Thank You Global TV and 680 CJOB Radio!

What a few weeks it's been! 

I'd like to shout a big THANKS to both 680 CJOB radio and Global TV for including me in their I Love to Read Month series featuring Canadian authors. It was a thrill to be interviewed and discuss my book, The U-nique Lou Fox, ADHD, dyslexia and the importance of representation in children's literature.

What that's you say? You missed the radio interview with Greg, Brett, and Laura? No worries, you can listen here.

And if you missed the TV interview, you can watch it here.

Please note: I did misspeak. Twice! Funny how your brain can go rogue under pressure. Something to let kids know happens to adults too! We make mistakes. Corrections: Dyslexia is NOT kryptonite and the teacher training takes a full day.  

The U-nique Lou Fox is about a fifth grader named, Louisa Elizabeth Fitzhenry-O'Shaughnessy who has big, bold, audacious plans. She intends to become the youngest Broadway playwright in history, and the youngest Cirque du Soleil performer...but first she has to get through the fifth grade. Between ADHD, dyslexia, and a teacher who never gives her a break, school is never spec-tac-u-lar. She wishes her teacher Mrs. Snyder would disappear. She wishes her friends would stop interfering with the play she's writing. Sometimes she even wishes she wasn't about to be a big sister.

Then Mrs. Snyder gets sick. Really sick. And Lou gets scared. What if all her worst wishes come true?

This novel means so much to me, as my family is full of neurodivergent people who have faced their own struggles in school and personal relationships. And just like Lou, they also have dreamt their own big, bold, audacious dreams, using their unique talents and gifts. 

If you're looking for the resources I mentioned in the interviews, here's a list to get you started on learning more about being neurodivergent.

ADHD:

Dr. Ned Hallowell – “Board-certified child and adult psychiatrist and world authority on ADHD. He is a graduate of Harvard College and Tulane Medical School, and was a Harvard Medical School faculty member for 21 years. He is the Founder of The Hallowell ADHD Centers in Boston MetroWest, New York City, San Francisco, Palo Alto and Seattle.”

ADDitude Inside the ADHD Mind - Focuses on the experience of living with ADHD

 Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Service – Manitoba – for children aged 6 through 17. “Families may self-refer through Child and Adolescent Mental Health Centralized Intake Service at 204-958-9660, however, a physician referral is required for psychiatric/medication consultation.” 

CHADD – Children and Adults with ADHD

Attention Deficit Disorder Association

How to ADHD by Jessica McCabe and her Youtube Videos are excellent. Highly recommend. This channel is excellent and very accessible. The content creator breaks down everything in a fun, easy to follow, and understand way.

Books:

ADHD 2.0 by Edward M. Hallowell, M.D. & John J. Ratey, M.D.

Superparenting for ADD: An Innovative Approach for Raising Your Distracted Child by Edward M. Hallowell, M.D. & John J. Ratey, M.D.

Inattentive/distractible ADHD'ers are often often overlooked
and receive later diagnosis.
This happens often with women and girls.

Dyslexia:

Made by Dyslexia – “They are a global charity, led by successful dyslexics. They’ve built the world’s largest community of dyslexic people and our allies. Their purpose is to help the world to Learn Dyslexia: to understand it, to value it and to support it.” 

FREE teacher training to spot and support dyslexic learners. This was developed by Made by Dyslexia in partnership with Microsoft. One single day is all it takes to complete all 3 training levels below. But it’s enough to change a child’s life. And for you to change the world.

Learn Dyslexia Campaign Film

The Yale Center for Dyslexia & Creativity - “Their mission is to increase awareness of dyslexia and its true nature, specifically to illuminate the creative and intellectual strengths of those with dyslexia, to disseminate the latest scientific research and practical resources, and to transform the treatment of all dyslexic children and adults.” 

Dyslexia Champions of Manitoba – “Working together to champion the gifts, and support the needs of Manitobans with dyslexia.” 

Dyslexia Canada

International Dyslexia Association

Books:

This is Dyslexia by Kate Griggs

Overcoming Dyslexia (Second Edition) by Sally Shaywitz, M.D. (Codirector for the Yale Center for Dyslexia & Creativity) and Jonathan Shaywitz, M.D.

1 in 5 students have dyslexia.
At least 80% of dyslexic students leave school without a diagnosis
or having had the proper supports to thrive.

You can buy The U-nique Lou Fox online or at your local independent bookseller. 

