MARATHON MOUSE: A Teacher's Guide and a Giveaway!

It is well known that things don't often go as planned and today is a good indication of that.

You see, today I was planning on writing a blog entry about my own experiences of running the NYC Marathon and tie it into Preston Mouse's experiences in the adorable book MARATHON MOUSE by Amy Dixon, illustrated by Sam Denlinger.  However, anyone with access to the news media knows that that particular blog entry is not possible for me to write today. 

But there is a lesson here. 

Just because dreams don't happen as you had planned, you need to keep chasing them.  I think if there is anything that Preston Mouse would like us to take away from his story, it is just that.  Thank you, Amy Dixon for sharing a tale of dreams, struggle and triumph.  Keep on, keepin' on.

And remember...there is ALWAYS a reason to celebrate...

You see, I was given the opportunity to create a Teacher's Guide for MARATHON MOUSE and today you have the opportunity to both read that guide AND enter to win your own signed copy of the book!

AND...if you are interested...

I can develop a guide for you to share with teachers and librarians, as well as tailored lessons and activities that you can use for your Author Visits.

I am a former teacher and I am here to help! I am currently creating Teacher’s Guides for Picture Books, Middle Grade novels and Young Adult novels.

You will receive:

· An initial phone consultation to talk about your wants and needs.

 

· An a la carte menu for your guide. Pick and choose which topics you want covered, or go all the way with a thorough cross-curricular option.

 

· Activities created specifically for your Author Visits.

 

· A guide fully developed to enrich students’ experiences.

 

· Lessons and activities which are "core curriculum standard compliant".

· Options for every budget!

I just love helping students connect and engage with a piece of literature so that it suddenly comes alive for the individual!  

Click here to see the Teacher's Guide for MARATHON MOUSE by Amy Dixon and illustrated by Sam Denlinger.

If you are interested in contacting me about developing a guide for your book, please email me at marciecolleen@gmail.com.

To enter to win the signed copy of MARATHON MOUSE, become a follower of me (MarcieColleen1) on Twitter or be a follower of this blog AND comment below. The winner will be chosen over the weekend and notified next week.  THANK YOU, AMY! 

Credentials:
Marcie Colleen has a bachelor’s degree in Education of English and Language Arts from Oswego State Unversity and a Masters degree in Educational Theater from New York University. She is a former classroom teacher in New York State. She has served as a curriculum creator for the Central New York Institute of Aesthetic Education, Syracuse Stage, Tony Randall’s National Actors Theater, and various Broadway and Off-Broadway shows, as well as the International Lysistrata Project in 2003. She was the Director of Education for TADA! Youth Theater in NYC creating and managing educational programming reaching over 30,000 students and families in the NYC Metro area a year. She lives in Brooklyn, NY and is swiftly chasing the dream to picture book publication for her own stories.

I am a "Would Be Marathoner" and Proud

To all of my many friends and family who reached out to me this week, I want to thank you.  Your encouragement and love has been amazing.  I hesitated in writing anything about my experiences this past weekend, because I don’t want it to sound like I am patting myself on the back or saying “look what I did.”  But I am a writer, and something inside me felt like this story needed to be told. 

I am not looking for congratulations.  Just awareness to the good of people all over this area.  The anger and hate get tiring.  Just want to throw some positivity in there. 

Thanks for reading…

**********

Runners have strong hearts.  This is evident from the several months of training through all kinds of weather, over all kinds of terrain, at hours others would rather be sleeping.  Strength training, hill training, speed training and long training every Saturday morning for the past 5 months.    Giving up trips, social engagements, sleep etc. 

We train for many different reasons.  Some run to symbolize a certain personal achievement.  To prove they can.  To celebrate their own strength and personal victory.  Others run for charity, raising millions of dollars for those who cannot run.

It is both an invigorating and exhausting journey. 

