Reverie -- Abstract Musings on a Hopeful Life

Agent Appreciation Day

2009-12-12T03:40:58Z

I am peeking in from a very busy schedule (Travel! School visits! Holidays!) to join the chorus of authors singing the praises of their agents.

In late 2005 I began to think that I might be ready for an agent. I live in Brasil and several of my submissions had gone missing, and several more rejection letters had gone missing in transit and it was becoming increasingly difficult to submit to US publishers from Brasil. I am primarily a picture book writer, though. I knew the odds. Agents make a seriously small pittance off of picture books, and the process takes so long to publish them, that the amount of work that an agent puts into agenting picture books is often not worth the return. I knew I'd have a difficult time finding an agent. But I thought I'd at least try.

And when Kendra Marcus at Bookstop Literary sent me an email saying she was interested, my heart stopped. I phoned her. We talked. We talked some more. She phoned me. We talked some more. I sent her more of my mss. We talked some more. We clicked. Kendra is forthright and honest, but also gentle and affirming. She is discreet, she is honest and she is successful. And then when MInju Chang joined forces with Kendra in 2006, I became the beneficiary of a duo with the business savvy, literary insight and requisite goofiness you want in a literary agency. My agents at Bookstop Literary Agency are by turns my sanity and my saints. They listen to me, they value my opinion and they care about me and the readers I'm writing for. And most importantly, they make me giggle. What more could I ask for?

All the World -- not so much a review as a gush

2009-10-12T02:18:51Z

There are books you love to read with your kids, and books you love to read for yourself, and books your kids love to read with you, and books they love to read for themselves. And then, every once in a great while, there is a book that so fluidly passes through each of these categories, in and out, out and in, that every single time you read it, alone or with a child, there is something new about it to love. ALL THE WORLD is one of those books. I have to admit up front that Liz Garton Scanlon is one of my online friends, and is very dear to people who are very dear to me, and Marla Frazee has been one of my not-so-secret illustrator crushes for quite a while now. So I completely own up to the fact that I was predisposed to like this book. In fact, I like it so much that my love for it overshadows and taints my children's love for the book. I don't think there is any way for them to love it quite as much as I do, so therefore I can't really use my own children as good judges for how kid-friendly this book is.
The beautiful meaning of ALL THE WORLD might be just a little philosophically above my six-year old girl, though she did put a big huge smiley face on her reading log next to ALL THE WORLD's entry. We have read it many times. She loves it, I love it. My nine-year old (boy) liked the rhythm, and the language and the small to largeness connection he felt to it. But he hasn't asked to read it with me again. :( And my 11 year old? Well, she loves what I love, but she is beyond the picture book age. (Yes, boo-hoo. I am thrilled that I see her reaching for middle grade novels more and more. I am sad that I no longer see her pouring over the illustrations and words in a picture book we both love.)

So, since I can't use my own children to gauge how truly kid friendly the book is, I'll just have to keep reading it and reading it and reading it, for myself, and for others. I'll sing the praises of this little gem of a book, a perfect marriage of poetry and picture, a book that hits a note that I wish we would all sing more, and one that I often feel from my home in South America. We are connected to one another in big and small ways, across culture, across race, across distance. We are connected to this hallowed ground upon which we tread. Perhaps if we lived in the knowledge of that on a continual basis, there would be more "hope and peace and love and trust/ All the world is all of us." Thank you, Liz and Marla, for this beautiful book I will share with everyone I love.

(Pair this one with THE APPLE PIE THAT PAPA BAKED by Lauren Thompson to extend the idea of community/connection and the Earth's bounty.)

Ready Thyself!

2009-09-30T20:52:19Z

Quick word to those paying attention: CYBILS nominations open tomorrow.

