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total constant order - LiveJournal.com
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writing is like doodling
Sometimes it feels like I'm caught between two worlds.
Half the time, the world on paper feels more real than the one I'm walking in...
When I'm driving in my car, I'm rearranging sentences.
When I'm teaching a class, I'm eavesdropping on you.
When I'm listening to music, I'm making up a story.
When I'm doodling in my sketchpad, I'm talking to my characters.
Even when I'm not sitting at my desk...I am writing.
Thanks, Palmetto Bay!
Last weekend, I presented a writing workshop at the Palmetto Bay Library. Props to the YA librarian powerhouse duo, Amy and Gaby, for putting it together. It was a privilege to listen to the "memory snapshots" from poets-in-the-making. Katie told us about snorkeling for the first time, the taste of salt on her lips. Sarah remembered Disney World, the stuffed tiger under her arm, and her big brother, with his "curly hair and crooked teeth." Her dad shared his own sepia-toned nostalgia: early morning in his mother's kitchen, Wichita Lineman on the radio, the smell of coffee and cigarettes, and most of all, the sound of his mother's voice.
I loved spending the afternoon in this new library--one of the most beautiful in Miami. It reminds me of a church, the half-circle of windows flooded with light. Next door, horses drape their necks on the chain link fence. Peacocks strut beside a lake. There's a bandshell and a gazebo, too. If you look closely, you might spot a feather woven in the grass. When you find one, it's like making a wish with your eyes open.
I wish good things for this place. No doubt, there's more to come.
five questions
The awesome teen author, Kathy Erskine, (QUAKING) interviewed me on her blog. I answered through a video post. Check it out.
http://blip.tv/file/3059177
http://kathyerskine.wordpress.com/
SOFI Magazine: 33 emerging creative minds
I'm honored to be included in SOFI magazine's list of "33 Emerging Creative Minds." Last night, we attended a reception in conjunction with Art Basel Miami-- from painters, sculptors, poets and me, the girl who writes about teenagers.
Please describe your art form. What sets your work apart?
I write about teenagers growing up in Miami. They're the ones riding the Metrorail, scratching tags into the windows...smoking in the parking lot at Pollo Tropical...throwing secret parties in the Everglades...or skinny-dipping in your neighbor's pool. They're a lot like you and me.
When people ask you what type of artist you are, and what your work is like, what do you say?
I want readers to know the "real Miami" ...which doesn't always look like the city you see on TV. I grew up with peacocks, not pink flamingos. Oak trees, not palms. Sawgrass, not sandy beaches. It's more magical than Hollywood's imitation of reality.
In what ways does your work reflect your art?
My characters are like mirrors (or alter-egos) that represent my point of view. For a while, I was writing their diaries online as a supplement to the book--much like a director's cut version of a DVD.
Who are some of the creative minds that have inspired you throughout the years?
My parents inspired me. Every afternoon, my dad would drive home from the Air Force Base in Homestead. He loaded the trunk of his MG Spitfire with library books and we read them together. My mom often found me hiding in the hall closet (which I called a "time machine") and we left notes there, written in character, for my "invisible" friends (which included dragons, ghosts, and a boy named Robin).
What does creativity mean to you?
When kids act out stories on the playground, they're doing what comes naturally to them. Later in life, their school assignments might focus less on individual thinking and creativity (instead, rewarding a type of "team player" mentality that prepares students for a corporate environment). They are told to put away "childish" things and embrace the mainstream. When someone dares to break away, they get labeled as a misfit. Sometimes the smartest kids aren't the ones in the so-called gifted programs. They're the boys in the back row--the ones who fall asleep in class because they're bored. Or the girl who gets in trouble for doodling on her desk. As a professor who works in an art college, I'm surrounded by the teenaged version of these kids...and I love every minute of it.
What is your favorite part of being creative?
Writing is like dreaming with your eyes open...and having the permission to dream all day long. I listen to my characters as if eavesdropping on their conversations. I never know what's going to happen next. That's my favorite part.
What is the hardest part about being an artist?
It's a little scary when you realize: This book doesn't belong to me anymore. It becomes part of everyone who reads it. That's a big responsibility. It's hard to let go and send my baby out into the world.
