Like I tell my writing students, putting words down on the page has a power all its own. It can help us to travel through time and leap across a map in a single bound. I was reminded of that this week in my very own town here on Cape Cod, in the Harwich Fire Department.

Back in September, I wrote about my father's work as a firefighter, and how he talked about it (or didn't talk about it) in the Cape Cod Times-- "Stories My Father Never Told Me." I wrote about how an action-packed photo that landed on the front page of the Daily News  many years ago captured my father in a dramatic firefighting moment, and how the picture was chosen as the cover photo of an iconic book about the New York Fire Department.

I got lots of great feedback after the article was published, including from my friend Glenn, a local firefighter here in Harwich. Glenn asked if I by any chance had an extra copy of the wonderful photo, which hangs framed in my dining room. I offered him a copy, and then he went ahead and did this:



The photo, my article in the Cape Cod Times, and a brief note I wrote to the Harwich Fire Department now hang in the lobby of the Harwich fire station. Glenn showed it to me  last night, and I had the chance marvel at it, and to meet a firefighter named Margaret, and the Chief, too!

I drove past today, on my way to the market to get milk, bread, and bananas. "Hi, Dad," I thought as I passed by. The act of putting words on paper has knitted together my past and present, linking the firefighting families of the South Bronx and Cape Cod in a wonderful way.

The voices of innocence and experience were our topics last night in my Time to Write class, where a lively group of writers gather in my home twice a month to deepen our writing skills.


Sue William Silverman's wonderful article "The Meandering River: An Overview of the Subgenres of Creative Non-Fiction" served a perfect jumping-off point. It has an excellent section on Memoir and the uses of the voice of the innocent (employed so well by Michael Patrick MacDonald in All Souls-- my favorite example!) and the voice of experience. The poem "Design"by Billy Collins provided a perfect example of the voice of experience in poetic form. The voice of the innocent relates events, but does not judge, process, or put them in much context. It is perfect for capturing complex events that may be swirling around a child. The voice of experience uses humor, reflection, metaphor, and more to relate events as well as their significance and connections.

Then we wrote, using first one voice, and then the other. As we read aloud, tears were shed, there were belly laughs, and we all learned so much from each other.

I love my brave band of writers and the risks we take in our writing!

It's such a common piece of advice in writing: take risks, go beyond your comfort zone. Write the thing you're afraid to write. I've pushed myself many times to write deeper, to expand or extend into unfamiliar territory, in the quest for better writing.

But something didn't feel right as I was giving this advice in the writing class I teach in the women's unit of the prison here on Cape Cod. We're nearing the end of our ten-week class, and this Thursday we are having a reading. It won't be a big audience, but there will be people who work at the prison there, perhaps some of the higher-ups, and some of the mentors who work with the women in various ways. In class, there has been some powerful writing accomplished. As a teacher, I'm proud that these women have put down on paper some incredibly compelling pieces of writing on identity, longing, regret, hopes and love. I'm also proud that they have felt safe enough in our writing group to read their pieces aloud each week.




But on Thursday, some of the most powerful pieces will go unread, because the women don't want to expose themselves in that way. I realized how unfair my advice might be when the power dynamic is so lopsided. These women have lost most of their freedoms due to the mistakes they've made, and to make themselves more vulnerable by reading aloud their most personal writing may be too much to ask.

So I have tempered my expectations about Thursday. Some of the women may change their minds and not read at all. I'll be thinking of some of my favorite pieces of their writing, like "Baby Blue" and "My Inside Self and Outside Self" that will remain unspoken. But there will still be the thrill in the room, the thrill of hearing the written work spoken out loud. The thrill of seeing people take risks and feel good about it. I'll take it all in. And then I'll go home, and write.

As I switch gears from summer to fall, I feel like this:




I do love summer. This has been a summer of beautiful swims, lovely food, reconnecting with old friends, cultivating new friendships, writing, reading and relaxing. Although there was lots of down time, I kept busy, too...

--Attending my first Alumni Mini-Residency at Vermont College of Fine Arts was inspiring and invigorating.
--Teaching creative writing to an enthusiastic group of middle-schoolers at Harwich Junior Theatre here on Cape Cod was a wonderful experience for me.
--Teaching a weekly poetry class to younger children (ages 7 to 9) at a summer camp was fanciful and fun.
--I had a few writing dates with a young friend (age 9) who loves writing. We'd take walks, spread our blanket by a sparkling waterway, and write poems. We played with words as our friendship blossomed.

Some other highlights were reading the wonderful book Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, and having the honor of a local journalist writing a profile of me in the Cape Cod Chronicle.

