Kidlit for Cancer Research

April 10, 2017Leave a comment

This time next week, I’ll be running the Boston Marathon with the Dana-Farber team. I ran with Dana-Farner last year, too, and it was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had.

But for charity team runners like me, fundraising for a great cause is even more important than the race itself. On the Dana-Farber team, we raise money for innovative cancer research at the Claudia Adams Barr Program, where scientists use this seed money to fund creative and dynamic projects that could make major lifesaving changes for patients and families. I know way too many people whose lives have been affected by cancer in some way, and I’m so honored to be part of these efforts to support science and fight cancer.

Right now, you can help support science and fight cancer AND win some awesome writerly items. What more could you want? Check out Kidlit for Cancer Research, in which some fantastic writers and agents have donated signed books and query/first page critiques! There’s some seriously awesome stuff like:

The auction closes tonight, so get your bids in now! 100% of funds raised go to groundbreaking research at the Claudia Adams Barr Program in Innovative Basic Cancer Research at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

Links Galore

March 23, 2017Leave a comment

Lots of links I’ve been saving:

Librarians resist. And now libraries matter more than ever.
I am so excited about another book in the His Dark Materials universe.
Ian McKellen, Shakespeare, and immigration.
One of my favorite college professors on turning to poetry in times when words otherwise fail us.
Gender identity and sexuality and the next generation.
A win for Team Oxford Comma.
But sometimes it’s okay to bend the grammar rules.
Death and Jane Austen’s unfinished novel.
And then the murders began.
They’re making the future.
Pixar, tell me your secrets.
Why we need national support for the arts and humanities.
Great list of YA books about refugees.
Maybe it’s time to break up with your agent.
Parsing the helpful feedback from the not-so-helpful.
What it actually looks like to write (and finish) a novel.
Great suggestions for writing through the middle.

Going to the Dogs: a Lesson from Olly and the Crufts Dog Show

March 14, 20173 Comments

Recently, a friend and I were talking about the phrase “going to the dogs.” Humans’ relationship with dogs have changed in the last few centuries, and how we think of dogs as great companions. How can something “going to the dogs” still be a bad thing?

And if anyone can teach us about how to deal with the bad things, it’s dogs. Example: Olly the Terrier.

Olly didn’t have a great showing at the recent Crufts dog show–major fail right away, face plant right into the ground.

But Olly didn’t care.

He was “all over the place” after that and ran the wrong way through one of the challenges, but, as the announcer said, he was “having a ball.”

Olly knows a thing or two about how to handle failure.

Sometimes things don’t go as planned. Sometimes we don’t have the show we wanted. But that doesn’t mean getting upset or mad at ourselves or quitting. Instead, maybe that means we should find the joy in what we’re doing and go after that. Maybe we’re not going to win the dog show this year, but we’re going to have some fun while we’re there.

Failure is hard. Disappointment is hard. But no one can take that Olly-ish joy away from you when you’re doing something you love.

From now on, if something’s “going to the dogs,” respond like Olly the dog. Find your enthusiasm, find your confidence, and keep at it.

Friday Fifteen

March 10, 2017Leave a comment

Happy Friday, guys! How is it that this week’s felt so long and so short all at once? Also it snowed today and all I want to do is wrap myself in a comforter and not leave the house until April. Fortunately, in that scenario I could still read, so let’s get the weekend started with a few book reviews in fifteen words or fewer.

Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay
Great collection of essays about race, sexism, education, media, and Scrabble.

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz
Wanted more from Oscar as a character, but Díaz’s writing is stellar.

Fish In A Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt
Wish I had a fifth grade class to share this with. Heart-wrenching and heartwarming.

YA Passport at Trident Booksellers with Lauren McLaughlin and Annie Cardi

February 28, 2017Leave a comment

capture Hey there, Boston-area YA fans! This Thursday, I’m going to be at Trident Booksellers & Cafe with fellow YA writer Lauren McLaughlin for a conversation about books, writing, and probably how great the sweet potato fries are at Trident. Lauren’s launching her new book, The Free, and I’m so excited to be part of the festivities.

The details:

YA Passport with Lauren McLaughlin and Annie Cardi
March 2, 2017, 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Trident Booksellers & Cafe
338 Newbury Street, Boston, MA 02115

Come say hi, get some tasty food/a refreshing beverage, snag a book, and take part in a fantastic YA conversation!

