Guardian of the Neighborhood

This afternoon when I was home alone, the doorbell rang. I rushed downstairs, thinking it was the delivery guy with my Amazon shipment, but found a police officer instead. I twenty-one years of living in Japan, this was the first time that a cop has come to my door. I thought at first that something had happened in the neighborhood, but he said he was just making the rounds, keeping track of people. He had a book with all our names and birthdays. And he wanted to know my mother-in-law’s new address and who to call in an emergency. He wanted to know where my husband works and what schools my kids go to. He didn’t ask me where I work, presumably because he thought I was a housewife. Why else would I be home in the middle of the afternoon? But I didn’t mind not telling him. I didn’t really want to divulge all of that other information either, but I did. I suggested he come back in the evening when my husband would be here, but he said an evening visit would be rude. I guess that’s why the farmers are always coming around at 7:30AM.

He reminded me to lock the door when I go out in case of robbers, and also not to leave our bicycles in front of the train station.

On the one hand, it’s nice to know someone is looking out for us. On the other, it’s a little creepy. Big Brother is watching!

Notes for a baseball novel

Okay, it’s Thanksgiving in my native country so I should be posting about turkey or Pilgrims or football, at least. But here I am writing about baseball.

As you may know, my son started playing on an elementary school team (not his school’s, but the closest one to our house). The other day, he was asked to help out another team that doesn’t have enough players for a tournament. They had a game Monday morning, and I finally got to watch my son play baseball for the first time.

My daughter went along, too. The plan was that we would watch from the car. It would have been too arduous to get her into the stands, and we forgot her wheelchair anyway. Needless to say, she was completely disinterested.

So anyhow, the game was played on a dirt baseball field in Western Tokushima. There was a cemetery on the edge of the field, just outside the fence. At first I worried that someone might hit the ball over the fence and disturb the tombstones, but then I realized that ten year old boys don’t have that kind of strength.

From time to time, a baseball mother would bring a cup of hot tea (on a tray!) to the third base coach.

My son managed to get a hit, a run, and steal three bases. Not bad for a mercenary, eh? The team advanced to the semi-finals. My son will be practicing with them for the rest of the week, and then I suppose he’ll go back to his own team, which is overcrowded, and where he has few chances to play.

Grandpa was a firefighter

When my grandfather was a young man in a small town in Michigan, the United States was at war. He wanted to join the Navy or the Air Force and serve his country, but he was rejected. He decided to find another way to help people. He became a volunteer fireman. He learned how to drive the fire truck, to coil the hose, and to don his boots, coat and hat lickety-split. He also learned to be a leader.

During the day, he worked as a mail carrier. He had a wife and a child to support after all, and fighting fires didn’t pay the bills. But when the call came, even if it was in the middle of the night, he went out to battle flames.

One time he was the only one available to drive the truck and attack the fire. Later, another fire fighter arrived at the scene. He had to carry the hose into the burning building by himself. These days, fire fighters must go as a team, but back then the rules were different.

The biggest fire my grandfather fought was in a lumberyard. The stacks of wood burned for hours and hours. Sometimes, he would be called to a house he’d brought mail to earlier in the day. He wondered if the letters he’d delivered had burned up in the fire. He wondered if the people who lived in the house would remember the words on the pages.

He rode the red fire truck to blazing fields, cars burning at the side of the road, piles of garbage that had been ignited. Sometimes, he was called to the house of a friend. If the friend didn’t make it out in time, he would feel an ache in his heart, but he would stick to his job and put out the fire. It made him sad to see his friends’ things burn down to ash.

My grandfather retired from the Post Office, but he kept on working. He worked as a fire fighter for 42 years. He put out a lot of fires. He helped a lot of people.

(I wrote this awhile ago, but I’m posting it today in honor of my grandfather who died peacefully in his sleep last night at the age of 95.)

SCBWI Workshop in Yokohama!

If you happen to be in the Yokohama area, check out this fantastic event :

The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators presents

 

Saturday, November 14, 2009 

 

The World of Children’s Book Publishing with

Alvina Ling, Senior Editor

Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

 

Time:        Saturday, November 14, 2009, 10:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m.

