I'm catching my breath after two full weeks of residencies for the South Dakota Arts Council.
The first week of October, I worked with second graders at Lincoln Elementary School in Aberdeen, South Dakota. (These kids can write!) Last week, I commuted back and forth from home to St. Mary's Elementary in Salem, South Dakota, where I had another great week.
You never know what to expect though. I always tell kids they can ask me whatever they want. Well, yesterday morning I pulled out a batch of questions that the kids had written to me. On the first crumpled piece of paper was this question: "Have you ever had lice?" The second question: "Do you like CHLOROX?"
Yep, fifteen years of author visits and the questions continue to amaze me.
Tomorrow, I drive to Ipswich, South Dakota (about 30 miles west of Aberdeen) for another week in the schools.
Here's the cell phone photo I was trying to upload below. You can see the blue sky to the left and of course, the rainbow, looking as if it had been hurled to earth. My favorite part about the pic is the bright stripe of fields on the horizon to the right. (I wish I could say I planned it!)
Enough for now. I have three classes of 2nd graders tomorrow, followed by a class of first graders. Should be fun!
After a long break, I'm back at the blog!
As we speak, I'm in Aberdeen, South Dakota, preparing for a week at Lincoln Elementary School as an artist-in-residence. Don't get your hopes up -- I haven't turned into an illustrator! Rather, I'm a "literary artist," showing kids what authors really do.
Even that's kind of funny -- I can just imagine myself sitting in front of the classroom staring at my computer screen, typing away!
In all seriousness, I'll be showing them that writing involves more than just the pencil on paper or the hands on the keyboard. Much of it has to do with movement and observation. (More on that tomorrow.)
In the meantime, here's a photo of a rainbow that I took with my cell phone about 6:00 this evening, somewhere north of Plankinton on Hwy 281. (Don't worry, I pulled off the road!)
I'm thankful for the decent weather. In a few more weeks, we could be looking at sundogs instead!
I'm waiting!
If everything is on schedule, my new book, Four Famous Faces, will be published this month.
It's kind of like giving birth. (Well, not really!) But there are similarities. I guess the big thing is that I never know what the book is actually going to look like until it arrives.
But here's what I do know: Renee Graef is the illustrator.
And if you've ever seen anything that Renee has done, you know that she is outstanding.
She's the illustrator for the Kirsten books of the American Girl series and also the Little House picture books published by HarperCollins. She also illustrated my first book for the Mount Rushmore History Association, Who Carved the Mountain? The Story of Mount Rushmore.
I've seen the cover of Four Famous Faces, but I'm still waiting to count fingers and toes!
Four Famous Faces will be relased in May!
April has been busy! Author visit to schools in Chamberlain and Plankinton, South Dakota, and a SD Humanities Council book discussion with the wonderful women in De Smet, South Dakota. And yes, there was that side trip to Purdue and the additional side trip to the Field of Dreams in Dyersville, Iowa.
Yesterday, I returned from Faulkton, South Dakota, where I spoke to the Faulk County Historical Society and to the students at Faulkton Elementary School.
One of the gentlemen at the historical society remembered Gutzon Borglum. His father had been in charge of the lumber during the carving, and he (the father) and Gutzon met regularly. This gentleman, as a boy, often accompanied his dad to those meetings. "He was big, and he was rough," he said of Borglum.
The gentleman was 87 years old. When I showed him my drill bit from Mount Rushmore, he told me that he had one that Borglum had given to him. "It was about 3 1/2 feet long," he explained. "Do you still have it?" I asked. "Probably out in one of the sheds," he said, laughing.
The organizer of the event, Jody Moritz, said that her mom went to the 1936 dedication of Thomas Jefferson. This was the dedication at which FDR spoke, but her mom didn't remember the president. She was excited about eating buffalo burgers.
But the star of Faulkton was 102-year-old Irene C. On Monday morning (after I spoke to the schoolkids), she was honored for her contributions as a teacher and for the 1,000 piece framed jigsaw puzzle she was donating to the school.
Very cool. But I was just as interested in her memories. When she was teaching at a rural school in Faulk County during the 1930s, she helped the kids collect pennies for Mount Rushmore.
For more than ten years, I've been researching and writing about Mount Rushmore. But there's nothing -- nothing -- that matches the thrill of talking with people who have firsthand memories of the carving.
