Writing Daze
http://blog.donnamariebooks.com
Writing Daze
Author School Visits
Inviting authors to school helps children see that authors are real people. When I was young, no one ever told me that I could write books for a living. Everyone can write. Not everyone is published in the traditional sense, but every person can keep a diary, write a story for a friend, create a poem for a family member, draw a story to express feelings, and so on. For a list of authors state by state who are available to speak at schools, visit http://www.authorvisitsbystate.com.
(C) 2008 Donna Marie Books and Donna Marie Merritt.
(C) 2008 Donna Marie Books and Donna Marie Merritt.
Celebrity Children's Authors
My pet peeve: celebrities who write children's books and whose books are accepted before they've been written based on famous names alone and whose books take away marketing money from real children's authors who are trying to make a living and most of all, whose books are not good enough for an audience as deserving as children.
Many books by celebrity authors have icky-sweet themes that would be immediately rejected by an editor if sent unsolicited by an unknown author, for example, the character who wants to be something else until she or he learns it's best to be yourself.
Writing well in rhyme is extremely difficult to do, yet several celebrity books are rhyming books with a poor sense of rhythm, forced rhyme, and all-too-predictable rhyme with no creative element.
Despite a lack of literary value in the majority of these books, celebrities are invited on the biggest talk shows to promote their work. They smile and read and talk about how they have always wanted to write for children. Isn't it amazing how they find time to write these brilliant books? Children's authors I know agonize over every word and phrase. It can take months or years to produce a picture book they feel is ready to submit to an editor. Yet, celebrity authors can keep up with the demands of their acting or political careers and public appearances and still find time to produce the perfect picture book.
Is it possible for a celebrity to write a decent children's book? Yes, but that's not my point. What irritates me is that many of their books are accepted before being written, are published even when they're crappy, and take money away from books that should be promoted because they would truly enrich a child's life with the beauty of their language.
Writers write because they feel they have to, because they are compelled to, because even with the struggles, they can't imagine anything better.
Celebrities, if you feel writing is your true calling, why not send your work unsolicited to a publisher and use an unknown name? If you are writing because you love it, the pile of rejection slips won't bother you. If your book is published, you won't mind using a pseudonym to see how many books are sold when no one recognizes your name and your book is not given an outrageous amount of publicity. If you are a real writer, you'll write no matter what.
Publishers, consider returning to your previous role in sifting through the junk and publishing only the highest quality for children. Toss that celebrity manuscript into the slush pile to await its turn by a first reader.
Parents and caregivers, please think about the message you send your children when you buy a book only because you like the celebrity, not because you believe the book would be a great addition to the library of literature you are building.
Love of reading is one of the greatest gifts we can offer our children. Let's choose carefully.
(C) 2008 Donna Marie Books and Donna Marie Merritt. See my children's books at DonnaMarieBooks.com.
Many books by celebrity authors have icky-sweet themes that would be immediately rejected by an editor if sent unsolicited by an unknown author, for example, the character who wants to be something else until she or he learns it's best to be yourself.
Writing well in rhyme is extremely difficult to do, yet several celebrity books are rhyming books with a poor sense of rhythm, forced rhyme, and all-too-predictable rhyme with no creative element.
Despite a lack of literary value in the majority of these books, celebrities are invited on the biggest talk shows to promote their work. They smile and read and talk about how they have always wanted to write for children. Isn't it amazing how they find time to write these brilliant books? Children's authors I know agonize over every word and phrase. It can take months or years to produce a picture book they feel is ready to submit to an editor. Yet, celebrity authors can keep up with the demands of their acting or political careers and public appearances and still find time to produce the perfect picture book.
Is it possible for a celebrity to write a decent children's book? Yes, but that's not my point. What irritates me is that many of their books are accepted before being written, are published even when they're crappy, and take money away from books that should be promoted because they would truly enrich a child's life with the beauty of their language.
Writers write because they feel they have to, because they are compelled to, because even with the struggles, they can't imagine anything better.
Celebrities, if you feel writing is your true calling, why not send your work unsolicited to a publisher and use an unknown name? If you are writing because you love it, the pile of rejection slips won't bother you. If your book is published, you won't mind using a pseudonym to see how many books are sold when no one recognizes your name and your book is not given an outrageous amount of publicity. If you are a real writer, you'll write no matter what.
Publishers, consider returning to your previous role in sifting through the junk and publishing only the highest quality for children. Toss that celebrity manuscript into the slush pile to await its turn by a first reader.
