Questions Anyone?

Fourth graders certainly do have questions, that I know. Childhood curiosity is a given across all grades levels, but ten year olds are blessed with a tween kind of innocence in their questioning. They aren't held back by peer pressure found in older children, and better than that, their thirst for knowledge has not been stifled yet is more refined than the preschool "Why?" bombardments. Still, they often have no filter as to what is politically correct to ask. They want to know what they want to know.

I've had all kinds of questions thrown at me, the raise your hand, wag it around kind of oh-oh-oh burning ones, the walking down the hall in the morning polite ones, and the whispered, stand by teacher's desk kind of private discussions. No matter which, those I remember most are the out of the blue, what does that have to do with anything blurtings. If you ever read Jef Mallett's comic strip, Frazz, you know the kind I'm referring to. Teacher Ms. Olsen hasn't learned yet NOT to end the day with, "Any questions?" even though main character, eight year old Caulfield, reaches for the sky in his questions. I wasn't on the receiving end of any way-out Caulfield-style questions these past weeks as visiting author, but I did get some well planned ones that were to the point and not out in left field with Caulfield.

I faced all kinds of questions from the children. I learned a couple years ago not to reveal my age (yes, I'm frequently asked) beyond "Think about your grandmother, I'm about the same age." As a part of the lead-up to my time with them, the children learned how to interview our generation about memories of Apollo Eleven. One teacher brought a stack of questions the children created for me to answer. We didn't have time during the presentation, but I brought them home to respond individually. I scanned and snipped and pasted to a document and then replied. Many questions overlapped each other and many I answered during my presentation. For your reading enjoyment, here are a few samples, and my replies:

Q

A
Finding my book for sale in a store was thrilling. I moved it to the front of the stack so more people would see it. I love to go into libraries and find my books on the shelf, but that isn't such a good thing. Not finding them would be better because that means someone has checked them out and is reading them!

Q

A
From the last research I did, I found that Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins are still alive but Neil Armstrong is not. I have not been fortunate enough to meet any of these men. I have not researched the kind of metal on the rocket, but that would be an interesting fact to find. Yes, I have been to the site in Florida where the rocket was launched, but I was not there on that day. I was in college when I watched Apollo Eleven on television, so that gives you an idea of how old I was.

Q

A
Gold! Isn't that a beautiful color to enjoy. I have a pair of gold tennis shoes that I wear for fun. Most of my jewelry is gold.

Q

A
I tried. I honestly tried, but I have no sporting talent. I was tall enough that the girls' basketball coach in eighth grade put me near the basket to block other people's shots, but that's about all I could do. I prefer to watch and go home and write about it. I do play golf, so I'd consider that my favorite sport.

And finally questions about my illustrator:

Surprise here, Bobbie is a girl, Roberta, but Bobbie to her friends. She married my cousin, so I guess we are related that way. She illustrated my book, Hoop Hike, and I asked her to do this one too. She had to do a lot of research, just like I did, because she wanted to be exact in her drawings. I did not tell her what to draw because I wanted her to come up with her own story through the art work. She is working on a third book with me, but this one is completely different. It's about a girl picking peas in a garden. Thank you for asking about the illustrator. She will be happy to know someone noticed her work.

I love questions. Good, deep, thought provoking questions. Superficial fun questions. Being a visiting author in elementary schools has set me up for some dillies, but at least I know the children are listening.

Questions anyone? Bring them on!

Catch of the day,

Gretchen

Fourth Grade Little Read Rocks!

In this age of constant blasting technology and interfering distractions, for one brief interlude of time, every fourth grade child in our western North Carolina Caldwell County puts all else aside and reads the same book, works on similar activities and then meets the author. What a concept! It's called the Little Read. Here's how the superintendent of schools explains it:

• “The Caldwell County Schools Little Read is a unique and insightful program that celebrates outstanding literary works written by North Carolina authors,” said Superintendent Dr. Donald Phipps. “Many universities hold similar events, but we offer this experience to our fourth-graders. We want them to believe in the possibilities of writing their own book and to begin to understand the beauty of literature at an early age.” 

For the second year in a row, I was fortunate enough to be that author. Last year it was with my When Christmas Feels Like Home, this year with my Back on Earth: When Men First Landed on the Moon.

I equate my recent author visits with fourth graders to being a grandmother. You get to enjoy all the good things about children, and then pass them back! Enjoy I did. The children were engaged. They asked appropriate, thought provoking questions. They responded to my cues.