I am not going to lie and say that the cancelation of the marathon was not a huge disappointment.  It was. Had it been canceled on Tuesday or Wednesday, it would had been easier to take, than 36 hours before the race.   I had spent most of the week torn as to whether to run when so many were hurting anyway.  It was also hard to read countless nasty comments and articles online vilifying marathoners.  Comments about people who run the marathon deserving to be shot were quite hard to take.  It was evident that NYC needed someone to be angry at during the trying time.  The marathon served as that. 

I found out the marathon was canceled while on my way to the Team in Training Inspiration Dinner. At first I wanted to turn around and not go to the dinner.  Afterall, I didn’t really feel like being inspired at the moment.  All of the emotions of the rollercoaster-like week came crashing down.  But, I have learned through marathon training, when you don’t want to go on…you do just that.  You go on.

Of course, the Inspiration Dinner was very emotional.  There were many tears.  But also, a celebration.  The New York City TNT chapter’s 515 NYC Marathon team members raised over $2.2 million for cancer research and support services for patients.  This is $400,000 more than last year’s team.  Without even setting foot at the start line, we had accomplished a lot.  It was evident, we had a lot to be proud of.

But there was still so much more to do.

Saturday morning my Brooklyn team met in Prospect Park.  Carrying the warm throw-away clothes we planned to wear at the start line, bags of towels,  jugs of water and cans of food.  We loaded up two cars to capacity and sent them on to relief efforts in the NYC area.

And then, it was marathon Sunday.  As planned, over 100 of my teammates got our busses to Staten Island, but with a different purpose.  With rakes and shovels and work gloves galore, we traveled over the Verrazano Bridge to one of the hardest hit areas of Staten Island.  A short drive from the “would be” starting line. 

There we were exposed to devastation I cannot even begin to describe.  And we got to work, cleaning up alongside those who had been affected.  We emptied basements of muddied belongings, we ripped out carpeting and insulation, we tore down sheet rock and dry wall.  And in doing so, we created some of the largest piles of garbage I have ever seen.  Garbage that used to be people’s homes.  It was heart breaking.

We saw lots of other marathoners there, as well, from other teams or brought there by their own heart.

At the end of the long day, we boarded our busses and that’s when it was the hardest.  To get back in our busses and wave goodbye to or hug those poor Staten Islanders who would have to stay there in the cold with only NYPD flood lights to illuminate them as they continued a job that wasn’t going to end soon. 

As we quietly drove across the Verrazano Bridge, a bridge we had spent months or years dreaming of running over this particular day, a teammate solemnly held up an iPhone and played Sinatra’s “New York, New York”.   The grief was palpable.  Off we rode to our warm, powered Brooklyn apartments while those we had met were still hurting.  It was overwhelming.

So, although it has always been evident that marathoners have strong hearts, it is very clear that we have BIG hearts, too.  I am proud of my team and all that they have done to help the recovery. We might have read ridiculing accounts in local papers and on the internet, but we know the truth.  And those we helped this weekend do, too. 

There is still so much work to be done.  I urge anyone who can, find time to volunteer at a local shelter or in a neighborhood clean up effort.

We will continue to reach out as a team.  We will continue to help heal our city.  And next year, November 2013 we will run proudly through the greatest city on Earth and be proud of our “would be 2012 marathoner” title.    

Quite a week

Hello.
Its been quite a week here in the NYC area.
I apologize but there is no Friendspiration today.
On Sunday I will be running the NYC Marathon with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. 
It has been a difficult decision during this time of despair. 
I searched my heart...and I am going to run.  But it is with a heavy heavy heart.
Please continue to pray and donate to the rescue and relief.
I am pretty fried right now and cannot post all of the links I want to for resource.  (ie. The Red Cross).  Please feel free to post comments regarding ways to help below.

Best,
Marcie

Wednesday Writers Weigh In: When the Monsters are Real

The sun came out briefly today in NYC.  I have never been so excited to see blue sky.  But quickly the clouds have rolled back in.