McNally Robinson Booksellers is in Winnipeg and they ship worldwide!

Back to the Printer!

This cover still takes my breath away.

SO EXCITED! 

Family of Spies: Paris is back to Friesen Press for a second print run!

Thanks to all who have purchased copies or have borrowed the novel from a library. Finding an audience is every writer's dream.

AND it is now available in the United Kingdom and most of Europe!
We're working hard on U.S. distribution. Inches away from a green light.

Happy Dancing around my house. Need to get my extra hyper out or I'll never get back to my current work in progress. These stories don't write themselves, after all.

To the Library!

View from our Toronto Airbnb.

What a whirlwind trip. 

I arrived at our Airbnb in Toronto at 1:00 a.m. with fellow author, pal and absolute perfect travel companion Colleen Nelson, and was out again by 7:30 a.m. to get to a full day in at the Ontario Library Association Super Conference.

This cover created a lot of buzz,
thanks to Relish New Brand!

I met lovely authors, teachers, publishers and the reps from Publishers Group Canada, the distributors for Yellow Dog titles. Bronte, Margot and Michael graciously hosted us in their booth and for a feverish twenty minutes I signed books and chatted to teachers and librarians about Family of Spies:Paris and the school visits available through the TD Canadian Children's Book Week Tour.

Key Conference Takeaways:

• Middle Grade. Middle Grade. Middle Grade.
• Shorter Middle Grade is needed
• Middle Grade Fantasy remains high in demand
• Manitoba stories are being very well-received
• Great Plains Publications has an extremely good reputation

On a personal note:

• I need to produce more words if I want to grow my writing career.

To get those words onto paper, I plan to take my mobile office to various libraries around the city as I complete the first draft of my next book. I need zero distractions and household chores always scream for my attention, so beginning Monday morning I am off to the Fort Garry Public Library to write for the day. Funny. My love of literature is coming full circle. When I was a child, we spent hours at the Fort Garry Library reading everything we could get our hands on. In fact, years ago I wrote a piece about this for the publisher of Spaghetti is NOT a Finger Food and Other Life Lessons, Little Pickle Press. You can read that article here: Featured Library: Fort Garry Public Library

Makes me think of that old John Denver song,

Back home again, I just can't wait to get home again...

Fort Garry Library.
Library Sweet Library.

And finally, my deep gratitude goes to the Manitoba Arts Council and their ongoing support of Manitoba's writing community. Without their grant, my journey to Toronto would not have been possible.

Looking to book an author?
Click here!

TD Canadian Book Week 2019!

Adopt an Author Program
Taking 75 grade 4/5's down the publishing path of
Family of Spies: Paris.

I have extremely awesome news! I've been selected to take part in the TD Canadian Children's Book Week 2019 and tour school and libraries in Ontario. So very grateful for this opportunity. I love presenting nearly as much as I like writing. 

So, what is it all about?

Here is a snipping from the Canadian Children's Book Centre's Page:

Sharing books I wrote at age ten, with ten-year-olds.

TD Canadian Children’s Book Week is the single most important national event celebrating Canadian children’s books and the importance of reading. Each May, over 400 readings are given to over 28,000 children, teens and adults in roughly 175 communities across the country as we make every possible effort to reach children in more remote regions and communities. Hundreds of schools, public libraries, bookstores and community centres host events as part of this major literary festival.

When is it?

The next TD Canadian Children’s Book Week touring program will run from Saturday, May 4 to Saturday, May 11, 2019. Thirty Canadian children’s authors, illustrator and storytellers will be visiting schools, libraries, community centres and bookstores across Canada throughout the week.

                                                          Who organizes it?

Using our Senses with Grade Three's.

TD Canadian Children’s Book Week is organized by the Canadian Children’s Book Centre, in partnership with the Storytellers of Canada/Conteurs du Canada, and is made possible through the generous support of sponsors and funders.

If you are a teacher, librarian or bookstore in Ontario, please visit the website. I would love to meet you and your students and spread my love for reading, writing, and following our creative passions.

Spaghetti is NOT a Finger Food with Grade One's

Looking for reviews for Family of Spies: Paris?

"It is an absolute page turner, and I spent every spare minute I had reading it. My favourite character is Ellie, because she is really organised, however Ford and Gavin are really good as well! This review has been a great joy to write, and I’ve only just come back from being on holiday, and this is the first thing I’ve done. Congrats Jodi, and thanks for sending an advance copy!" Mango Bubbles Books 

Mango Bubble Books is a site where kids read, write and draw book reviews. No adults allowed! The Guardian has called it "The most influential children's review site in the UK."  