I almost wanted to be their forever teacher. Almost, except that I do love what I am doing now, writing. Yet during those brief encounters I remembered the joy of children in the act of learning. I met exciting teacher who tapped into that joy. I met energetic principals who beamed when their students responded to me in polite, sometimes humorous ways. I watched children file into the gym, or media center, or commons area, whichever spot these schools offered to collect children ready to learn. I watched them file out, orderly, well mannered, where invariably, a few dared to break rank and hug me or ask me a one-on-one question. Those are the moments a former teacher lives for. Thank you, Caldwell County, for entrusting me with the minds of your precious children.

Most of all, I got my message across: Learn about the past (in this case, Apollo Eleven) by reading about it, writing about it, and talking to those of us in a different generation who were witnesses. We have stories to tell.

Catch of the day,

Gretchen

Adding a New Person to the Household

My husband and I have been blessed these past two weeks to have a special guest living with us, temporarily, if she has anything to say about it. She is my mother's ninety-two year old cousin, the last of my family's greatest generation, and is taking a respite from a recent hospitalization. She is also the main character of one of my books, Called to the Mountain: The Story of Jean L. Frese. Here Lorraine is about fifty years ago, when she first joined the Salvation Army.

Adapting to living with an extra person in our home has been a challenge and a blessing both. Odd thing, the Old Testament reading for tomorrow at the church we attend, Littlejohn United Methodist, comes from Isaiah 55. Verse eight, I can relate to:

• "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the Lord.

We've adjusted, even though her ways are not always my ways. Lorraine was raised by my grandmother, who also raised my mother, so logically, many of her ways were also my mother's ways. And also a few of my ways, like doing the dishes a certain way. Like serving particular meals that, like her, I grew up also eating. 

I've enjoyed having her here and will miss her when, if things go as planned, she returns to her own home next Monday afternoon. She has entertained me with story after story of the way things were in the mountains of western North Carolina back when she first arrived from downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania as a new recruit to the Mountain Mission of the Salvation Army. Many of those stories she had told me before when we wrote the book of her memoirs. Others were new to me, and I admonished her for not telling them in time for publication.

She had a hard time adjusting to Appalachian/Smoky Mountain culture and speech. She had moved to a foreign land, at least she thought. She couldn't understand their ways or their thoughts. They couldn't understand hers. She said they did a lot of hand signs at first.

Like when she visited a lady in the hospital who said she couldn't wait to get home to sleep in her own tick. She asked around. Straw ticking mattresses were standard for mountain homes of the time.

Like when another lady ran to get her camera to "strike a picture" of her since she was so different.

Like when they talked about people being lawed rather than sued.

Like when they dropped the endings of their verbs and went goin, or doin, or sleepin.

Like when the went to a far, but really were going to a fire. Or a county fair.

Or like when people told her things were up air, but actually up there.

We had no issues like that. We've had a wonderful time, cousin to first cousin once removed. Age gap or not, we've had laughs and frets when her illness set her back a time or two. And when the time comes to take her home, I'll be sad. Adding this new (old) person to our household has been some fun time!

Catch of the day, 

Gretchen

Presidents' Day Musing

Happy Presidents' Day! While the children in school today talk about George Washington chopping down the cherry tree or Abe Lincoln splitting rails, those of us at home sitting before our computers have a chance to muse over other aspects of what made a president a president. For me with a master's degree in education and reading, today is the perfect day to reflect on the impact reading had on our American leaders.

The catalyst to my train of thought goes back to a column in the "For the Record" op-ed section in today's Charlotte Observer. Guest columnist Mark West writes about the importance of reading to character development. According to what he discovered, President Theodore Roosevelt typically read a book a day.

(Way to go, Teddy!)

What an example for a child in class today. Chopping down cherry trees shows them the value of telling the truth. Splitting rails shows them the importance of hard labor. Teachers now need to add this one more story to the line up of legends passed along on Presidents' Day.

In his special column, Mr. West goes on to elaborate about how essential reading is to the development of one specific character trait, empathy. "By reading about people whose lives were so different from his own, Roosevelt developed a sense of empathy for these people." If learning about others is a direct result of the reading process, then taking action, it seems logical, would be its by-product. What the world needs now, I must suggest, is empathy.

Reading that George didn't tell a lie about chopping down the tree and about Abe working hard splitting logs into rails is a rite of passage of American school children. Might I be brazen enough to add this one more yearly legend: Rough and Ready Teddy reads a book a day! Imagine a generation of children brought up aware that a president developed this essential ethic called empathy through reading and reacting.

Don't lie. Work hard. Read a book a day.

Catch of the day,

Gretchen

Lovely Little "Ly"

As my writing has developed, I've discarded a few habits along the way. One of them is my reliance on adverbs. When I taught using the whole language approach, one assignment I remember was for my students to find adverbs in that particular day's reading. Of course I had chosen carefully (note the Lovely Little Ly), and sought out passages that fit my purpose.