Now, it's on to fall, which includes...
--Teaching "Health, Safety and Nutrition for Young Children" at Fisher College.
--Teaching "Classroom Management: Skills and Strategies for Early Childhood Teachers" at Cape Cod Community College.
--Teaching a weekly creative writing class to a group of women inmates at Barnstable County House of Corrections.
--and possible gigs teaching writing at Harwich Junior Theatre and Sandwich Community Schools!

For today, I've made the sure the syllabus and outline is ready for each class, the laundry is done, the chickens are happy, and I squeezed in one more swim.

Time to leap into fall.

Don't you love it when good things happen to good people?

Susan A. Shea, a friend and member of my Cape Cod critique group, is basking in the glow and excitement of the publication of her first picture book. DO YOU KNOW WHICH ONES WILL GROW? (Blue Apple Books), illustrated by Tom Slaughter, is a gorgeous and fun picture book. Reading this book with a young child is an interactive and engaging experience!

Susan, who lives in the town of Wellfleet on Cape Cod, is an inspiration to me. She’s been writing for children for 30 years, is an active member of Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI), and she facilitates our critique group meetings. I also admire her persistence! She never gives up. I recently asked Susan some questions about her new book.


Susan on the left... me on the right... celebrating her book!

Congratulations on the release of your first book, DO YOU KNOW WHICH ONES WILL GROW? How did you make the connection to Blue Apple books?

When my research (industry e-mails & journals, website & book evaluation) found Blue Apple, I thought that they would be a great fit for my manuscript. I was delighted when they agreed.


Can you tell us how you originally conceived of the idea of DO YOU KNOW WHICH ONES WILL GROW?

When a friend’s 4-year old son asked her if letters grew up to be packages, I placed his question in my ideas file.

When you were writing the book, who were you writing for? Did you have an imagined audience or reader in mind?

When I began I played with rhyme and growth possibilities. Then I researched animals and their young and selected the ones that had the most comic potential. I imagined kindergarten children giggling as they read the book.


The illustrations in DO YOU KNOW are so vivid and striking. Did you have any input on the illustrations, or any interaction with illustrator Tom Slaughter?

No, but Blue Apple selected the perfect illustrator for this project. I met Tom at the Book Expo in May and we enjoyed signing books together. We e-mail occasionally.




What do you do when you are not writing?

Reading, exercising, attending cultural events (movies, plays, concerts, art galleries)
walking, photography, travel



Can you tell us about your critique group, or how you get feedback on your writing?

My critique group, a band of fine writers, help each other to strengthen our ms. by asking questions, flagging inaccuracies and ambiguity, and making suggestions. I also exchange manuscripts with a writing friend.



What’s the most challenging part of being a new author? What’s the best part?

The most challenging: definitely becoming immersed in technology. The best part: sharing the book with children and adults.

What’s your next project?

I’m working on a picture book about finding the right pet and am exploring a chapter book based on my short story, “Rhyme or Reason.”

What advice can you offer to a new writer, approaching the children’s book market for the first time?

Read widely in your field. Hone your craft by reading, courses, workshops. Join a critique group for support and community.

Thank you, Susan!

I will add an exciting postscript here. Reviewer extraordinaire Elizabeth Bird had wonderful things to say about DO YOU KNOW WHICH ONES WILL GROW? in School Library Journal.

Bravo, Susan!!

A friend’s recent use of that phrase tickled my fancy, and got me thinking about family histories, telling stories, and more. It was very much on my mind as I went back to one of my “twelve o’clock” places, New York City, last week. I can make my way around the city feeling so content and at ease, feeling both like a star-struck visitor and a native at the same time. True, I was born there, and spent my first 12 years there, but I haven’t lived there in a long, long time. Yet it feels like home in many ways, and I had fun last week exploring some strands of the past, as well as relishing the present. Some highlights:

**It’s been a long time since I enjoyed the St. Patrick’s Day parade on Fifth Avenue, and the weather was just perfect for it! In the novel I’m currently revising, there is a pivotal scene that takes place as my protagonist attends the parade with her family. I watched the parade with my character in mind, with cousins at my side, and with many family members and memories in my heart. It was fantastic!

**In a family history my sister pulled together, she detailed that my great-grandfather was a stone cutter who worked on cutting stone blocks for both Grand Central Station and the New York Public Library. Now, I love both of those buildings and have been in them countless times, but I visited this time with a new appreciation, running my hand along the stonework and feeling a special connection.


I visited the children's room of the library, met librarian Betsy Bird, and found the poetry book Amazing Faces, collected by Lee Bennett Hopkins. As I slid it back on the shelf, I smiled. That book contains a poem I wrote, "Firefighter Face," and there it is, in the library my great-grandfather helped to build.