Presenting at an I Love to Read Month Assembly
to 600 Students, Staff and community members.

CM Review of Materials Highly Recommends Family of Spies and awarded it a four out of four!

"Family of Spies will grip readers from the first page and will not let go. While Carmichael has done her research and briefly ventures into the scientific realm of time travel and psychic ability, Family of Spies forces readers to suspend their disbelief and just enjoy a really good story. Told in the third person, this time travel tale successfully immerses readers in the City of Lights during both the 21st century and WWII, highlighting the incredible food, culture, language, history and architecture. The WWII era scenes, complete with marching Nazi troops and flapping swastika flags, are replete with vivid description that captures all of the senses. Chock full of action, suspense, history and intrigue, Family of Spies is a must-read with something for everyone!"

"Such a joy to race through Paris with brothers Ford and Gavin and cousin Ellie as during family reunion/vacation they discover not only that Ford is clairvoyant, but that through him they might solve a mystery swirling around their great grandfather's WWII service. The novel is fast moving-- literally! I mean, those kids never stop running! And eating, which made me crave French pastries something fierce. Jodi Carmichael effectively entwines humour with a truthful punch of history that will not only engage young readers, but also breathe life into a past that is just too important to ever forget. The novel ends with a very clear indication of the next adventure, the next in this series." Anita Daher, Vice Chair of The Writers' Union of Canada and Author of Forgetting How to Breathe, Two Foot Punch and Itty Bitty Bits

Speaker Testimonials:

"Our goal for adopting Jodi was for students to see the hard work and determination that it takes to get a book published. We wanted them to connect with the author, but also the journey. As a teacher, it was heart-warming to see how excited the students were when they knew Jodi was visiting. Jodi’s rapport with students was confident and relaxed. Her presentations were organized and included visuals and artifacts to make it personal for our students.

At the book launch, which was outside of school hours, almost half of the students attended with their families. One student created a book trailer for Jodi and others built an Eiffel Tower which she displayed at the launch. The impact Jodi had on our students last year was lasting.

I hope more students across Canada can have the same meaningful experience as the kids at Beaumont. " - Colleen Nelson, Teacher Librarian, Beaumont School

**************

"As part of our I Love to Read celebrations, we invited author Jodi Carmichael to present her ‘Reading, Writing and Editing’ workshop to our Grades 2/3 class. 

Jodi’s workshop was well planned and at an appropriate level for the students.  From the outset, students were engaged as Jodi shared her experiences as a young reader and writer in elementary school, even bringing samples of her earliest work to share!  The PowerPoint presentation that accompanied the workshop included photographs and images that helped the students to make connections with what Jodi was sharing.  Likely, the favourite part was when Jodi guided them through a writing activity, drawing on their five senses, and using props to deepen their experience.  Jodi modelled the writing process through a shared writing activity, honouring the ideas and abilities of all the students.  This workshop built upon and expanded the work we have been doing as a school to improve writing skills.  Our students came away inspired and excited about reading and writing because of this personal connection with a local published author. 

I would highly recommend Jodi Carmichael as a presenter!" - Trish Steadman, Teacher Librarian, Ecole Crane

**************

"Jodi visited 4 grade 4 classes, talking to them about being a writer and encouraging them in the writerly life! She was well prepared, very at ease with the students and full of excitement. As Jodi shared her story of becoming a writer with all of us she certainly removed some of the mystery surrounding writing and getting a book to the publishing stage!

Our staff would eagerly recommend Jodi's high powered and insightful workshop for any other school. As Teacher Librarian, I was very pleased with the outcome of Jodi's visit and would certainly recommend her as a presenter to other schools." - Claire Sutton, Teacher Stanley Knowles School

**************

"Jodi is a dynamic speaker with a natural ability to encourage spontaneous participation while maintaining the students' attention and respectful listening.  She was able to very quickly adapt her presentation when, minutes before the children assembled, she realized the classes had not yet read her book.

I would definitely recommend Jodi Carmichael as a speaker for diverse groups of elementary students to help with learning to appreciate differences." - Karen Slippert, OTReg.(MB) Occupational Therapist, Pembina Trails School Division

Leaping Hurdles of Self-Doubt

Writing here, writing there. Writing anywhere.