Please list your 3 greatest accomplishments as they relate to your craft.
It took a while for me to find a literary agent to represent my work. I was floored when she sold Total Constant Order at auction to HarperCollins. The literary world is a tough business and it takes a thick skin to navigate it. The road to publication is often paved with rejection. You have to keep pushing until you find someone who finally gives you the green light. But it only takes one yes. After the book was published, I was fortunate to receive many positive reviews (School Library Journal, Booklist, VOYA "perfect ten") ...but the most meaningful reviews are the emails and letters that I’ve received from readers (especially teens who say, "Thank you for telling this story.") I once received a letter from a boy whose girlfriend suffers from OCD, just like the main character in my book. He stayed up all night to finish it. That's the best review I could ever hope to read.
Where did you study?
I have a Master's in screenwriting and a PhD in interdepartmental studies (between literature, philosophy, and film theory) from the University of Miami.
Where are you from originally?
I was born and raised in Miami.
What about the city complemented your craft/outlook?
My family is originally from New England. I grew up in an old, wooden house with a fireplace. There's a well in the backyard that was hand-dug by Tequestas (the same people who built the Miami Circle). At night, I often fell asleep, listening to Santeria drums pounding by Biscayne Bay. The next morning, I'd find bloody chicken feathers scattered by the water. When I told the kids at school, they thought I was making it up. That’s my city—a place too surreal to be real.
What is one creative thing you remember doing as a child?
When I was little, I lived in two worlds--the one everybody could see and the one I saw inside my head. The pigeons on a telephone pole were actually spies. The spraypainted numbers in the road weren't left by surveyors, but by an evil city of underground trolls (the same who lived beneath the drain in my swimming pool). UFOs zigzagged over the neighbor's house and ghosts turned off the lights. I still believe in that world. It's where I go when I write.
When did you realize you were born to do what you do? What was that "aha" moment for you?
If teachers gave me a coloring book, I drew my own stories in the pages. In first grade, I tried making my own books out of notepaper (stapled backwards and illustrated with doodles of talking lobsters). I recorded scenes with my tape recorder and acted out the voices. In high school, I drew graphic novels during math class. I was one of those weird kids who always knew, "I want to write."
What inspires you?
My rockstar students. And the jukebox at Fox's Sherron Inn.
Tell us about your hopes for the future as it relates to your creative work. What are some dreams/goals you hope to accomplish in the near future? In your lifetime?
I'm very curious about how the internet and new media will shape the art of storytelling. I would like to tell stories that involve a type of collaboration or interactivity with readers. When I wrote Fin's diary online, I loved talking to people directly through her character. Writing is lonely. Now with the popularity of social networking sties, blogging, YouTube, Facebook, etc. it’s not so lonely anymore.
What is your opinion of the current state of ART in Miami?
Miami is a teenager. It's a little rebellious, obsessed with pop culture, and just beginning to shape its own identity. The art scene is a reflection of that attitude. It has grown so much in the past ten years. I can't wait to see where it goes.
Please add anything else you feel is relevant to you as an artist.
Ditto the advice that your BFF wrote in your yearbook: Stay sweet. Don't change. In other words, be true to yourself.
photo by Harlan Erskine
Miami Book Fair pictures and words
Paper fans decorated with dead poets.
Human swarm around the Crayola-colored tents. A diamond-bright day, the air smelling of hot dogs and spray paint.
A girl smoking a cigarette while flipping through a paperback in the shade.
First in a long line for Jonathan Lethem, who read about eagles and skyscrapers.
Listening to South Florida YA authors: Gaby Triana, (who took pictures of the crowd with her iPhone), Danielle Joseph (who read about her DJ-obsessed heroine as a hiphop beat thumped in the background), Alex Flinn (who shared Beastly movie gossip), and my literary fairy godmother, Joyce Sweeney (who once met an angel on a motorcycle).
Listening to the Miami Poetry Collective read, bucket brigade-style, then sign their anthology like a yearbook on the last day of school. Talking with their patron saint, Campbell McGrath, while he autographed the fold-out broadsheet.