YES, tomorrow I said. Thursday, October 1st. And there is a snazzy new form to use to nominate your favorite titles in a variety of categories:

Easy Readers and Short Chapter Books
Fantasy and Science Fiction
Fiction Picture Books
Graphic Novels
Middle Grade Fiction
Nonfiction Picture Books
Nonfiction for Middle Grade and Teens
Poetry
Young Adult Fiction

To find out exactly what the Cybils are and how to nominate your favorite books from this past year, the place to check for updated and expanded info is here at the Cybils blog.
I'll be serving as a first round judge on for the poetry category this year. I can't wait!

Roundel

2009-09-29T14:35:53Z

I must be telling you soon about recent days, upcoming days, people and places and all manner of wonderfulness, but first I'll shyly share this roundel. Tricia at the Miss Rumphius Effect blog posted a poetry stretch yesterday (in fact, she posts a poetry stretch *every* Monday; you should write yourself a note to check on Mondays for inspiration). This week she challenged us to write a roundel (not to be confused with a rondelle). I have not written a roundel before. (And perhaps you will say after reading this that STILL I have not written a roundel!)

The roundel, according to Paul Janeczko in A Kick in the Head: An Everyday Guide to Poetic Forms, is "a three-stanza poem of 11 lines. The stanzas have four, three, and four lines in them and a rhyme scheme of abab bab abab. Ah, but there's more. Line 4 is repeated as line 11 -- not an easy trick!" (I also noticed that the repeat is often the first three words of the first line, but I'm not sure everyone does it that way.) I came fairly quickly and easily to my repeat, and my rhyming words, had most of the poem written and then decided that my second line didn't work. I'm also unsure how they're supposed to work metrically, as some of the roundels I've read have fairly strict meter and some are more fluid. I'm happier with my version now than before but still not 100% sure. As with all poetry, I'll let it sit. And then come back to it. And then let it sit some more. And then come back to it. Several times, over and over, until I finally decide to release it.

But for now, I'll share its current form with you.

Roundel

You must goodbye this barren ground.

Turn your face, take leave, though my

wingless form is bound.

You must goodbye.

I cannot follow, though try

I will, for when I’ve found

my wings, I’ll fly

away, away. I’ll soar, crowned

with joy beneath a moonlit sky,

spread my wings without a sound . . .

You must goodbye.

Hooray for Books!

2009-09-09T02:41:12Z

Hooray for Books, hooray for great friends, hooray for selling out of books! If you're ever in Alexandria, VA, there's no better place to spend an hour, or two, or three than Hooray for Books.

When I arrived for my booksigning on September 6th, Ellen and Trish had made brownies, set up a reading and signing area and had plenty of books on hand. Good thing too, we sold out! Anne Marie and Kathy caught me on the street corner just before I went in the store, and Jama was in there waiting. I was so happy to see old friends and meet others for the first time. I had friends there from Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey, DC and Brazil!

Anne Marie Pace, Kelly Fineman, Kristy Dempsey, Kathy Erksine, Jama Rattigan, and Sara Lewis Holmes

And after that, we were close enough to spend a little time with Lady Liberty on our way to Boston. :)

ME WITH YOU mini-tour

2009-09-04T15:17:49Z

We're off on the ME WITH YOU and the grandparents mini-tour complete with grandparents, bookmarks and the requisite conversion van to celebrate the upcoming Grandparents Day!

*September 6th -- booksigning from 2-4 pm at Hooray for Books -- Alexandria, VA

*September 10 -- storytime and booksigning at Barrington Books, Barrington, RI at 10:30 am

*September 11-- storytime and booksigning at Wellesley Booksmith, Wellesley, MA at 10:30 am

Here we go in classic grandparent style:

Book Signing Fun!

2009-09-01T16:26:36Z

Okay, okay, so I know I've been terribly absent. Terribly. But here's a little view into the business of the last month or so. And when I say business, I mean funfunfun! Nothing could be more fun than to see people you haven't seen in forever, meet new and interesting people, and eat cake. There's cake leftover by the way, so if you're passing through South Carolina . . .