It's a long and winding road..."dah-dah dah-dah daaaaah"... to the next book.

I hope you read the dah-dahs to the tune of the The Beatles song, Long and Winding Road. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, please follow this link: https://youtu.be/OIHEuYfDypg.

Now that I've dumped that song into your brain, let's talk about writing, shall we?

Worry. Anxiety. Self-doubt.
I am a master of all three.
I know what you're thinking.
Overachiever. 

A writer's life isn't all J.K. Rowling's theme parks and Roald Dahl's movies. It isn't all writing from morning's first light, to the pitch black of midnight either. It is a daily routine of setting pen to paper, or fingers to key board and leaping over the hurdles of self-doubt. Yes. Self-doubt. Will my next book be any good? Will it find an audience or am I writing for an audience of one?

There's a saying in the writing community: "You are only as good as your last book." No resting on laurels over here in my big yellow house!

Pixabay says this is laurel.
It looks like holly to me.

So, I have chucked out all laurels and taken a good long running start and am jumping as high as possible over anxious feelings. I've now completed my next middle grade, A Time of Peril, and have sent it to an agent for consideration. Fingers crossed, he likes it. In the meantime I have promised myself not to stalk my inbox for his reply and am well into the book that follows it.

Here is the book blurb: 

A Time of Peril is a humorous fantasy about twelve-year-old Lizzie’s daring mission to rescue her confused tea-cozy-wearing Great Aunt Bess imprisoned in the dungeon of an evil dark faerie queen in a magical land called the Kingdom. Under the guidance of a two-foot-tall talking, purple-suit-wearing spider Guardian named Sir Duncan, Lizzie adopts a feisty Staff of Wisdom named Roofinius, a book of spells, evil-turned-sweet gnome-like gnarfs, a young fellow junior-warden named Trevor and his shrunken Guardian, Sir Leopold. Lizzie’s courage is continuously tested as they trek across the Kingdom—facing fears and foes with hearts and minds set not only on freeing all the evil queen’s prisoners, but the entire Kingdom as well. 

And what's in book two?
Leprechauns of course.

"I'm afraid at failing at whatever story I'm writing - that it won't come up for me, or that I won't be able to finish it." Stephen King, Rolling Stone 2014 Interview 

Meet The Streamers!

Writing is primarily a solo occupation and can be a little lonely at times. Writing groups build a community of like minded folks, people who truly "get" you.

When we moved to England in 2015, I sorely missed my Winnipeg writing group, The Anita Factor and already homesick, I soon became writer sick. I needed to find a new "tribe" with whom a could talk story and so I began a search for fellow children's authors. Within a few months, and my first British Isles SCBWI event at Hertford's Leaf Cafe, I found two writers also searching for a writing group. Kismet? Karma? Fate?

Who knows, but from our first session at our local pub, The Millstream, we knew we had struck gold in finding each other and quickly named ourselves The Streamers. 

The Streamers:

Alice Hemming, Louise Morriss, and Me.

 Apparently, we are selfie-challenged. 

 Perhaps, it was the fizz. 

We may not have been calm, but we carried on.

Definitely the fizz.

Since then we have been to conferences together, workshops, agent meet and greets, and have completed many books together. Now that I have returned to Canada, The Streamers has gone international and we hold our crit session via facebook video. Technology is a wonderful thing.

Alice and Louise are two of the most talented writers I have met. Alice has NUMEROUS books published, with one more launching in April 2018! We had the pleasure of working on this book in our group and to see the initial illustrations and cover design is so exciting.

Louise is on the cusp of her first contract, with heaps of praise with her short listed entry in last year's Hook Competition through the SCBWI conference in Winchester.

With another transcontinental meeting coming at the end of the month, I am counting sleeps until I can hear their lovely voices and laugh the day away. Together again.

Judging a Book

As I journey down the publishing road of Family of Spies, I have started to research middle grade book covers. Since readers do judge a book by its cover, getting this right is imperative.

Yesterday, I met with Winnipeg's McNally Robinson who graciously shared their knowledge on what draws readers in, what sells, and the key features of an older middle grade novel cover.

We found some key similarities in popular titles. More often than not, the faces of the characters are not revealed, leaving more to the reader's imaginations. Certain colours seem to dominate: blues, purples, blacks. Mysteries do lend themselves to a darker cover after all. Each book title has a striking font which reveals a glimmer of the story's tone.