Manuscript critiques 8:30-10:00 a.m.

Place:      Yokohama International School, Middle Building Cafeteria, Yokohama

                   For access information and maps, visit www.yis.ac.jp

Fee:        Advance Registration 4,000 yen SCBWI members; 7,000 yen nonmembers (contact info@scbwi.jp by November 5 Note: Advance registration deadline has passed.  

At the Door 5,000 yen SCBWI members; 8,000 yen nonmembers

Reservations: Required! Contact info@scbwi.jp to reserve your place.

This event will be in English.

 

SCHEDULE

 

8:30-10:00 Private Manuscript Critiques A limited number of private ten-minute manuscript critiques (up to 2,500 words) with Alvina Ling will available by prior-registration. 3,500 yen SCBWI members; 4,000 yen non-members. Contact info@scbwi.jp for details. Note: Manuscript critiques have been fully booked.

 

10:20 SCBWI Tokyo Opening Remarks

 

10:30-11:15 My Path to Publishing; Your Path to Publication Alvina Ling will share the story of how she became an editor, from childhood influences to a methodical plan, and will offer advice to writers on their paths to publication. She’ll provide an inside view of an editor’s office, and will share mistakes to avoid in the quest to be published, tips for getting out of the slush pile, and her take on the importance of diversity in both the books that are published and the people who make them.

 

11:30-12:15 Thinking Like Your Editor Learn what goes on inside a publishing house through the eyes of a children’s editor with ten years’ experience. Ling will share a behind-the-scenes view of the publishing process and the challenges and editor has to deal with on a day-to-day basis. She will discuss tips on how to work with an editor through the editorial, production, and marketing stages.

 

Lunch Break Lunch will not be served. Please bring lunch or join other writers at one of the many nearby Motomachi cafes. Note: Illustrators may bring portfolios and a bento and join Alison Impey for and illustrators’ lunch.

 

1:45-2:45 The Realities of Children’s Book Publishing in the U.S. In this talk Ling will explain what children’s book publishing in the U.S.is all about. Included will be insider’s information about publishing mechanics that writers might not normally hear about. Ling will cover auctions, profit and loss worksheets, how books are judged after they are published, some negatives of the business, where she thinks publishing is heading, and more—the good, bad, and the ugly of how the business works.

 

3:00-3:45 Matchmaking: Finding the Perfect Style and Illustrator for a Text: Alvina Ling with Alison Impey, Senior Designer, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers How do publishers match illustrators with text? Ling and Impey will discuss the matchmaking process for picture books, novel covers, and black and white interior illustrations. They’ll go over the general procedures at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, and will offer advice on what illustrators can and should do to increase chances of being chosen for a certain project and what role authors play in this process.

 

4:00-5:00 Final Questions and Answers and SCBWI Tokyo Closing Remarks Written questions from attendees will be collected prior to this wrap-up Q&A session with Alvina Ling and Alison Impey.

 

Alvina Ling is a Senior Editor at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers where she has worked for over ten years. She has also been a bookseller for Barnes and Noble, and interned at the Horn Book and in the children’s room of the New York Public Library. She edits children’s books for all ages, from picture books to young adult novels, plus some nonfiction. Books she has edited include Eggs by Jerry Spinelli; The Year of the Dog by Grace Lin; Wabi Sabi by Mark Reibstein, illustrated by Caldecott Award winner Ed Young; Sergio Makes a Splash by Edel Rodriguez, The Curious Garden by Peter Brown; Firegirl by Tony Abbott; North of Beautiful by Justina Chen Headley, Sound of Colors by Jimmy Liao; Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! The Beatles, Beatlemania, and the Music That Changed the World by Bob Spitz; and The Devouring by Simon Holt. Alvina lives in New York City and contributes to the children’s book blog Blue Rose Girls (www.bluerosegirls.blogspot.com).

 

 

www.scbwi.jp    info@scbwi.jp

 

 

 

 

OH! by Todd Shimoda – some thoughts and a giveaway

Before I began to read Oh! A Mystery of Mono No Aware by Todd Shimoda, I took the book off the shelf several times just to caress it and admire the endpapers. This tome, published by Chin Music Press in Seattle, is a work of art in itself.