Parents and caregivers, please think about the message you send your children when you buy a book only because you like the celebrity, not because you believe the book would be a great addition to the library of literature you are building.
Love of reading is one of the greatest gifts we can offer our children. Let's choose carefully.
(C) 2008 Donna Marie Books and Donna Marie Merritt. See my children's books at DonnaMarieBooks.com.
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Summertime
Our family just returned from a week at the Cape. It truly felt like summer for the first time.
I miss the lazy, childhood days of summer. Bike riding to the library, reading in the woods, finding box turtles, really listening to the crickets and the frogs and the sounds that repeat "summer" over and over again, the heat, the longer days, the no-rush feeling.
How is your summer? Does it compare to your childhood? Comment. Let the world know!
(C) Donna Marie Books and Donna Marie Merritt. See my children's books at www.DonnaMarieBooks.com.
I miss the lazy, childhood days of summer. Bike riding to the library, reading in the woods, finding box turtles, really listening to the crickets and the frogs and the sounds that repeat "summer" over and over again, the heat, the longer days, the no-rush feeling.
How is your summer? Does it compare to your childhood? Comment. Let the world know!
(C) Donna Marie Books and Donna Marie Merritt. See my children's books at www.DonnaMarieBooks.com.
Beach Writing
Anything I've ever written while sitting on a beach has been published. I don't know what it is. The warmth of the sun, the swish of the waves, maybe a soft breeze, the glistening radiance of the water, the granular therapy of the sand...the combination relaxes me in a way that not much else does. Tedious thoughts part like the Red Sea and leave room in my brain for glorious words; my pen moves swiftly across the page. The words are as endless as the ocean. I don't struggle against the tide. I float and let it take me.
Does every writer have a place that beckons him or her? I would venture to say that most writers do. Does that mean one cannot write unless the setting is perfect? If that were true, there would be no books. Writers have day jobs and families and grocery shopping and laundry and yards to mow. Writing may be squeezed into the early hours before the house stirs, on lunch hours when other coworkers actually eat, late at night while the welcoming bed waits.
I do think it's important to spend time in that special writing place when you can. Just don't stop writing in the meantime.
(C) 2008 Donna Marie Books and Donna Marie Merritt.
Does every writer have a place that beckons him or her? I would venture to say that most writers do. Does that mean one cannot write unless the setting is perfect? If that were true, there would be no books. Writers have day jobs and families and grocery shopping and laundry and yards to mow. Writing may be squeezed into the early hours before the house stirs, on lunch hours when other coworkers actually eat, late at night while the welcoming bed waits.
I do think it's important to spend time in that special writing place when you can. Just don't stop writing in the meantime.
(C) 2008 Donna Marie Books and Donna Marie Merritt.
No Winner's Bonnet for Sonnet
My teenagers knew that I was not playing chauffeur Saturday night. We were ordering pizza, staying in, and listening to Prairie Home Companion, waiting to hear their mother’s sonnet read. Only 4000+ entries. I had a chance, right? One poem would win a new bed and three dozen roses.
I imagined Garrison, in that wonderful voice, reading my poem aloud. I knew just how he would say each word, where he would pause for effect, what words he would emphasize. I visualized a Saturday-morning call from him, inviting me to the show to read my own poem. Of course I’d attend, but I’d humbly decline reading my sonnet in favor of hearing the words formed perfectly by Garrison.
He didn’t call. No matter. He certainly didn’t want to give the winner away. We chewed our pizza quietly and listened. The minutes ticked by. Mine was not read. My name was not mentioned. Saving the best for last, right? At the end of the show, Garrison chose the winner of the bed. My bed. My bed of roses. But someone else would be sleeping in it.
“Well, baby, that’s it,” my husband said as he turned the radio off. “Turn that back on!” I demanded. “It’s not over. He may have forgotten one.” We listened until the final word.
Was my ego bruised? Absolutely. Did I consider that 32 finalists out of 4073 gave me but eight tenths of a percent of a chance? Somebody had to win.
Why do we enter contests? Who are the winners? Writing contests are subjective, but overall, are contests of skill, not luck. Yes, writers do take it as a negative review of their work when not chosen. But real writers keep writing. Consider what the world would have lost if the following writers had not persisted:
Dr. Seuss’s first book, And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, was rejected by 27 publishers. The 28th publisher sold 6 million copies.
The Atlantic Monthly returned a submission with the note, “Our magazine has no room for your vigorous verse.” The returned poems were those of Robert Frost.