Outside the wedding-style tents, a woman posing with strap-on wings.
Riding the MetroMover home, arms loaded with brand new books, surrounded by smiling strangers, doing exactly the same thing.
Teen Read Week
At Books&Books in Coral Gables, the teens wore top hats and waistcoats. They carried pocket watches and dog-eared copies of Scott Westerfield's paperbacks. The members of YAthenaeum, a "community of readers and writers of all things Young Adult," met at Miami's coolest indie bookstore for the Teen Reads Forum.
When asked, "Why do you like to read?" the number one response = to escape from reality, experience another person's life, and learn that "villains can be conquered." Scott Westerfield joined the conversation, adding, sometimes it's not about escaping. It's about being transported (either from the "noise" of your everyday life in school...or the cramped space inside an airplane).
What makes teens pick up a book? Yes, the cover art is "really important." But first lines matter most. Scott says, "The writer makes a promise that something interesting is going to happen." He quoted the first line from Charlotte's Web ("Where's Papa going with that ax?") The audience agreed. Weird is always better than boring. And when it comes to endings, the writer better deliver. Readers want to feel what writers describe. Even if the rest of the book is stale, a strong ending can change a reader's view of the entire story.
Local teen novelist, Alex Flinn, said, "Every teen story is a step. A YA mystery isn't just about solving a mystery. It's about growing up...and helping people see someone make changes in their life." Every choice in a YA novel has a consequence. This is the age when you start questioning the world ("Why do bad things happen to good people?") When writers tackle big issues, readers see: It's okay to make mistakes.
With the giant boom in YA literature, Scott believes, "It's fun to be at the beginning of something that's wide open." He turned to the audience and said, "The world doesn't know how to handle you guys yet..."
On Saturday, I spoke at the Boynton Beach Library. We worked on a writing exercise together and the teens shared their journals with me. Sonida wrote, "I'm like MC Hammer. You can't touch this." Her diary came with a bookmark shaped like a wolf. She talked about being strong, even when there's violence all around you. I said, "When you write something on paper, it's like taking a burden off your back."
Sonida asked if my next book has "violence" in it.
"Yeah," I said. "It does."
She grinned. "Excellent."
It reminded me of a conversation from YA-LitChat, earlier in the week. How "dark" is "too dark" in teen literature? I truly believe that scary stories create a safe place for readers to explore their fears. We can't censor these kinds of stories--not when the Sonidas of the world need them so badly. They're out there...listening.
Virginia Is For Readers
The bell rings like a war siren. A hundred sleep-deprived kids shuffle into the library. They slump in their plastic chairs, just as a police officer marches through the door. Everybody snaps awake. They can't stop staring---not at the man with the badge, but at Leda, his K-9.
The German Shepherd curls up on the carpet. Every so often, she lifts her head and blinks, as if listening to a secret. Alan Krugel, her handler at the LAPD, talks about the "awful, frightening, hollow feeling--that terrible, dreaded feeling of being alone."
When Alan lost his family, he also lost his hope. Then he met Leda, a dog doomed to be "put to sleep," all because she wouldn't chase the bad guys. Alan calls Leda his four-legged angel. Alan grins. "She's a coward," he says. But she's also a gifted sniffer. Now she helps him find the things that go boom...all because she got a second chance.
When Officer Mark Kearney invited me to BOOK EM, an event to promote literacy as a form of crime prevention, I volunteered to speak with other authors at local schools. I met Alan Krugel and Leda at Robert E Lee High School, along with Jonathan Queen, a motivational speaker who transformed his life after spending ten years in prison. He spoke about "change reaction" strategies from his new book, Are You S.A.N.E. (Setting A New Example).
I also visited Stuarts Draft High School, where I had a blast, chatting over lunch with the Writer's Club. They asked a lot of questions: How do you start a chapter? (in the middle of action). Where do you get good names for your characters? (the phone book) And the question that stabbed me in the heart: What if your parents don't believe you can make it as a writer?
Prove them wrong.