83 years ago, Virne Beatrice "Jackie" Mitchell struck out Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig in an exhibition game in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
14 years ago, my first book was published, The Girl Who Struck Out Babe Ruth.
In fact, the story of that book began back in 1996 when an editor from Lerner Publishing (Susan Rose) took a chance on an unknown, unpublished writer (me!). With ample interest, she encouraged me to write Jackie's story.
The appeal of Jackie Mitchell's story continues, not just for me, but for all audiences. I continue to be invited to schools, libraries, and conferences to tell her story. In fact, just last night, I received an invitation from "Sons of Norway" group to give a presentation.
What is the appeal? Baseball? Gender? Or is it the David and Goliath theme?
I think it's the latter. We all face gigantic challenges. However, these challenges can be overcome.
We need to live with this hope. In fact, I think we must live with this hope - this confidence, rather - that the obstacles in our lives are not king.
If you're curious to know more about Jackie Mitchell's story (or about my story), I have more information on my website: www.jeanpatrick.com If you have questions, please let me know.
You know how some authors talk about waking up in the middle of the night with an amazing idea?
Not me. Not ever.
When I go to sleep, I sleep. When I wake up, it's morning.
But last night I mis-set my alarm for 3:00 am. (I have no idea how I managed to do that.) Anyway, it was on vibrate so I must have gradually reached consciousness...and when my brain was awake enough to think in words, it kicked back to the impossible mountain goat poem I was working on for Four Famous Faces. And somehow, it sorted itself out!
No, I didn't scribble the idea down. (I can't even find my shoes in my bedroom, much less a pen and paper!) But I reset the alarm for 5:00 (good grief!), slept a bit, and began my day. I sent the revision to Debbie (my editor) at 7:45, and things seem to be good to go.
Good news, right? Yeah, but now I'm so tired I can hardly see straight. As Dad would say, "Ohhhhh, you can't fly with the owls at night, and soar with the eagles in the daytime!"
I should have known better than to say that the whirlwind had stopped!
I pushed the publish button of my last post...and then the phone rang. It was Becky from Parkston. "Can I have you tomorrow?" (i.e. "Can you sub????")
My answer?
"Yes!"
Here's a secret. I like to sub. It's a challenge -- an enormous challenge. After all, I can't "plan." I have to jump in with two feet and pray. But it separates me from my perfectionist tendencies and forces me to realize that I can't control the world with pre-planning.
Besides that, I really like the kids and the school and the teachers.
It's one thing to come in as an author (like I've been doing throughout South Dakota and Kansas for the last month). But it's entirely different to be in the trenches.
Okay, the whirlwind has stopped for the time being.
But first, a recap on the Kansas whirlwind. After the Franklin County Lit Festival on Wednesday, I had a relaxing supper with my parents. On Thursday morning I headed to Bethany Home to speak to residents. On Thursday afternoon, I headed straight to VisionTech (Lindsborg's charter school) for help getting nonfiction samples together on a pdf for my agent, Alexandra Penfold.
Then Friday. Wow! In the morning, I spoke to students at Marquette Elementary School, one of the best schools in Kansas (which unfortunately is closing after this year). In the afternoon, I spoke at Soderstrom Elementary to the third and fourth graders.
It could have been disaster. (A gym full of kids in the last hour of the day before dismissal for spring break. Ack!!!) But the students were inquisitive and attentive. Phew!
And yes, it was amazing to see the kids of friends I went to school with...and to be standing in the "old gym" -- the same gym still packed with memories.
This Wednesday found me in Ottawa, Kansas, at the Franklin County Literature Festival.
What an honor! I spoke here several years ago and was thrilled to be invited back again. As usual, the organization of the event was top-notch. I can't say enough about Vickie, Linda, and the others who work together with the community to bring authors and students together.
It was also great to see familiar faces from years ago (maybe even decades ago???), including Mary Casanova (who first encouraged me with If I Had a Snowplow in 1996) and Dandi Daily Mackall (who I met at Chautauqua in 1996 or 1997). And I even got to meet Robert Burleigh, whose work I have admired for years.
Now I'm back in Lindsborg at my parents' house. For the last three weeks, I've been on the road more than I've been off...and it's time for a good night's sleep. Tomorrow morning I'm speaking again, this time to a small group at Bethany Home.
When most people think of Sturgis, they think of motorcycles.
Not me. I'm spending the week at the elementary school in Sturgis as an artist-in-residence. Today was an especially good day.