As I was holed up in my Brooklyn apartment during the storm, I could not help but think about all of the other creatives doing what they could to maintain some semblance of normalcy as we waited and waited.  Some, I am sure, were using their laptops, getting as much written and saved as possible before a power outage.  Others were probably using pens, pencils, paper and other archaic materials.  I am sure it is only a matter of time before we see all that was "created" during this time.

All in all, NYC has faired well and you can be sure we will come back better than ever soon. 

Today is Halloween.  The Greenwich Village Parade which is an annual fixture was canceled.  And honestly, I am still reeling from some of the real life horrors, that Halloween is far from my mind.

I was going to post about Halloween Picture Books and have others weigh in with their favorites.  But Tara Lazar and Peter Adam Salomon do a great job of that today at http://taralazar.com/2012/10/31/pre-pibo-day-7-peter-adam-salomon/.  (btw, quick reminder that PiBoIdMo starts tomorrow, so sign up!)

Instead, as my own mind tries to grasp the long road ahead of so many of us, I realize that books are a HUGE help on this journey.  Bookstores did a great business before the storm and some even rode it out.  My local indie bookstore was open to provide some much needed escapism in paper form.

The Red Cross asked residents of Brooklyn to chip in and help a local shelter which was in need of towels and...wait for it...BOOKS!  Immediately Greenlight Bookstore in the Fort Greene neighborhood Tweeted, "You guys provide the towels, we are on our way with the books!"  Doesn't that warm your heart?

And books don't just provide an escape, they also help us process.  Both in the writing and the reading.

So, this brings me to today's Weigh In. 

What are some Picture Books about "real life tragedies"?  Or books that give comfort when the world is a scary place?

I know some were written around Hurricane Katrina and others about WWII. Weigh in and let me know.  Afterall, its time to brainstorm for PiBoIdMo (Picture Book Idea Month) and I know this tragedy is front and center in my mind.

WriWOPi: Deborah Underwood

Blogging straight to you from Frankenstorm today in NYC!  It takes more than an epic storm to hold us kidlit writers back.To everyone in the storm's path, please be safe.  Stay home.  Read.  Write.  Just think of the influx of storm stories that will flood editors desk in about 6 months.  :)

 

But, the show must go on at The Write Routine.  And today I have a very special guest. 

 

I fell in love with THE QUIET BOOK the second I picked it up.  Deborah Underwood's simple, yet endearing words matched with the amazing illustrations of Renata Liwska is pure picture book magic!  Along with THE LOUD BOOK and THE CHRISTMAS QUIET BOOK, I think we are witnessing the creation of some classics.

 

Please welcome Deborah Underwood....

 

Leaving room for the illustrator is one of the most important lessons for picture book writers. And I’m sorry to say it took me about six years to learn it. SIX YEARS. I think that was because I didn’t really understand why we need to leave room, why we shouldn’t write a lot of description. Now--finally!--I do.

Here’s an exercise I like to do in my writing workshops. Please get out your crayons and play along:

First, draw a house. It can be any kind of house--a person house, a dog house, a bird house, a Martian house. It can be any shape, any size, any color.

Done? Good. Now draw a white, two-story house with a red roof, green shutters, and a pink plastic flamingo in the front yard.

I suspect if I collected and displayed all your virtual papers, your first drawings would be wonderfully diverse and imaginative. The second ones? Less diverse. Less imaginative.

Because with every descriptor I gave, I took a choice away from you. You wanted it to be a purple house? Too bad; I said white. You thought it would have been great to make the house seven rickety stories tall? It might have been great, but you couldn’t do it, because I said two stories. You wanted a burlwood ogre in the garden? Nope; it had to be a flamingo.

So there it is. Every descriptive word in a picture book limits your illustrator.

This lesson was powerfully brought home to me when we were working on THE QUIET BOOK. In my manuscript, “Coloring in the lines quiet,” was followed by “Thinking of a good reason you were drawing on the wall with a green crayon quiet.”

My wonderful editor, Kate O’Sullivan, suggested deleting “with a green crayon.”

I resisted. I whined. I said I liked the specificity of the green crayon. Kate didn’t think we needed it. I reluctantly acquiesced.