(edited to put pics behind a cut for those who'd like to skip them)

Cake at Family Book Signing at Fiction Addiction, Greenville, SC in July

Signing Table and Me With You Display

Chatting about Books in Carrollton, GA; Signing at Horton's Bookstore, Georgia's oldest bookstore!

Friends who drove in from Chattanooga and Pensacola for the signing in Carrollton!

Surrounded by kids at the storytime and book signing at Little Shop of Stories in Decatur, GA (Atlanta) We sold out of books!

My truly supportive husband, Demps, who chatted with everyone while I signed at Little Shop of Stories

Cake, punch and cookies at The Open Book in Greenville, SC

Signing at the table at The Open Book. I had a line and we sold 90 books!

Good friend, Judy Sullivan, came to my signing at Spellbound Books in Asheville, NC

post-ALA mayhem

2009-07-16T20:08:46Z

I've arrived in the US, walked miles and miles in one exhibition hall in Chicago, signed books with Jerry Pinkney, Richard Peck, Gennifer Choldenko and Ingrid Law at Magic Tree Bookstore in Oak Park, signed across from Judy Blume and *just* before Sarah Dessen in the Penguin Putnam booth, saw some absolutely amazing and entertaining online friends and ate some awesome Chicago deep dish pizza. Here's a pre-Newbery banquet pic:

Jessica Lee Anderson, Lisa Schroeder, Cassandra Riegel Whetstone, Me, and Tanya Seale

Now, I'm off to prepare for a tv interview tomorrow am (!)(Oh dear, what shall I wear? Any suggestions? What looks good on tv?)(And again, !!!!!) and my first hometown booksigning on Saturday afternoon. There will be cake!

Tuesday Two

2009-06-30T14:03:52Z

1. I was thrilled, THRILLED I say, to see this review of ME WITH YOU, not only because the reviewer seems to really "get" the book as a celebration of those who love children unconditionally, but also because the reviewer is Esmé Codell. You know? Esmé? Codell? Professional "Readiologist" and otherwise Amazingly Insightful Children's Lit Reader and Extoller? Yes, THAT Esmé Codell. She read ME WITH YOU and blogged about it. She even sniffed the pages a bit. I mean, I bet she did. WOW.

2. During ALA on Saturday, July 11th, I am going to be reading and signing ME WITH YOU at Magic Tree Bookstore from 1:30 to 3:30 pm (Happy 25th Birthday, Magic Tree!) . Also signing is Jon Scieszka (Yeah. He's only the NATIONAL AMBASSADOR FOR YOUNG PEOPLE'S LITERATURE), Gennifer Choldenko (Yeah. Her book Al Capone Does My Shirts won a Newbery Honor), Ingrid Law (Yeah, Her New York Times Bestselling book, Savvy, won a Newbery Honor this year), Jerry Pinkney (Yeah. His awards are too many to mention and include words like "Caldecott" and "Coretta Scott King Award"; not to mention I have been in love with his ilustrative style since...oh, forever), and Richard Peck (yes, that Richard Peck) only one of the most important authors in my writerly heart and with whom I can't even imagine sharing breathing space. I'm afraid I will tear up and make a fool of myself. Yes, I have already asked someone to have the smelling salts at the ready.

Needless to say, I feel very privileged to be able to take part in such a wonderful celebration of Magic Tree's 25th anniversary with so many of my children's literature idols. (Oh. And did I mention it will be my very first signing for ME WITH YOU? Boy howdy. What a way to kick it off.)

I'll also be signing Sunday morning, July 12th at ALA at 10am at the Penguin Putnam booth (#2120). Hope to see you there!

CONTEST WINNER

2009-06-17T00:21:38Z

Way back in May when I mentioned that I wouldn't be in the States to see my book born into the world in bookstores across America, and I decided to hold a contest to give those who would be willing to send me a picture of my book in a bookstore or in their hands at home, I never imagined how many tears I would shed and how many smiles it would bring to my face to see you guys tracking down my book and sending me pictures. I'm so grateful to have had the chance to see what feels like years of labor, even though I'm not there to see it. THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH. And thank you, too, to those who sent me news of "sightings" even if they didn't happen to have a camera with them at the time.