These stunning covers topped the list:

The Girl Who Drank the Moon was our favourite. 

I loved it so much, I bought it and can't put it down.

Then I found these gorgeous books this morning:

I have read many of these titles, and now want to read them all!

Which ones do you like best? 

Family of Spies Launching Spring 2018!

It's official!

Family of Spies will launch in spring 2018!

I am extremely happy to have another book published with Great Plains Publications under their new teen and middle grade imprint, Yellow Dog Press. Partnering with editor Catharina de Bakker on Forever Julia was a dream and I can't wait to work with her once more.

Soon I will start revisions, which will take me into November/December and in the mean time discussions around cover designs begin.

Book covers are always important, but with this age group they can make or break book sales. This week I am meeting with McNally Robinson who have graciously agreed to discuss what makes a middle grade cover pop off the shelf.

Then to plan the book launch. 

Spy theme? 

Yes please!

Spies, Code Breaking, Secret Missions, Clairvoyance? Yes, Please!

When cousins, Ford, Ellie and Gavin, discover their great-grandfather was a rogue World War 2 spymaster, they must outrun MI6 and the CIA through the streets of Paris, relying on their wits and Ford’s newfound clairvoyant skills to unlock Great-Granddad’s spy secrets buried in the past. Great-Granddad hid something important to the war effort and these agencies want it back! Family of Spies, is a middle grade novel inspired by my Rhodes Scholar grandfather and his still sealed World War 2 records. He was a pilot with the R.C.A.F. and family lore of code breaking, secret missions, connections to Bletchley Park, and links to Canada’s top spy, William Stephenson fueled my imagination when writing this story.

This is the manuscript I finished while we lived in Hertford, England. I typed the final words while movers packed everything around me.

Hit my deadline with no time to spare!

Once back in Winnipeg, the revisions began. Darlings were killed, scenes rewritten again and again, sentences tightened, character arcs strengthened and now two months later, I journey down the path to publication. My upcoming days and weeks will be filled with writing engaging hooks, synopses, and queries in search of a home for Family of Spies.

Wish me luck!

How to Write a Synopsis in 4 to 6 Easy-ish Steps

1. Procrastinate. Be sure to leave it until either the night before the deadline - at the very earliest - or better yet, push it off to the due date. 

2a. Make sure you are working in a room with a large clock that tick-tocks* down the seconds so loudly that you no longer hear your inner voice ranting, "Why do I always do this!" *Added bonus: annoying sounds are guaranteed to diminish all creative thought. Perfect.

Snip snip here, and a snip snip there...

2b. Include every last detail of your book, carelessly disregarding the finely worded request for a succinct double-spaced one page synopsis. Why? So later, when time is purposely working against you and you re-read the submission instructions, you can torture yourself with the trimming, snipping, and deleting of all your little darlins'. 

3. Throw a temper tantrum. This will make you feel extremely liberated for 30 seconds.Then return to your computer and rage-type out the following synopsis:

Once upon a time, there was this person, who wanted something really, really badly, but big trouble happened and it got really, really hard, but this person never gave up and they saved the day and lived happily ever after. 

Ta-da! 

The End

3. Part 2 - Pour yourself a beverage. Pots of coffee work for me, but you may prefer a tall glass(es) of Shiraz/Chardonnay/Bourbon/Vodka. I do not judge. Now delete each word as typed above.

4.Take 3 to 5 deep breaths, careful not to hold them too long or you may pass out. Especially if you are pulling an Ernest Hemingway, Oscar Wilde, or Edgar Allen Poe. Most likely absinthe and yoga breathing don't mix well.

5. Now, write out as simply as possible a very loose outline. Then add a few key details. Do not forget to include how the story ends. This is no time for clever hooks and mysterious innuendos. A publisher or editor needs to see the story arc.

6. Let your latest synopsis draft sit and simmer for awhile, but not too long as you are tight for time. (Please see item 1.) 

Who would miss one teeny egg?

How to spend those precious hours until you begin further edits?

Take up macrame. Craft a scarf, an extremely stretchy dog leash, or a groovy pocket square for your favourite suit sporting guy. Everything old is new again. 

Dig into the Easter chocolate your children have not-so-carefully hidden in their bedrooms.

Or write a blog post about it.

Happy Synopsis Writing!

Excavating Gems from the Great & Vast Internet - a.k.a. Research

Research. I adore it and I often get lost in it.