In the story, Zack Hara, an American of Japanese descent, sets out on a journey to determine why he is unable to feel deeply. His trip begins in Japan, where he gets caught up in several mysteries. Though not suicidal himself, he is intrigued by the suicide clubs that have cropped up in recent years in Japan, and visits Aokigahara Forest, a famous suicide site, to gain insight into why people are killing themselves in groups. He also wonders about his Japanese immigrant grandfather’s life, and goes in search of clues about his past.

Another mystery which occupies Zack, and his student-turned-mentor Professor Imai, is the definition of “mono no aware.”  Originally put into use by Japanese writer Motoori Norinaga in the 1700s, this term, which has no exact English equivalent, refers to something like the feeling one has at experiencing ephemeral beauty. According to the professor, most modern Japanese people do not use these words and don’t know what they mean.

As a bit of research, I asked my husband to define “mono no aware.”

“It’s like wabi-sabi,” he said. Another one of those untranslatable Japanese aesthetic terms…

Definitions and explanations of mono no aware appear between chapters, along with paintings (by Linda Shimoda) which offer clues to Zack’s fate.

For example: “In many ways, mono no aware embodies the essence of human nature – how we think and feel, as well as how we express these thoughts and feelings, particularly through the arts.”

Some other definitions:

*traditional Japanese acceptance of the sadness of life

* sensitivity to things and events

*a desolate poignancy

*an aesthetic awareness of the transiency of all things

Although all of this may sound vague and esoteric, I’m pleased to report that Shimoda’s writing is not. If any book will help you to understand the concept of mono no aware, it is probably this one, written in clear, direct prose, with a compelling story to go along with it. Perhaps mono no aware is the mixture of sadness, satisfaction and awe that one has after finishing book such as this one and realizing that there are no more pages, that one may have to wait for years for the author’s next novel.

Can you think of a mono no aware moment?

(I have one copy to give away, courtesy of Chin Music Press. Please leave your name and email address if you’d like to enter.)

A Day with a Wheel Chair in Japan

9AM-4PM – Culture Festival at the School for the Deaf

The morning performances are  in the gymnasium (first floor). During the elementary school skit and taiko drumming,  kids are onstage. Teachers carry 29 kg.  daughter and her wheelchair up the steps to the stage and back down. Only about five steps!

After eating udon on the first floor, daughter wants to go up to the second floor where the bazaar and food booths are. Parents carry wheelchair up stairs. Daughter uses railing to go up on feet. (Hurray for daughter!)  Husband is wiped out by a cold virus and spends next hour sitting at table. Daughter does a little shopping on her own, then wants to go to the third floor for tea ceremony and art exhibits. Daughter goes up while hanging onto railing (spotted by mother), then mother carries up wheelchair. On way back down, mother carries daughter on back. Teacher brings wheelchair down.

6PM – Dinner at McDonald’s

Enter restaurant by ramp (?)  which is blocked by Happy Meal toy display. Toilet stall is too narrow for wheelchair.

7PM Hard Off (store selling second-hand goods)

Purpose of visit is to buy a CD player for mother to use in her classes. Only problem is, CD players are on the second floor. No elevator. Adventurous parents bring daughter up the escalator in her wheelchair! Store clerks look on with some concern as mother later descends stairs with daughter on back, and father carries wheelchair down. No one offers to help or apologizes for inaccessibility of store.

 

Untitled

This month my bread-and-butter work (teaching English coummunication part-time at local colleges) started up, so I haven’t had so much time for blogging. I’ve been trying to put whatever energy that I have at the end of the day into my book projects, and I’m happy to report that I’ve finished a couple of drafts of my new adult novel, The Baseball Widow, and have made progress on a young adult novel, which is currently untitled.  I’m not very good with titles, to tell you the truth (though I think The Baseball Widow is pretty good). Still waiting to hear from my agent!!