When I walked into Grand Central, the first thing I saw was this….



How fitting!

**I visited the Lower East Side Tenement Museum, which allows us a vivid glimpse into the past. It transports you to a different time and place in a quite wonderful way.


**The next day, I went hunting for a few of the buildings my grandfather grew up in, in lower Manhattan. One was completely gone (on 31st Street), and the other had been replaced by a more modern (1950’s) building on 21st Street. It sits near a classic older tenement building, so I could easily imagine the earlier building, and it was situated across the park from a magnificent public school, P.S. 40. Did my grandfather Peter Cronin attend school there, I wonder? I kept contented company with ghosts of the past as I wandered this neighborhood, listening to the bounce and bustle of basketball players in the park, aptly called Peter’s Field Park.


Old and new, side by side... newer buildings on the left, older buildings on the right

**I saw a wonderful exhibit of photographs and other historical objects at NYU, commemorating this week’s 100th anniversary of the Triangle Factory Fire. I also visited Roosevelt Island, to research a new story idea—and had a good visit with my agent Anna Webman at Curtis Brown.


I left the city feeling connected to the past, charged up for future writing projects, and content.
It all comes back to 12 o’clock….



P.S. 40

February, the month of hearts and candy and love of all kinds. Also the month of snow, snow, and more snow (wait, that was January).


What a difference a month can make! In January, I was scrambling from deadline to deadline, jumping from one hoop to the next.

In February, I’m taking the long view… ruminating, considering my next move.

In January, I graduated from Vermont College of Fine Arts. In preparation for graduation, I gave my graduate lecture, entitled “Creating Resilient Characters: Three Essential Ingredients.”


Just before my grad lecture... a little nervous!

I drew a deep breath and gave my graduate reading, where I read from my newly-completed novel in verse and a picture book. And then I graduated.


Here I am, in the graduation procession!

In February, I’m filing my papers, hanging up my diploma, and getting down to the question of “what’s next?”

In February, I’ll be sending work to my agent and a few editors. I’ll be teaching my course at the community college about young children and special needs. I’ll be co-leading the women’s book group at the prison here on Cape Cod. I’ll be working on a new idea, a middle-grade novel.

I’ll be taking deep breath, and just saying “thank you.”

Just as the year of 2010 is drawing to a close, so is my two-year journey as a graduate student. At the end of every semester of my MFA program, I have had to write a summary, reflecting on goals achieved, projects completed, insights gained. I guess I've been completely enculturated into the grad school mindset, as I feel the need to reflect and summarize on the year now ending. I'll frame this as "Gratitude Times Six."



1. I'm grateful for the incredible guidance I received from my academic advisors this year. Part coach, guru, cheerleader, and taskmaster, my MFA advisors each had a big impact on me. Laura Kvasnosky gave me the encouragement to try writing in a new genre, the novel in verse, and she helped me along my first wobbly steps in this project. Sarah Ellis has given me advice, wise words, and cheered me along the way as I finished the novel in verse and made major progress in a new picture book. In the space of a year, I started and completed a novel in verse, a critical thesis, a new picture book, and a graduate lecture that I'll be delivering in January. With Sarah's sage guidance I tied together all loose ends and sent in my body of work, called my Creative Thesis, last week. *Sigh of relief!*

2. I'm grateful for my family on the home front, who keep me from floating away into the stratosphere as I type, read, scribble, revise, erase, and rewrite. Bonnie and Rose keep me solidly grounded, well fed, and engaged in the real world.



3. What would I do without my local library? I have requested, borrowed, renewed and returned hundreds of books over the past few years. The librarians are endlessly cheerful, inquiring about my writing, my progress in graduate school, and my research. In return, I'm giving them the gift of my time this spring; to acknowledge their role in the completion of my MFA program, I'm teaching a four-part poetry workshop at the library to local students.

4. I'm thankful for gut decisions; a recent one led me to volunteer to co-lead a weekly book group for women at the prison on Cape Cod. Each week, I sit with these women who are hungry for words, ideas, and conversation. We talk about the book, about life and longing, family and forgiveness. I never play any music on the forty minute drive home; my thoughts are swirling and my emotions are full to the brim.

5. I'm grateful for my students at the two colleges where I teach. Our weekly discussions about young children keep me grounded in the practice of early childhood education. My students keep me on my toes, asking wonderful questions, raising poignant examples. I love the balance between my teaching and my writing; one really does feed the other.

6. I'm thankful for my friends-- the ones I see often, the ones I connect with on Facebook, my VCFA classmates, and the ones who are in the fellowship of children's writers with me. It's a rich brew, and they keep me happy and healthy.


Happy Holidays to friends far and near. I wish you a magical year to come.