Sometimes I excavate gems from the great and vast Internet. Gems, I say. Pearls. Diamonds. Rubies. You get what I'm saying?

Today I was piecing together back story, character arcs, and answering annoying little issues like; how can that scene happen if  X, Y, and Zee are missing, and plot points A through W are built on shaky ground?

No, not shaky ground, but swamp land. Murky, stinking, and bug infested swamp land.

This afternoon, however, I cleaned up most of my alphabetized issues and found some pretty cool locales for an important and creepy scene.

Here is a section of what I wrote today. 

(Remember these are first draft words, and they aren't fully creepafied yet, so keep that in mind and try not to rewrite it as you go. This may prove impossible for my writing pals. I apologize.)

Chapter 12 or 13 or possibly 34

Next Day/Next week

They meet the psychic - Clarice

“Are you sure we’re at the right place?” Ford asked. 

He checked the GPS on his phone, then considered the crumbling building that towered in front of him. Chunks of the stone steps had fallen away and dark green vines climbed the outside walls and across the windows on the first three floors. The rain gutters hung low, like a line of loosely strewn ancient Christmas lights.

“Of course. I am never wrong,” Ellie replied, but her voice quivered when she spoke. Ford stared at her. “Well, rarely,” she admitted.

“I sure hope today isn't one of your rarely wrong days. This place is creepy.”

Ellie took a deep breath and exhaled it fast, squaring her shoulders.

“It is just an old building. There is nothing to be afraid of. Paris is old. It is full of old buildings. This is just another old building, that you find. In Paris.”

Ellie’s nattering did nothing to ease Ford’s mounting sense of unease. She only rambled when she was nervous, which was atypical for his normally confident, fearless cousin.

“Nothing to fear, but fear itself, right?” Ford said, wiping his now sweating hands on his t-shirt.

“Exactly,” Ellie agreed and pushed on the black iron wrought gate. It screeched open, scraping a layer of moss off the cobble stone walkway. She dusted her fingers on her jeans and marched toward the front door. Ford followed, looking back at the ridge of earth that mounded at the bottom of the gate. When was the last time someone had used that gate?

“Hopefully Clarice isn't as scary as this building.”

End Scene.

(Remember this is a first draft. If you did rewrite it, send it to me.
I have a deadline after all.)

Here is the photo I later found on Pinterest. This building is so very similar to the one I pictured in my mind. An old apartment covered in vines, with a gate, just like this one, but older and creakier. This building's front steps are nicely maintained and the windows are newish, yet the resemblance is unreal.

(Of course this is New York not Paris and it is new world not old world old, but still.)

I LOVE when this happens. 

Kinda' creepy. Sorta' karma. Just plain cool.

The Craft Makes My Left Eye Bulge. And Twitch.

It has been too long since I returned to my middle grade manuscript, Ford and Ellie's Mostly Solved Mysteries: Family of Spies. AKA Ford and Ellie.

Much has gotten in my way, much of which was out of my control, but however it happened, my free time was consumed. Today I snatched back the reigns & scheduled actual writing time. It worked.

I'm not going to lie. It wasn't easy. 

I found myself drifting to other things; laundry, email, messy bedrooms, plus my left eye has developed a twitch. But I did get some fresh words onto paper.

Baby Steps, Peeps. 

That's how this next novel will get written. 

Twitchy-Eyed Baby Steps.

Character Motivation - Young Author's Club

Motivation is key to believable characters.

Why does anyone do what they do? Why do people say what they say or respond the way they respond? 

Why? Why? Why?

The curious mind of a writer spends a lot of time contemplating what is going on in the minds of everyone around them, deeply engrossed in examining human behaviour.

In order to encourage my Young Authors to "think like a writer" I asked these pointed questions this week: 

What MOTIVATES your character? 

What drives your protagonist to keep going when everything is working against them? What is it about them specifically that makes them respond differently than everyone else?

Great plots still need captivating characters.

There were many great responses, many baffled faces, and an agreement that more character sketch work is needed.

I handed out a character sketch someone had completed about their own grandfather and gave them these instructions:

• Your goal is to make your fictitious character come to life. The reader wants to feel that your protagonist is a real live person, that the characters you've created could be someone they know - a friend, a sibling, even the reader themselves.

•  Your job is to know your characters - all your characters - as well as this person knows their grandpa, or as well as you know members of your family.

