia bluebells, which is a dicot. (The leaves in the photograph are vinca.)

Sunday

Brunnera - King's Ransom

Jack in the Pulpit

Fiddlehead - Thanks to Sandy Carlson for the ferns!

Rhododendron - Northern Hi-Lights

Synopsis Exchange

We hateses the nasty synopsises, don’t we, Precious? 

Writing or revising synopses in never fun. Is anybody else struggling with their synopsis right now? Does anyone anticipate needing a polished synopsis within the next few months?  

Have I got a deal for you! 

I will organize a synopsis exchange among my kid lit friends. Please leave a comment on this blog entry if you’d like to participate in a synopsis critique exchange. Include your email address. I’ll match up entries in groups of two or three. Perhaps the exchange could begin this weekend or early next week.

(If no one responds, I’ll quietly go back to work.)