To all who entered by sending me pictures, I am SO grateful you were willing to share in my joy. And some of you were entered in the contest even if you didn't send me the link. If you posted a picture of my book here on LJ, or on Facebook, or on Blogger or anywhere that I saw it, I entered you in the contest!

We wrote down each of the names on a piece of paper...if you posted the pic to your blog or Facebook AND sent me the link, you received two entries...we put all the names into my son's cowboy hat and then my husband (to whom the book is dedicated) did the honors....

And without furthor ado, the winner of a copy of ME WITH YOU is MARY WOODFIN BOGGS, a sweet friend from our college ministry days in Carrollton, Georgia! She found the book at Barnes and Noble in Hampton, Va.

Congratulations, Mary! I'll be in touch!

LAST DAY OF CONTEST!

2009-06-15T13:33:53Z

You have till midnight to get those pics of ME WITH YOU in bookstores or in your hands at home in order to get a chance to win a copy. Last call!

Contest Reminder

2009-06-04T19:16:49Z

Don't forget you can win a copy of ME WITH YOU! See details here.

And if you need any incentive to run out to your nearest book emporium and snatch it up, here's a little preview. Or need a gift for Dad or Gramps for Father's Day? See below!

Poetry Friday -- Hope

2009-05-22T11:38:04Z

I've shared this poem before, one I penned a couple of years ago as my own take on hope after reflecting on Emily Dickinson's "Hope is the Thing with Feathers". It seems that the euphoria *and* the pain of hope are recurring themes in my life, and sharing this poem again only serves to echo that cycle. Perhaps you can relate?

HOPE

Hope refuses to perch
as if she had arrived for only a visit,
like so many flitting wings
on the branches of a bloodwood tree,
weaving instead feathers from her breast
into the fabric of my soul.

Her fussing brings pain,
reminding me of a presence I’ve tried
to ignore, preferring instead

a familiar landscape of barren desert,
averting my eyes from the want within,
growing as if shielded from sun, protected

from possibilities until they would

weigh my branches with promise.

But hope, feathered hope, is already here,
nestled so sweetly for laying,

and I await with the pain
of expectation.

--Kristy Dempsey (2007, all rights reserved)

ETA: Oh! I forgot to say that ME WITH YOU is the Poetry Friday Picture Book of the Day over at Anastasia Suen's six traits blog!

LIBRARY LOOOOOOOOVE!

2009-05-21T18:11:04Z

Shield your eyes for an onslaught of cuteness, people! This is my high school friend's son, S, who found ME WITH YOU at the Pickens County Library in South Carolina.

(CUTE + plastic wrapping and a library tag) X CUTER = AMAZING!!!!!!

Awesome, right?

Byoo-ti-full!

2009-05-19T20:28:13Z

tamarak felt the need to warn you... But let's just get this straight, for the record: I think this is just GAWGEOUS:

And here's a little love from a fellow Highlights Chautauqua 2005 conference alum, Gwendolyn Hooks:

Who needs Vanna when you've got these two?

Some pics

2009-05-18T19:27:16Z

I've had a really rough night and day with some crazy stomach virus going on. Not feeling much better, but wanted you to see these pics that brought me joy on a not so joyous day. There's still time to enter the contest if you find ME WITH YOU on your bookstore shelves!
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Sweet friend Laura; you can see *   * Hanging out with Tim McGraw and *   *   Friend and Critique Partner Becky Gomez
Mouse was Mad and Two Boys Have                       Brooke Shields in
the Best Week Ever and several                                      Auburn, AL
other friend's books

Two dear friends in GA In Borders* * * * * * * * * at Mall of GA * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ** Pam Ross in Long Island!
Ed and Carol Hogan

The Cute Little Display that Penguin Putnam
sold to some stores. If you have a Wegman's,
it's there! This one was at Quail Ridge Books in NC.