Thank goodness! Because this is how the brilliant Renata Liwska chose to illustrate those lines:

The moose’s self-portrait on the wall is one of my favorite parts of the book. If Renata had been limited to showing a green crayon, she might not have come up with that idea--what self-respecting moose draws himself in green? The green crayon business was completely gratuitous. It would have tied Renata’s hands. And the book would have been diminished.

 When I finally had the pleasure of meeting Renata in person, she said that the spareness of The Quiet Book text had appealed to her, that it had allowed her to immediately begin seeing pictures in her head. She said that if there’s too much description, she feels as if she’s tracing a line that’s already been drawn. If you were an illustrator, would you rather trace or create?

So I learned my lesson. In The Christmas Quiet Book, I wrote text like:

 

 

Did Renata need me to tell her what to draw? Clearly not.

But what if you see pictures in your head while you write? What if you know the way your words are supposed to look?

I feel your pain! But think of it this way: what if every time you sat down to write, you had an illustrator hanging over your shoulder saying things like, “Can’t we set the story in Mexico instead of Philadelphia? And can’t the main character be a macaw, instead of a fox? I really like drawing macaws.”

Ridiculous, right? Because it’s not the illustrator’s job to tell you what to write--just as it’s not your job to tell her what to draw.

I, personally, am a total control freak (another reason this lesson has been so difficult for me). But it’s only in letting go that we make space for synergy, that phenomenon in which, because of the contributions of two creative people, the whole truly does become greater than the sum of its parts.

Does that synergy alway materialize? Nope. But it’s worth taking the risk. Because when it does, it’s picture book magic.

Friendspiration Friday: Dr. Mira Reisberg

Dr. Mira Reisberg is known to many as the Picture Book Whisperer.  That is the reason why I decided to take an online class through her Picture Book Academy this past fall.  However, it is her generosity, her enthusiasm and her warmth that make Mira a Friendspiration.

When a writer shares their work with someone with the intent of critique it can be quite daunting.  Afterall, each writer thinks of their manuscripts as one of their children.  But in Mira's hands, manuscripts are nurtured and cared for. 

It is my great pleasure to introduce you to a truly fabulous lady and friend...Dr. Mira Reisberg!

What do you do in real life?

In real life I am the Director of the Picture Book Academy where I teach my own picture book e-courses. I also do individual consultations helping authors and/or illustrators create their own successful picture books. I’m kind of a one-trick pony - picture books, picture books, picture books : ) I also write my own stories and illustrate as well as make art for the sheer joy of it. I have a very rich life full of purpose, love, and joy.

When did you know you wanted to be a writer?

I grew up in a very working-class neighborhood to Holocaust survivor parents who had lost everything during the war. We were greatly encouraged from very early on to be creative as a way of channeling feelings and dealing with life. I was always an overachiever, and besides getting in trouble a lot, I was often sent to the headmaster’s office to read my stories to him as everyone seemed to like them. Although I always loved writing, I was much more drawn to making art. I fell into illustrating children’s picture books from an exhibition that the publisher of Children’s Book Press saw and loved saw and from there I fell into writing as well.

I don’t think I was a very good writer until I studied for my PhD and developed more of my left brain because although I was always very creative and innovative, there were too many things that I didn’t know about being a good writer. I learned more about the formal structures of writing and how to read picture books much more critically. I now do this in my free picture book teaching videos every Monday at http://www.picturebookacademy.com/video-reviews.html

How often to do you write? Where? What time of day?

I write a lot because I tend to do a lot of line edits for critiques in my courses and in my individual consultations. In terms of my own writing, this is totally weird, but I do my best writing when someone is driving in a comfy car and I’m sitting in the passenger seat on 1 hour or more freeway trips. Weird I know, but there it is. I still do most of my writing old school by hand and if my assistant Marge is there, she types it up for me then I revise. In terms of time, it’s pretty random but I do at least 6 hours of different kinds of writing every day.