The YA's were ready to get started and left our session with new binders, donated from the school, and two assignments:

• By next week's meeting a completed characters sketch for their protagonist. It this was done, then one for their antagonist, and if that was completed, then sketches for minor characters.

• A fully fleshed out plot outline. If that was done, the start of their first chapter. Some of the YAs are already writing the second or third chapters of their novels. 

I did mention they were uber keen, didn't I?

This, peeps, was a good first lesson in writing to a deadline. 

It also showed them the only one who can write their book is themselves. I can only provide resources and encouragement. 

(And candy, because who doesn't like candy?)

Next week I'm sharing tips gleaned from my newest writing resource books:

Itching to read all three. At once.

(The Thesaurus series by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi and Rivet your Readers with Deep Point of View by Jill Elizabeth Nelson.)

Author's Club - Rocks!

Most Important Rule - No Laughing at Fellow Authors

Oakenwald School's Author Club is off and those young authors are writing up a storm of zombies, magical worlds, wilderness adventures, and mysterious disappearances.

Yesterday was our second meeting and we gained another writer bringing us to 15 eager young minds.

I told them I named them Writers-in-Training, WITs for short, and they looked less than thrilled by my enthusiastic announcement.

When I slipped and called them authors, many of them responded with surprise and excitement.

"We're authors!" rippled around the library.

They sounded like I gave them the best Christmas present. You know the one; the one you were hoping to get, but didn't dare ask for, because it was a long shot. It was too expensive or too hard to find, or didn't actually exist. I remember asking for a magic book that would let me travel to other worlds when I was about 8 or 9. Apparently Santa was all out that Christmas.

And once you give that perfect gift, you can hardly take it back. Unless you are a Grinch. (Which would suck, with that minuscule heart and all.) But I digress.

I, not a Grinch, quickly trashed my grand plan of a cute acronym because they were right. They know who they are better than I.

They ARE authors.

And they impressed me. Already, without prompting, most came to me with story ideas in hand. Many had begun to write and were through their first chapter.

Together we explored the school and became sensory detectives. What did we see, hear, smell, touch and even taste as we prowled the building?

Nigel Watts' 8 Point Story Arc - Next Week's Lesson

(I provided Smarties for the taste challenge. Who wants middle schoolers licking the hall walls in an attempt to hone their writing craft? Not I. Plus, I'd like to return next week.)

We assembled back in the library and shared our observations, highlighting what I like to call 2nd Level Observations.

What is a 2nd Level Observation? 

It is when a writer goes beyond the obvious of what they see, hear, taste, touch or smell and hooks it to another thought, feeling, or memory.

For instance, one young author said when she saw the previous years' class photos hanging in the hall, memories came to her. Memories of teachers and friends, and days gone by. This is 2nd Level Observation and I was thoroughly impressed. Did I mention she is 10 years old. 10, peeps. This is what an author in the making looks like.

I can hardly wait for next week. Already I see we have different skill levels, different story interests, and as important; different levels of writer-self-confidence a.k.a - WSF. (Yes, I made that up. I do love a tidy acronym.)

That is where I am going to pay particular attention, for beyond the writing skill set, successful authors need to "know" they can write. 

That can be a hurdle, which we will overcome together.

Great Resource for Young Authors
(And their instructors.)

Spies, Secrets, and the SOE: Oh My!

It's been nearly two months since I last blogged. Between Christmas, working three jobs, and my newest middle grade work in progress, I've been all consumed.

But, peeps, I am so excited about my latest novel that I must share some deets with you! Thanks to a fellow "Anita" - Christina Janz (check out her most awesome blog, Dragonfly Dithers) who gave us a quick tutorial on Microsoft Onenote, I can now share some of my character sketches, plot development, and research that is going into my latest book.

Ford and Ellie's Mostly Solved Mysteries: Family of Spies, is loosely based on the mystery of my Grandfather's still sealed World War II records. Few facts are known about his RCAF years. but family legends of spying with William Stephenson, covert flight plans, and code breaking abound. Ford and Ellie, two 12-year-old cousins solve the mystery while retracing their Great-Grandfather's SOE footsteps. It is a current day James Bond meets Spy Kids.

I'd like to introduce to you, the main character, Ford and his cousin Ellie:

These are the kids that have my mind a'whirling, their individual voices clear in my head. 

Now, if only I could get to France for some on the cobblestone ground research...