Thanks to Laura Flynt Clum, Mom and Tim, Ed and Carol Hogan, Pamela Ross, Becky Gomez, and Kelly Starling Lyons for the pics!

In other news, I blogged today at the Author's Now website about what being 6,000 miles away from my first book's debut has taught me about writing for children. Click here to read it. And please leave me a comment!

A Little Angel over my shoulder..

2009-05-16T12:36:53Z

Look who's watching over me at the Barnes and Noble in Destin, FL... A very adorable, mad-when-he-needs-to-be mouse. :)

Edited to Add:

Two very lovely blog reviews of ME WITH YOU

The Happy Nappy Bookseller

and

HollyBookNotes.

kristydempsey @ 2009-05-15T08:40:00

2009-05-15T11:51:53Z

annemariepace was at Barnes and Noble last night in Charlottesville and look what she found!

Okay, and do you see that woman in the background with a stroller? (You can't see her face so I feel okay about posting her picture without her consent.) annemariepace saw THAT WOMAN, someone we don't even know, BUY A COPY of ME WITH YOU! She just picked it up off the shelf and read it and then bought it! Whoo-hoo!

Seven Impossible Things

2009-05-15T10:53:01Z

ME WITH YOU's esteemed illustrator, Christopher Denise, is the guest for breakfast over at Jules' and Eisha's Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast blog. And let me tell you, you are in for a treat. Not only can you study the beauty of spreads from ME WITH YOU (and some of the text), you can also study Chris's process for other books, to the tune of 84 (!!!!) images.

The amount of work Jules puts into her interviews is amazing and you seriously will not want to miss her conversation with Chris. My favorite quote: "Suffering as an artist is vastly overrated." Considering what a joy it has been to work with Chris, I couldn't agree more. :)

In with Team Raving Pen

2009-05-14T20:00:55Z

I truly can't believe I caved to the peer pressure. :)

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater... debuts August 1. Preorder today!

For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf--her wolf--is a chilling presence she can't seem to live without. Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human . . . until the cold makes him shift back again.

Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. It's her wolf. It has to be. But as winter nears, Sam must fight to stay human--or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever.

Sounding the Horn

2009-05-14T19:07:02Z

In honor of the release date of ME WITH YOU, a picture book tailor-made for cuddling in an arm chair for a read-aloud fest, I wanted to talk a bit about reading aloud to kids. Jen Robinson at Jen Robinson's Bookpage said this far more eloquently back in January than I could ever hope to, but it's an important enough issue that more of us need to jump on the bandwagon. Jen called for an international initiative to encourage reading aloud to kids. How can we make this happen? I don't know that I have the answers but I think I can echo her call and perhaps together we can all come up with some ideas.

My own three children are growing up in a household where we speak English, but a school system where they speak Portuguese. All three have learned to read "officially" in Portuguese first because of the efforts of their 4 year old kindergarten teachers. But all three have learned to read English informally because of our efforts at reading aloud to them. I would even say that we did not do enough. We did not read out loud every day. But they've grown to love books and words and have incredible vocabularies in English simply because they were read to. They feel at home with books and settle down easily to read a story, on their own or out loud. Perhaps they love to read the books we have in our home so much simply because they were not required to read them. It's all been purely for pleasure, a free choice free-for-all. No homework assignments, no grammar lessons, no requirements. Their reading has allowed them to experience worlds different from their own, emotional experiences they haven't yet gone through, and to begin to make the emotional connections they will need when they later face these or similar situations in the real world.

Not only this, but we bond as a family over literature. Mem Fox mentions this in her book, Reading Magic, in which she advocates reading out aloud daily:

"As we share the words and pictures, the ideas and viewpoints, the rhythms and rhymes, the pain and comfort, and the hopes and fears and big issues of life that we encounter together in the pages of a book, we connect through minds and hearts with our children and bond closely in a secret society associated with the books we have shared. The fire of literacy is created by the emotional sparks between a child, a book, and the person reading."