Links Galore

February 9, 2017Leave a comment

The links I’ve been saving for a snowy day:

In the latest episode of Crossover Appeal, I talk about my new bookish obsession, The Wee Free Men and the rest of the Discworld series.
Wahoowa for Margot Shetterly, author of Hidden Figures!
Because as fun as buying books is, giving books away can feel really good.
The Penderwicks and bibliotherapy.
Langston Hughes feels particularly necessary these days.
Famous writers on revision.
Playing around with writing exercises.
On sharing banned books with your kids.
Rita Dove speaks the truth.
Psyched feels like the wrong word for how I feel about The Handmaid’s Tale adaptation.
Finding the balance between writing and life, and how little actions build up.
I need all of these bookish puzzles.
Be gentle with yourself.
And to keep calm, take a few tips from to a bomb disposal expert.

Quote of the Day

January 30, 2017Leave a comment

I’ve been listening to the audiobook of The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett (my first Discworld book), and this quote felt particularly relevant to me:

terry-pratchett-quote

Keep speaking up.

Friday Fifteen

January 20, 2017Leave a comment

Today feels like a good day to share a couple lines of poetry, in slightly more than fifteen words. From “Poetry as Insurgent Art [I am signaling you through the flames]” by Lawrence Ferlinghetti

“What are poets for, in such an age?
What is the use of poetry?

The state of the world calls out for poetry to save it.”

Read the whole poem here. Other poems I’ve been reading recently include “A Song on the End of the World” by Czeslaw Milosz and “Good Bones” by Maggie Smith.

Keep writing, keep fighting.

Playing and Discovery

January 18, 20171 Comment

A friend who’s an actor recently shared this interview with Mark Rylance talking about spontaneity and ‘playing’ with other actors as a way to develop character. The part I like starts around 1:40 minutes in:

I don’t do a lot of plotting when I’m drafting a novel, so I can totally relate to to this idea of being in the moment with characters, and the joy of discovery that comes with that. Even though I’m married to a playwright and have a lot of friends in the theater, I never thought about spontaneity and character development in the same way in terms of acting. But it’s really cool to see that artists can have similar methods of exploration, despite working in different artistic spheres.

Do you feel a sense of play and exploration in your writing or other artistic work?

2017 Bookish Resolutions

January 5, 20172 Comments

Yesterday I shared my 2016 reading and writing resolution results, but 2016 is over (woohoo!) so today I’m moving onto my 2017 book-related resolutions.

Reading Resolutions

Finish more book series I’ve started: putting this one back on the list, since I’m still in the middle of some great series.
Read more diversely: because We Need Diverse Books applies to all genres and categories, and because we need to hear these voices now more than ever.
Listen to more audiobooks: after Amy Poehler helped me through an unexpectedly epic road trip, I’ve gotten into audiobooks. I always thought I’d been way too distracted to follow a narrative, but I’ve loved getting to listen to books while cooking or commuting or hanging out.
Explore more picture books: I always say that writing a good picture book is like writing a good poem–seemingly easy but so hard to do well. Even though I don’t have any young readers in my house, that doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate a good story and some awesome illustration.
Read more poetry: I took poetry classes in college, both writing and literature, and really enjoyed it, but my experience with poetry has seriously dropped off since then. The nice thing about poetry is that it’s easy to work poetry in on a regular basis–you don’t need to read a whole collection at once.

Writing Resolutions

Turn off the internet more: I get a lot done when I go write in coffeeshops without free wi-fi (or at least where I don’t explicitly check for the wifi info).
Write when I think I don’t have enough time: back on the list for 2017, because it’s still true and I still get more done than I think I can.
Revise projects that aren’t finished: I’ve got a couple of complete drafts that still need work. I’d like to get them as far as I can take them.
Stretch my writing muscles: try new genres, new formats, new categories.
Have fun: because this one still matters and is still a challenge. It’s hard to separate the writing itself from all the possible end results, when all the possible end results are out of my control. The writing’s in my control, and it’s the fun part, even when it’s work.

Here’s to a year of expansive reading and joyful writing. Share your 2017 bookish resolutions in the comments!