Random Notes: "Benedicto"

Well, this month has been National Poetry Month, and the end of my long library career! My last day as a librarian was April 16th. The library threw me a nice party and I received some very special gifts and cards. One in particular, though, touched me deeply. My very good friend, Lora Koehler, gave me a card with Edward Abbey's (one of my favorite authors and eco-troublemaker) "Benedicto" on it.

Like me, Lora is a person who loves the high wild places and feels more comfortable out of doors than in. She's also an amazingly gifted writer. You'll be seeing books from her in about 18 months. She knew this would resonate with me. I thought I'd share it on Random Notes in celebration of National Poetry and to setting off on "crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous" trails that lead to "the most
amazing view."


                  Benedicto

                                May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous,
                                leading to the most amazing view.
                                May your rivers flow without end, 
                                meandering through pastoral valleys tinkling with bells,
                               past temples and castles and poet's towers
                               into a dark primeval forest where tigers belch
                               and monkeys howl, through miasmal and mysterious swamps
                               and down into a desert of red rock, blue mesas,
                               domes and pinnacles and grottos of 
                               endless stone,
                               and down again into a deep vast ancient unknown chasm
                               where bars of sunlight blaze on profiled cliffs,
                               where deer walk across white sand beaches,
                              where storms come and go
                              as lightning clangs upon the high crags,
                              where something strange and more beautiful
                              and more full of wonder than your deepest dreams 
                              waits for you--
                              beyond that next turning of the canyon walls.

                                                                                --Edward Abbey


                               

Random Notes Friday: Why We Write

I love to read books that talk about other authors' writing process, and feelings about writing. It helps me feel less alone in what is sometimes a lonely business.

That's why I particularly enjoyed reading Meredith Maran's new book, Why We Write: 20 Acclaimed Authors on How and Why They Do What They Do. Many of these acclaimed authors are people who's work I greatly admire: Isabel Allende, Susan Orlean, Ann Patchett, David Baldacci, Jodi Picoult, and more. Her book also introduced me to writers I was, until then, unfamiliar with--Mary Karr, Jennifer Egan, Kathryn Harrison--and now plan to read.

I was heartened to read that many of these authors who's work I so admire don't outline before they write. This is always a topic of great, and often heated debate, among writers. Isabel Allende says, "When I write a book, I have no idea where it's going. I only know that in a subtle way, a hidden way, I want to have an impact on the reader's heart and mind." That prolific mystery author, Sue Grafton, says, "I write largly by trial and error." Sara Gruen, who wrote the wildly sucessful, Water for Elephants, likes to let a story idea "steep...until the first scene comes to me whole." Being a dedicated "steeper," and non-outliner, I took a great deal of pride in the fact I was in good company!

It's always encouraging (in a weird way) to hear how terrified even hugely successful writers are--as terrified and unconfident as I. David Balcacci, who's sold millions of books, says, "Every time I start a new project, I sit down scared to death I won't be able to bring the magic again." And Sue Grafton describes herself as "a persistant writer, and a terrified one." Do you know how happy that makes me?

All the writers, whether commercial or literary, fiction or non-fiction, agree on why they write: because they have to. It's not for the prizes and honors (although between the 20 interviewed authors, there's a bucketful of them), or the money or fame. It's because they can't not write. Just like me, when they're not writing, they feel cranky, out of sorts, and like a big part of their inner life is missing.

At the end of each author spotlight are tips from the author to writers--tips like:

• "Whether you're writing a novel or a cover letter to a potential agent, shorter is always better." David Baldacci
• "You can only write regularly if you're willing to write badly. You can't write regularly and well." Jennifer Egan. 
• "Planning and plotting and research are all fine. But don't just think about writing. Write!" Sara Gruen
• "It's always good to have a motive to get you in the chair. If your motive is money, find another one." Michael Lewis.

And many more. My only gripe with Why We Write is the fact that no children's authors were interviewed. Hmmm...maybe I see a book on the horizon!

Random Notes: Imagine...

Yesterday I spent some time at a school down in Salt Lake City doing a booking signing for their Scholastic Book Fair. They had me set up at a table in the large lobby, unfortunately far away from where the actual book fair took place, so I wasn't exactly overwhelmed with kids wanting me to sign their books!

My eyes wandered around the walls in the lobby, reading all the notices posted on every possible place. There were notices congratulating kids for making honor roll, reminder notices for ballroom dance classes, and then this notice: "Students are not required to participate in the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance." I blinked. Had I read that right? I walked over to the notice and read it again: "Students are  not required to participate in the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance."

Wow. I went back to my table surrounded by memories of high school, all the times I got sent to the principal's office because I refused to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. It was the early 1970's and I, like many others in the country, were doing small (and not so small) acts of rebellion to protest the Vietnam War. I felt so strongly that our country's involvement was so misguided and destructive I did not want to pledge an allegiance. I also felt there were far too many injustices in this country to claim, as it does in the proclaim "justice for all." After I was sent to the principal for about the tenth time, he finally called my mother. She came down and gave that principal what-for.

I still don't recite the pledge, on those rare occasions I'm in the situation where it's being recited. I've often said, the older I get, the more I understand and even embrace the sentiments in John Lennon's song, "Imagine." I truly feel it's that division of "us" versus "them" that has created so much heartache in this world. Every religion feels it has God's ear and the corner on truth; every country believes it is the best country, every person thinks their way of living, their way of raising their children, their way of loving is the best and, therefore, the only way.

Some people have called John Lennon's "Imagine" the anthem for atheists.  I don't think that's true. I think all Lennon was trying to say is we need to somehow eliminate these artificial barriers so that we can all--Christian, Muslim, Republican, Democrat, heterosexual, homosexual--can "live as one."

So thank you, Hawthorn Academy, for understanding and respecting differences, and for giving students the choice to pledge or not. It sure would have saved me a lot of trips to the principal!

Random Notes...

I've decided to do something new on my blog: Once a week (or so) I'm going to post thoughts on a book I'm reading, or a poem I especially love, or a photo, or random thoughts on who-knows-what. Because, as we all know, the universe is random!

So for my first Random Notes, I want to tell you about a beautiful new book I just finished reading. It's a book that will transport you and haunt you and make you want to be a better writer. At least it did me. The book I'm talking about is Katherine Catmull's devastatingly beautiful debut middle grade novel, Summer and Bird. 

Summer and Bird is a story about two sisters in search of their parents. When sister, Bird, lets an owl in the window, their parents mysteriously disappear in the middle of the night. The only clue as to where they have gone and why is a cryptic picture message their mother (who is a mystery herself) leaves behind. The message leads the two girls from the safety of their forest home to a ruined, frozen world known as Down. As the sisters search for their parents, they encounter talking ravens, an evil Puppeteer, a kindly man named Ben, lots of other birds, and the tallest tree in the world. Their search for their parents turns into a search for their truest selves, as well. This is a book that, like any good fairy tale, sings on many different levels. One one level, it's an adventure/coming of age story; on another it's an exploration of sibling relationship and parental relationships; and on yet another level, it's an exploration of loss--loss of faith, loss of expectation, loss of identity, loss of The Mother we all seek. As Catmull writes in the book, We lose our mothers and look for them everywhere. Primarily in ourselves, I think.

Will Summer and Bird appeal to middle grade readers? I'm not sure. It will, though, appeal to readers of all ages who love the work of Phillip Pullman and Sonja Hartnett and Marcus Zusak, and some of Kate DiCamillo's more literary stuff.

I'm so awed by Katherine Catmull's writing, I can't wait to see what she does next!