Did you get that? The "fire of literacy is created by the emotional sparks . . ." It's those positive early reading experiences, often before the child is even able to identify words on their own, that lead to a love for books and reading. It's all about the emotional connection. And not only does reading aloud to a child foster the child's love for books, it fosters your own emotional connection to that child too, and the child's connection to you.

That's what ME WITH YOU is all about. Emotional connections. I hope you'll cozy up to your nearest loved one, be it a child or a child at heart, and read aloud for a bit today. And if you're looking to celebrate an emotional connection, may I suggest ME WITH YOU, whose words metaphorically apply to just about any relationship you could imagine. :)

For a peek into the book and an adorable teddy bear tea-party, check out Jama Rattigan's Soup of the Day post celebrating ME WITH YOU here.

My incredible family, volume 2

2009-05-14T00:21:50Z

This is my older sister, Diana. Get this. She had already ordered ME WITH YOU and is waiting for it to arrive but when she went to the bookstore today in Florence, SC, and found it there too, she paid FULL PRICE just to be able to buy it and photo document the whole thing for me. She took pictures. Her with the book. The sales clerk with the book. The book on the shelf. The credit card machine as it said "please wait". The credit card machine as it lit up with the total. Can you believe her? She shared every step of the process with me. I cried!

Also, I'm the guinea pig interview guest today at Rebecca's Writing Journey. For deets on how ME WITH YOU came to be, check it out!

Proud Grandmother

2009-05-13T00:49:44Z

This is my mom holding a copy of ~~her newest grandchild~~ ME WITH YOU.

Mom is currently on vacation in Destin, FL. But do you know what she has been doing every day since she arrived? She has been visiting bookstores to see if she can find a copy of ME WITH YOU on the shelves. Is this some kind of mother or what?

THIS is the mother who, before I had an agent, received emails from me with explicit instructions on how to fold, or not to fold, and what order to place things in an envelope, and who, with joy in her heart, mailed out all my submissions from her SC address because I live overseas and have an unreliable mail system. And she never once complained.

THIS is the same mother, who when she came home after a long day of work and checked her mail, would call me immediately to tell me we'd received another rejection, or thank God, an acceptance, BEFORE she got a snack. Heck, probably before she even peed.

THIS is the same mother who every time that I asked her how much I owed her for the submissions she had sent out on my behalf, hemmed and hawed and couldn't remember and said it wasn't important.

THIS is the mother who believed in me when I was too afraid to believe in myself.

And this is the stepfather who is just as excited as my mother.

ME WITH YOU is about grandparents and I had a teary-eyed, sniffly moment the other day when I realized that my first book, this celebration of the grandparent/grandchild relationship, would be coming out the week of the anniversary of my own father's death. My daddy died 24 years ago today. My own children never knew the love of my sweet daddy. They did not know their own maternal grandfather. But as you can see from the pictures above, they are not lacking for love. They are not lacking for people who celebrate them for who they are and who love them unconditionally. If my mom and stepdad are as happy as they are to see this book on the shelves of a bookstore, you can only imagine how much more they love and celebrate my children.

I could not be more blessed.

Edited to add: DON'T FORGET THE CONTEST! We've already had a winner on the first sighting but I'll be drawing a name from everyone who sends me a picture thereafter up until June 15th!

Children's Book Week and Me

2009-05-11T17:23:09Z

It's Children's Book Week and for the first time ever I will have a book available to be part...well, for part of it anyway. Three days until ME WITH YOU releases!

HOORAY!

NaPiBoWhatchamacally

2009-05-07T17:36:53Z

Final report: 4 excellent picture book drafts, 3 stinky ones.
7 different picture books total. 4 ready to revise and sub for crit, 3 that truthfully have bones but no skin.

And I'm so glad this week is over with. I don't think I'll be ready to open any of these files for a month. I'm taking a break!