And this rejection note: “I’m sorry, Mr. Kipling, but you just don’t know how to use the English language.”
And those are just a few examples. So, then, to all of us who were not finalists in this contest or in any other, persist. Maybe one day we will hear Garrison read our work. Or be invited as guests because he is an admirer of our work, of the craft we continue tirelessly day after day before crawling into ordinary beds each night with no scent of roses in the air.
(C) Donna Marie Books and Donna Marie Merritt. To see my children's books, go to www.DonnaMarieBooks.com.
I imagined Garrison, in that wonderful voice, reading my poem aloud. I knew just how he would say each word, where he would pause for effect, what words he would emphasize. I visualized a Saturday-morning call from him, inviting me to the show to read my own poem. Of course I’d attend, but I’d humbly decline reading my sonnet in favor of hearing the words formed perfectly by Garrison.
He didn’t call. No matter. He certainly didn’t want to give the winner away. We chewed our pizza quietly and listened. The minutes ticked by. Mine was not read. My name was not mentioned. Saving the best for last, right? At the end of the show, Garrison chose the winner of the bed. My bed. My bed of roses. But someone else would be sleeping in it.
“Well, baby, that’s it,” my husband said as he turned the radio off. “Turn that back on!” I demanded. “It’s not over. He may have forgotten one.” We listened until the final word.
Was my ego bruised? Absolutely. Did I consider that 32 finalists out of 4073 gave me but eight tenths of a percent of a chance? Somebody had to win.
Why do we enter contests? Who are the winners? Writing contests are subjective, but overall, are contests of skill, not luck. Yes, writers do take it as a negative review of their work when not chosen. But real writers keep writing. Consider what the world would have lost if the following writers had not persisted:
Dr. Seuss’s first book, And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, was rejected by 27 publishers. The 28th publisher sold 6 million copies.
The Atlantic Monthly returned a submission with the note, “Our magazine has no room for your vigorous verse.” The returned poems were those of Robert Frost.
And this rejection note: “I’m sorry, Mr. Kipling, but you just don’t know how to use the English language.”
And those are just a few examples. So, then, to all of us who were not finalists in this contest or in any other, persist. Maybe one day we will hear Garrison read our work. Or be invited as guests because he is an admirer of our work, of the craft we continue tirelessly day after day before crawling into ordinary beds each night with no scent of roses in the air.
(C) Donna Marie Books and Donna Marie Merritt. To see my children's books, go to www.DonnaMarieBooks.com.
Sports, TV, and Husbands
Before my husband I were married last year, he warned me that he's obsessed with playing golf ("obsessed" may be an understatement). But, he said, he wasn't overly concerned with sports on TV, so I wouldn't have to worry about that. A few months ago he started hinting at buying an HD TV. Then around mid-February, Stew casually suggested we stop by Costco "just to see" what they had. Once there, he walked directly to a specific TV and started pointing out all the great features. I said we didn't know if the box would even fit in the car. He pulled a tape measure out of his pocket. Amazingly, it would fit! We bought the TV. Why in February? Any of you familiar with college basketball know the answer: March Madness.
Fast forward to last night when my not-overly-concerned-with-TV-sports husband was watching the UConn women play. It had finally warmed up to an almost springlike day here in New England, just warm enough for a glorious thunderstorm at night. I sat down next to Stew to watch the lightning while he watched the game. The cable went out. Before I could finish saying, "Hmmm...we can sit and listen to the storm together," I was all but tumbled out of the chair as Stew jumped up, hoping that changing channels or turning the television on and off repeatedly would restore the cable connection. I hadn't seen him that agitated since the screen went dark on the final episode of the Sopranos.
I'm glad he gets fresh air and plays golf, and if he enjoys watching basketball, that's fine, too. But I took the cable going out as a sign that we had a few peaceful moments to connect after a long day for both of us. I went to bed and left him standing in front of a blank screen. This morning he quietly said, "But it was the Huskies," and kissed me. Yes, ladies, we forgive their mental blocks when it comes to sports. And, men, maybe if the cable goes out in the future, you can put down the remote, turn to your significant other and say, "Finally, some quiet time together."
(C) 2008 Donna Marie Books and Donna Marie Merritt. To see my children's books, go to www.donnamariebooks.com.