What was your favorite story/book as a child? and why?

Growing up in Australia, our books were different than yours here and were mostly from England. The book that influenced me the most was The Water-babies by Charles Kingsley. It’s a Victorian era book that helped influence the Chimney Sweep Act of 1864 and is a mix of both progressive and regressive politics within a strange otherworldly densely written story. At the time I had no idea of the political subtexts in the story but wonder how much influence it had on my social justice orientation. Of course as a really young child, what impacted me most were the exquisite illustrations and dreaminess of the basic story of a young runaway chimney sweep who dies and is reborn underwater. I have no idea who the illustrator was as the book has been reprinted many times and I’ve never been able to find that version. I also wrote about it as part of my dissertation on children’s picture books and have since written a more in-depth article that I haven’t sent out anywhere yet.

What kind of stories do you like to write? Where do you get your inspiration?

I’m a bit all over the board in terms of what I write. I have a biography on Buckminster Fuller that’s in front of an agent panel right now, a simple rhyming animal book about actions and opposites for really young kids, an imagining of who Mona Lisa might have been, a fun insect book called “A Fly Walks into a Café,” oh and a super weird story called “10 Jews in Search of a Story” that I’m revising for the millionth time from a totally different perspective despite having dummied it up with illustrations twice - groan. I wish I was as good a writer for myself as I am an editor for others where it’s so easy to see what exactly is going on and what’s needed. I guess it’s like seeing and fixing other people’s problems versus seeing and fixing your own - sigh. I’m also pretty dreadful at sending my work out. Wondering if that’s familiar to others here?

What did you want to be when you grew up?
I always wanted to be an artist. This was in the days when being an artist was like being a criminal and pretty much confined you to a life of poverty. My dad who had been in Paris after the war and seen the starving artists there would say, “Artist shmartist. Be a teacher!” And here I am many years later - an artist, a writer, and a teacher to many award-winning and best-selling authors and illustrators.

If you could go back in time and tell your 8 year old self one thing, what would it be?

I’d use this great quote from my exquisite 86 year old mom-in-law’s fridge (she’s becoming a Buddhist). “In the end, everything will work out fine. And if it hasn’t worked out fine- then it isn’t the end.” This could apply to most kids’ picture books as well : )

What is the greatest piece of writing advice you have ever received?

This is such a hard one. Not sure if it’s the greatest or even where I heard it but one of my favorites that I tell my students is: “Don’t let the truth get in the way of a good story.” Now of course this doesn’t apply to non-fiction but it’s still pretty handy working with folks who are doing stories based on something that happened to them or in their families. Another one is the old KISS - keep it simple stupid, which mostly means for me simplifying and getting rid of anything extraneous that doesn’t move the story forward or isn’t of core importance. I find it super helpful.

****

Marcie - thank you for this. I really enjoyed taking a moment to reflect on things and love doing guest interviews. I also love it that we’ve become friends and can’t wait to celebrate your first big picture book sale with you!

Want to find out more about Mira and receive special offers?  Here’s the link to subscribe to her fun gift-filled newsletter http://eepurl.com/hJCmQ

Mira's next online class starts on October 29th and there are only 6 slots left! Sign up at http://www.picturebookacademy.com/writing-childrens-picture-books.html. Mira says, "I won’t be running it again for a while because I’ll be developing and teaching an illustration e-Course next February." You don't want to be left out!

We have a WINNER!

I am so sorry, but it seems I forgot to announce the winner of the signed copy of THREE NINJA PIGS!  I guess with the upcoming NYC Marathon, PiBoIdMo, my October manuscript for 12x12, and launching my Teachers Guide business ( of which I have already sold 3!) it totally slipped my mind.  Ugh!

My apologies!

So the winner is...

LISA NAGEL (@anythingbooks)!!!!!

Congrats, Lisa!  And thanks for Following!

And a special thank you to Corey Rosen Schwartz for the generous prize.  :) KIYA!

See you all tomorrow for a special Friendspiration Friday!