Kaitlyn has a "vision" of writers typing masterpieces in a log cabin. She giggled when I said, "I've got a laptop in my bedroom. That's it." She said it's "painful" when she breaks away from her imaginary world (especially at dinnertime). I said, "Sounds like you're meant to be a novelist," and her face glowed. I also spoke to the "poet's corner" and met a recently-published student who had returned, just to visit her old English teacher. "He's the reason I wrote my book," she told me. I met Tessa, who loves "funny zombie fan fiction," and on Friday, I talked with Drew, who created an alternative universe, based on the planets in our solar system.
On Saturday, at BOOK EM, I sat beside Kathy Erskine (author of the brilliant teen novel, QUAKING). We spoke on a YA panel about "The Power Of Words" and met the kids at Kate Collins Middle School (including a trio of giggly girls who kept petting their friend's armwarmers). The event lasted all day. Kathy had decorated her table with bookmarks, temporary tattoos, and candy. We spent the afternoon smiling at the same things (like the smirky boys who ran up to the microphone in the auditorium and played a disco ringtone on a cellphone).
The book sales raised money to fund crimefighting and literacy programs. Officer Mark said he'd never seen so many young people at the event, which is sponsored by the local police. I hope more cities will get involved with their own version of BOOK EM-style literacy campaigns. So much fun to see kids grabbing paperbacks off the table and lugging them like gold--not to mention, all the hardworking teachers and librarians who snagged books for their collections (special thanks to Catherine Morris, Darren Ralston, and Sue Simmons).
Afterwards, I stopped at Stone Soup, an indie bookstore down the block. It looks like a farmhouse on a hill and it's packed with a great teen selection upstairs. I wanted to pack my bags and move into the attic.
In Virginia, I stayed in the historic district of Staunton--a town that reminds me of those miniature villages that come with train sets. Or maybe a Thomas Kinkade sculpture: all brick Colonial houses with buttery lights. The Stonewall Jackson Hotel was smack in the middle of everything (including "fork to farm" restaurants that could rival any organic-inspired plate in NYC: check out the Staunton Grocery and Zynodoa).
On my last night in the city, I took a ghost walk with the Staunton Paranormal Investigators. They showed us their spirit-hunting tools, like an electro-magnetic field detector, and audio recordings they had captured of whispery, little girl voices in graveyards. One of the haunted buildings is now an Italian restaurant (sometimes diners get a whiff of cigar smoke on the stairs). I ducked inside and climbed to the roof, where a dredlocked band was blasting funk and reggae classics. A waiter scooted past me, turned around, and said, "You came to my school." It was Colton, who had shared a conversation with me about OCD.
I was so busy thinking about ghosts, I didn't notice the police officer. He marched upstairs, looking amused in his uniform, and told the band to "shut it down." I waved goodbye to Colton and headed back outside. The wind stung my cheeks. It was two in the morning. I wanted to stay there, with the Halloween lanterns winking in the stores, and write a novel in a log cabin. But that will have to wait.
Annual Book 'Em literacy event planned for Oct. 17 | newsleader.com | The News Leader
Annual Book 'Em literacy event planned for Oct. 17 | newsleader.com | The News Leader
Hey people in Virginia. Please come out and support Book Em--an event that connects literacy with lower crime rates. More than 50 authors will sign books on Saturday (including me!)
Book Em
9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Oct. 17 at Kate Collins Middle School
1625 Ivy St. More
Waynesboro, VA
he wrote back
Santa Ana, CA
1992
Dear Crissa:
Thanks, belatedly for the wonderful letter. Sorry I took so long to respond. My only advice about writing is that it generally takes years of failed attempts and rejection before there’s even a small success. So don’t give up! And keep reading my books. Somebody has to. Thank your mom for me.
Cheers,
Jim Blaylock
Miami, FL
2009
Dear Jim,
Thanks for taking the time to write me, back when I was seventeen and doodling stories about dragons in my algebra notebooks. It blew my mind, that someone I admired (a real life author) would send a postcard to a high school kid. I tacked it on my bulletin board, where it stayed for years (even after Hurricane Andrew smeared the ink with ocean water). My mom first introduced me to your books, starting with The Elfin Ship. She found this postcard in a photo album. I asked her to keep it for me, just in case I forget what it says.
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