Fast forward to last night when my not-overly-concerned-with-TV-sports husband was watching the UConn women play. It had finally warmed up to an almost springlike day here in New England, just warm enough for a glorious thunderstorm at night. I sat down next to Stew to watch the lightning while he watched the game. The cable went out. Before I could finish saying, "Hmmm...we can sit and listen to the storm together," I was all but tumbled out of the chair as Stew jumped up, hoping that changing channels or turning the television on and off repeatedly would restore the cable connection. I hadn't seen him that agitated since the screen went dark on the final episode of the Sopranos.
I'm glad he gets fresh air and plays golf, and if he enjoys watching basketball, that's fine, too. But I took the cable going out as a sign that we had a few peaceful moments to connect after a long day for both of us. I went to bed and left him standing in front of a blank screen. This morning he quietly said, "But it was the Huskies," and kissed me. Yes, ladies, we forgive their mental blocks when it comes to sports. And, men, maybe if the cable goes out in the future, you can put down the remote, turn to your significant other and say, "Finally, some quiet time together."
(C) 2008 Donna Marie Books and Donna Marie Merritt. To see my children's books, go to www.donnamariebooks.com.
Meanest Mom in the World
My teenagers disagreed with a decision I made recently. And so, yet again, I was dubbed the "Meanest Mom in the World." Somehow I can't imagine that I'm the only one who has received this honorable title.
It's difficult, isn't it? We try to do our best as parents. Yes, we make mistakes; we're human. But we have more life experience than our children and therefore we try to guide them. "Everybody else's parents let them" is not a convincing argument for us. If we were lazy or didn't care, we'd give in to our children's whims more often. But we do care. We love them. We stand our ground even when our children are convinced that every other child is getting something that they are not because...(drum roll please)...our children have the meanest parents in the world.
Maybe our children will thank us one day for making them think about their choices, take responsibility, do the right thing when others are not. Or maybe our children will end up in therapy blaming us for their problems. Hard to tell some days.
I'll hope for the former. Until then, I'll keep praying and trying to help them discover the deeper values in life.
(C) 2008 Donna Marie Books and Donna Marie Merritt. To see my children's books, go to www.donnamariebooks.com.
It's difficult, isn't it? We try to do our best as parents. Yes, we make mistakes; we're human. But we have more life experience than our children and therefore we try to guide them. "Everybody else's parents let them" is not a convincing argument for us. If we were lazy or didn't care, we'd give in to our children's whims more often. But we do care. We love them. We stand our ground even when our children are convinced that every other child is getting something that they are not because...(drum roll please)...our children have the meanest parents in the world.
Maybe our children will thank us one day for making them think about their choices, take responsibility, do the right thing when others are not. Or maybe our children will end up in therapy blaming us for their problems. Hard to tell some days.
I'll hope for the former. Until then, I'll keep praying and trying to help them discover the deeper values in life.
(C) 2008 Donna Marie Books and Donna Marie Merritt. To see my children's books, go to www.donnamariebooks.com.
Welcome to Donna Marie's Blog
Hi! I'm Donna Marie Merritt and I have never "blogged" before. Actually, "blogging" sounds like something one would like to avoid, but it seems to be the way to communicate these days. I watch my teenage daughters IM half a dozen friends, search different Web sites for homework, and have the cell phone up to one ear and the iPod connected to the other...simultaneously. So I suppose I can handle a blog.
I'm the author of 15 children's math and science books. Check them out on www.DonnaMarieBooks.com. I'm working to expand my titles to include children's storybooks and religious books to share God's love.
The photo on this page is of my daughters at ages three and one. Sweet, weren't they? If you are or were the parent of a teen, you can relate to the hormones currently flying in our house. Some days I have my sweet children and some days...well, some days I'd like to hide and emerge when they have entered their twenties, which is when I hear they return to a state close to normal. My 19-year-old stepson is relatively reasonable most days, so there is hope.
Send me your own parenting stories or comment on my books or books you'd like to see. See you in BlogLand.
(C) Donna Marie Books and Donna Marie Merritt. All rights reserved.
I'm the author of 15 children's math and science books. Check them out on www.DonnaMarieBooks.com. I'm working to expand my titles to include children's storybooks and religious books to share God's love.
The photo on this page is of my daughters at ages three and one. Sweet, weren't they? If you are or were the parent of a teen, you can relate to the hormones currently flying in our house. Some days I have my sweet children and some days...well, some days I'd like to hide and emerge when they have entered their twenties, which is when I hear they return to a state close to normal. My 19-year-old stepson is relatively reasonable most days, so there is hope.
Send me your own parenting stories or comment on my books or books you'd like to see. See you in BlogLand.
(C) Donna Marie Books and Donna Marie Merritt. All rights reserved.