The kindergartners and first-graders are using the pattern in If I Had a Snowplow to write their own poems. ("If I had a dump truck, you know what I'd do? I'd deliver beef Chinese noodles, just for you!")
The second- and third-graders are looking at my rough drafts of The Girl Who Struck Out Babe Ruth and beginning to learn how to revise using the technique of substitution.
The fourth- and fifth-graders are getting a sneak peak at my newest book (Four Famous Faces), due to be released in May 2014. I'm giving them the opportunity to write some of the animal poems. Be on the lookout for the bat rap from the fifth-graders!
And then...
At the end of the day, a teacher brought me a note addressed to "Jan or something." Inside, this is what it said:
"Dear Jan or something, I Do not know your name but you are the Best elastrater ever You are Awesome. Love, --- To Jan or Something have a happy time and keep Righting OK your Books are great Keep Righting."
I think I may enlarge this to poster size (even though I'm not Jan or an elastrater!)
Whew! Things are starting to get busy again with speaking and school visits.
Last weekend, I attended the Nebraska Novel Retreat where I led two session. From there, I was off to Omaha for the start of an exciting new project.
Today, I'm heading west to Rapid City for a school visit at South Canyon Elementary. Really, this is the best part about being an author. I love researching and writing, but being surrounded by kids is the icing on the cake.
Mary Pleiss is accompanying me on this trip and will be doing short presentations about the geology of Mount Rushmore. (I'm hoping to sit in on one of them!)
Speaking of Mary, she'll be here in Mitchell within the hour, and then we need to get on the road. Our goal is to take a quick side trip up to Mount Rushmore. I love being there during the off-season.
Yesterday around noon, I received a surprise phone call from my dad's cousin -- an 89-year-old woman from the Detroit area. She called to give me an interesting bit of information.
Her mother's father (Henry Eifert) made the chisels that were used to carve Mount Rushmore!
I hope have the details straight. In any case, here it goes . . . Eifert (who had a shop in Chicago) was known throughout the eastern part of the United States for his tool-making abilities. Gutzon Borglum (who was in charge of the carving of sculpture) contacted Eifert and asked if he would make the chisels. In fact, Borglum sent him granite from Mount Rushmore so that he could specially design the tools.
I'd like to say that this makes me a direct descendant of someone who was part of the carving. But alas. I'm related to her father's side of the family. Even so, I'm thrilled to have this piece of information.
My plans for the day were to run errands early and get to the library by 10:00 for a serious day of writing. Yet with the sun streaming in the south window (the best part of winter!), I've spent the morning at home.
For the last few hours, I've been sending out emails to schools and community organizations to let them know that I'm available for the Artist-in-Residency program.
Back when the kids were little, I could never dream of being away from the house for a week or more. But now that I'm an empty-nester, I'm excited to be in the schools for extended amounts of time.
Anyway, it should have been a quick process. I mean, how hard can it be to send out a mass email? But as I went down the list of schools from the South Dakota Arts Council, I realized that I've been to many of them. As a result, I found myself writing personal notes instead.
As we speak, I'm as far as the Bison, SD, school district. I remember being there in 2005 or so. The people were incredible...and the kids were voracious readers!
In case you'd like information about the South Dakota Arts Council's "Artists in the Schools and Communities" (AISC) program, here's the link: http://www.artscouncil.sd.gov/aisc/index.aspx
Ideally, applications for the 2014-15 school year should be completed by March 1. (From what I hear, it's a simple, online process.) The link can be found at http://www.artscouncil.sd.gov/aisc/residency.aspx
If you have any questions or would like information about other options for author visits, please visit my website or send me an email. Thanks!
This blog is going to be a work in progress. If you're reading this today (Feb. 11), you'll be seeing only the bare bones.
For years, I've only had my trusty website. But since my writing life is picking up, I need to become a more visible. Thus, the blog. (I'm probably the biggest techno-dinosaur around, so we'll soon find out how user-friendly this Blogger stuff is!)
Okay, here's the first bit of news: In January, I completed an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from the Vermont College of Fine Arts (VCFA).
The MFA behind my name is nice, but the real reason I went through the program was to improve and grow as a writer. Now my goal is to continue to grow and to help others with their writing.
And with that, here's more good news....
I've been added to the South Dakota Arts Council's roster of artists for the "Artists in Schools and Communities" program. Yay!! More on this tomorrow. But if you need info now, here's the link: http://www.artscouncil.sd.gov/aisc/