Surprisingly (LLLy), I did notice one thing. The novels I selected to work with student lessons had fewer and fewer adverbs as the publication dates became more recent. Finding "ly" words became increasingly (LLLy) more difficult.

A blog by a fellow author clearly (LLLy) explains the devaluation of the "ly." Take a look at Joan Edward's blog on writing and see what I am talking about. I read her blog faithfully (LLLy), and this post really struck home with me.

Not that she's claiming putting "Ly" on permanent exile is the answer. There is a time and place to insert the perfect "Ly" adverb when it fits like the missing part of a five hundred piece jigsaw puzzle. It's the snick a writer hears when that one well chosen word completes the intended image.

But in this blog she's pointing out the value of sentences constructed to give the reader the full picture, not the short cut version with an "ly" stuck on the end of an adjective. 

I made a comment on her blog reacting to a humorously (LLLy) written comment by another reader, and because of that, I won Joan's lottery. In fact, in honor of Valentine's Day, and because she is a wonderful person, all of us who commented were offered the same reward, a critique of a thousand word snippet from our own personal manuscripts that would flesh out those LLLy's and give the sentence a new life. 

I know exactly which thousand words to send: The final few pages of my work in progress. Reading back through it I realized there weren't as many of those pesky "Ly" adverbs after all, so I inserted a few to add to the verbs the old fashioned way. Hopefully (LLLy) she will give me a new awareness of how to revise and make those vivid verbs come alive without the "Ly" crutch.

I'm looking forward to seeing what she suggests. Thank you, Joan!

Catch of the day,

Gretchen 

The Making of a Book Trailer

I'm sending a big thank you out to Karen Ruhl for the fantastic job she did on the book trailer for my Apollo Eleven picture book, Back on Earth: When Men First Landed on the Moon. 

Short and sweet and perfect, isn't it? This was a lesson on how to cut to the chase to get a message across all the while maintaining beauty and creativity. Karen nailed it. 

Our goal was to keep it below one minute, and we almost made it. I wrote the script, which ended up being only a few lines long. The words had to drive home the message that the book is a catalyst for sharing the Apollo Eleven moon mission between the generations. 

Then I narrowed down the number of pictures to use from the illustrations by artist Bobbie Gumbert. They had to be representative of not only the book, but also the intended message of the trailer. 

Then Karen took over and worked her magic. I suggested the countdown, and she selected the perfect background music to enhance the second half of the trailer. And TA-DA!  

I met Karen through the Red Awning Gallery in Hudson, North Carolina where we are both members. Karen is open to designing book trailers for others, so check her out on facebook at Karen Ruhl Photography & Design. Her main passion is photography, however as an extension, she is branching out into book trailer design. Here's a feature article about her from the local newspaper several weeks ago.

I appreciate her talent.

Catch of the day,

Gretchen

Fly Fishing Playbook

Announcing!!! A new book on the market! One that I aided and abetted, but didn't write. One that I would never have guessed I would be a part of before I had written the Fly Fishermen of Caldwell County book. But here I am and there it is. So this one is, you guessed it, another fly fishing book.

Check it out on Amazon. Ebook only.

When Alen Baker asked me to work with him on his fly fishing playbook project, I readily agreed thinking it would be a short, quick book about fly fishing. After all, I reasoned, how much is there to this sport?

Little did I know.

I'm an author, not a fly fisher, but delving deeper into the intricacies and nuances that Alen presented in this book brought a new awareness to me. I realized that I just might be convinced to find a stream and give it a try. His contagious passion, not only for the sport itself, but for maintaining the environment that makes it possible is obvious from the first page to the last. Using a bit of humor, he breaks the mystique wide open to draw in the reader and simplify what could be a daunting chore to a beginner like me, or even to a seasoned fisher looking for that one gem of a tip to up his game.

My Fly Fishing Playbook is a sharing of Alen's accumulated wisdom from his years on the waters around the world, what worked for him, as well as what did not work for him. After several chapters of general introduction, he goes into three distinct kinds of fly fishing:

Coldwater

Warmwater

Saltwater

Okay, so I would not have guessed deep sea fishing could be fly fishing as well. Yes, even sharks respond to a fly on a line!

This book is not necessarily designed to be read straight through, although I was able to build a stronger foundation by doing so. Whether the reader picks and chooses according to his needs, or follows the narrative from the first page on, he (and she) will find this playbook offers strategies and information essential to success.

Bottom line, read and digest what this book has to offer, and then go fishing...fly fishing!

Catch of the day,

Gretchen