fortune cookie friday

“The person who says it cannot be done should not interrupt the person doing it.”
-Chinese Proverb

happy happy

I got a chance to use my birthday gifts for a little get-together with some of my friends.
There were so many things to celebrate: 2 birthdays (Alvina & Libby's), a upcoming baby (Anna's)and my first draft completion that I decided instead of "Happy Birthday, Happy Baby, Happy Book!" I would just make the cupcakes say HAPPY HAPPY!:

Which we were!
Alvina, Libby &Anna

rewards

I finished my rough draft of "Dumpling Days" late at night on Friday (really, Saturday morning) and I was euphoric. The first draft is always the hardest for me. The next step, revising, is comparably quite fun. Even though revision usually takes longer, it's that initial output that is torturous for me. I always hit a point where I yield to poor quality, over-sentimentality and any other writing sin you can think of just so I can "get the thing out!" (I depend on the revision process to get things in readable condition.)

So, finishing my rough draft (emphasis on "rough") was a big accomplishment for me. I was absolutely thrilled when I wrote "The End" and the first thing I did afterwards was to go online and buy some bedsheets.

But not just any bedsheets.

I bought these sheets that had surprised me in a catalog a couple days earlier. When I saw these sweet, cherry-patterned sheets on clearance I almost jumped (okay maybe I did jump, just a little hop).



Because in one of my old sketchbooks (I have a lot of them!), dated 1999:


was a ripped catalog page with almost the exact same sheets:


I had coveted cherry-patterned sheets over 10 years ago but was too poor purchase them. In 1999, with my extremely modest first book income (as well as part-time bookstore clerk wages) the luxury of matching sheets (no matter how pretty) was a frivolous expense. Rent and ramen noodles was all I could afford then, so the 2nd best thing was to clip the catalog pages and keep them as a little dream.

That I made come true 10 years later! A nice little personal reward, don't you think?

book talk tuesday

LITTLE PEAR by Eleanor Frances Lattimore

IndieBound Description: Little Pear is a young boy who lives in a small village in China. Although his story takes place long ago, he is much like any little boy today--always on the lookout for excitement and adventure!

Little Pear is just looking for fun, but he has a knack for finding trouble without even trying! Join him as he stows away to the fair in a wheelbarrow full of vegetables, nearly flies away on a kite, has a mishap with a firecracker, and is rescued from the river by a houseboat family.

My Thoughts: I really enjoy and find the Little Pear books quite charming. But I hesitated to feature it here as it was one of the books I had a slight love/hate relationship with. As sweet as these books are, in my youth I was annoyed that these were the only kind of Asian books available--ones that showed Chinese as pig-tailed men with rickshaws. However, upon reflection, I don't feel that this is a fault of the book. No one book is suppose to be representative of a culture and there is definitely a place for this one. But I beseech you, do not let this be the ONLY Asian/multicultural book in your collection. This book, as I said, is lovely, but kids need to read other more contemporary ones as well as this one to begin to have a true understanding of Asian culture. (Ok, off soapbox now!)

on my desk monday

Signing and sending the last of the Ling & Ting bookplates from the online celebration!

fortune cookie friday

“The usefulness of a cup is in its emptiness.”
-Chinese Proverb

class notes

I've been entrenched in the writing of my new novel ("Dumpling Days") and while it's always roller coaster, every time the ride feels different. What's interesting this time is when I mention the age range (7-11) I am writing to non-book people, I get a distinct feeling of disappointment in my ambitions. As if by now I should have graduated to writing real books, older books or at least cooler or hipper books that could rival "Twilight."

I always smile politely, as I do understand their idea of success. And who knows, maybe someday I will. But I have a feeling, in terms of writing, that the young middle grade novel will be the book I will never graduate from.

Part of my "lecture" for the Pine Manor class I taught about writing the Middle Grade Novel:

Why write middle-grade novels, especially young middle grade? One can say you have more restrictions in terms of subject matter, audience and even respect than the other genres. But I think it is one of the most important forms,if not the most important form, of children's literature. These are the books that change a child that can read books to a child that LOVES to read books. What they call a "reader," a true life-long book lover. The picturebook is rarely read independently and the YA reader has already decided whether he or she likes books. The middle-grade novel is the one that can create a transformation.

book talk tuesday

ONCE UPON A BLUE MOOSE by Daniel Pinkwater

IndieBound Description:
Once upon a blue moose, there was a little restaurant at the edge of the big woods. Mr. Breton was happy running the restaurant. He liked to cook, but he didn’t like it much when winter came and the north wind blew and froze everything solid.
Then one day a blue moose, who also didn’t like the cold, came to his door and asked to come in. Mr. Breton said sure, and served the moose some clam chowder. The moose liked the soup, and decided to stay. From that time on, things at the restaurant began to hum.
Join the Blue Moose in this hilarious collection of three short novels as he learns to wait tables, writes a novel, goes to Hollywood, solves a mystery, and makes you laugh even in the dark of the cold woods.
Includes new wacky but true moose facts!

My Thoughts: A great fun classic! Every time I read this I want to go have clam chowder with gingerbread for dessert. Yum!

on my desk monday

super neat Where the Mountain Meets the Moon paperweight, gift from my cool publisher!

fortune cookie friday

“It is better to take many small steps in the right direction than to make a great leap forward only to stumble backward.”
-Chinese Proverb