The y/a novel is an expansion of a long short story that was published in Cicada as “Pilgrimage.” I think that “Pilgrimage” worked as a title for a story – or for that story – but I think it needs a catchier, okay cooler, title to attract hip young readers.  Also, I’ve added some characters and sub-plots. The narrator’s alter-ego is a manga character named Gadget Girl. Some of the action takes place in Paris, and the overall theme is body image. Using these elements, here are some titles I came up with:

My Big Fat French Summer Vacation

Gadget Girl Goes to Paris

I am Beautiful

Exquisite Corpse

Bonding for Beginners (I’ve used this title before, but it’s also a story about a mother and daughter trying to bond, so maybe I could use it again?)

They pretty much suck, right?

 

 

 

Conversations with Locals: Make Your Destination Come Alive by Therese Walsh

My debut novel, The Last Will of Moira Leahy, relies a lot on place. Though this story has a simple premise—an upstate New York woman finding herself again after the loss of her twin—it relies on a second narrative that reveals her life as a child growing up with her sister in Castine, Maine. Notes are left for the woman in the present day after she purchases an artifact from her past, and suddenly she finds herself lured to Rome, Italy.

 Upstate New York. Castine, Maine. Rome, Italy.

 I know much about upstate, as that’s where I live, but I didn’t know anything about Castine and had only tour-book knowledge of Rome. In order to instill the story with the authenticity it needed, I tapped into the richest resource out there for place—speaking with locals.

I traveled to Castine and walked its streets. I stopped into its businesses and chatted with the people there. I learned that one of the town’s favorite hangouts was a little dockside eatery called The Breeze. I ate there and spoke with the owner—how long had it been there? Had it always had that name? I made a note and later included The Breeze in my story. I bellied up to a counter at a local café and, after a warm-up period with the others there, asked what their favorite town sayings were (“ayuh”) and for the name of the local storyteller—and then I sought him out. Kenny Eaton of Eaton’s Boatyard told tales of his town and shared details about life on the water. The twins’ father shouldn’t be a fisherman, he said, because the water was too deep for that in Castine; but he could be a boat builder or a lobsterman. The waters turned dangerous in late autumn, and things could change quickly on the sea at any time of year.

All of these details made their way into The Last Will; some became cornerstone details of critical scenes.

Rome was critical to the story as well, and specific aspects of the city shaped key moments in the plot and revealed character. I didn’t travel to Rome, though I learned a lot about it by speaking to someone with intimate knowledge—Adam Nixon at RomeBuddy.com, who lived in Rome for large chunks of the year. I devoured his site, then emailed him directly. Adam was terrific, explaining things I’d never read in a travel guide and describing the types of happenings you’d find in Rome around the holidays. I also conversed frequently with another, a man who’d grown up in Italy and who had a comprehensive knowledge of the Italian language; he smoothed over some of my textbook attempts at Italian to make them sing.

Would I speak with locals again when trying to learn more about a particular place? Absolutely. Speaking with those who live somewhere is one of the quickest and most reliable ways of learning about the heart and soul of a place, and imbuing your story with authenticity.

Write on, all!

 

Therese Walsh recently sold her debut novel in a two-book deal to Random House (Shaye Areheart imprint). The Last Will of Moira Leahy is about a woman who lost her identical twin–and a large portion of herself–about a decade ago, but reconnects with her former life after purchasing an artifact from her past. Through interwoven narratives, we see Maeve Leahy as she was and what led to the tragedy with her sister, Moira. We travel with her in the present day as she unravels the truth about the artifact–who’s following her and leaving her notes—as layers of her past are peeled away and the course of her future is forever altered. The novel was be published on October 13th, 2009. Therese is also the co-founder of one of the Writer’s Digest best sites for writers, Writer Unboxed. You can learn more about her and her novel at her website: ThereseWalsh.com.

KidLit Query Contest

If you write for children, you might want to check out this contest. You could win a manuscript critique by an agent from the prestigious Andrea Brown Literary Agency. And then, who knows? Maybe you’ll be on your way to being the next big thing.

Another Honor for Call Me Okaasan

Call Me Okaasan: Adventures in Multicultural Mothering has been declared a finalist in the multicultural nonfiction category of the USA Best Book Awards 2009. Once again, my appreciation goes out to the twenty wonderful writers who contributed their work to this project. Brava!