Project_J.R. « Bartography

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John Roy Lynch, Eerdmans, and me

Sunday, September 27th, 2009

I’ve been so very lucky to have lots of great news to share with folks these past few months, but the news this week is even better than usual: I’ve sold another picture book biography!

I’m delighted to announce that Eerdmans Books for Young Readers will be publishing The Amazing Age of John Roy Lynch, the story of a man who in ten years went from teenage field slave to Reconstruction-era Congressman.

If you’ve seen Eerdmans’ recent Caldecott Honor-winning biography of poet William Carlos Williams, A River of Words, you’ll have a good idea of why I’m so excited to be working with them in telling Lynch’s exceptional story.

Posted in Project_J.R. | 2 Comments »

113 words

Sunday, September 28th, 2008

I’ve got some news and some links, but first: a word count.

I’ve begun working with a designer friend on my full-fledged website, and I’ve taken a first crack at the content that will appear on my home page. This will come as a shock to anyone who has ever read an early draft of mine, but I’m trying to err on the side of brevity.

So: 113 words. My name, the navigation links, and the site-design credit included, that’s the total word count for the text I want to appear on my home page. There are certain things I want to clearly get across, and tons of text just seem to get in the way.

(By comparison, the home page of one veteran writer of nonfiction for young readers has 1,470 words. Another author, with her first book due out next month, has just 66 on her home page.)

Those of you authors with home pages already out there: What’s worked for you, and what hasn’t?

***

This past week has been packed. I saw the first preliminary sketches for S.V.T., scored free access to a high-dollar historical database I need for my impostors research, and came up with a fresh direction for another project of mine. Meanwhile, my picture book biography of J.R. has freshly gone out to a batch of editors. I got word that my brand-new picture book manuscript, Bell, is about to go out as well.

Also, I received printouts of The Day-Glo Brothers that I get to share with Bob and Joe Switzer’s family, and that pleases me to no end.

On top of all that, Austin SCBWI has scheduled me for my first presentation to the group, after years of me benefiting mightily as an audience member for such presentations. Got plans for September 12, 2009?

***

Finally, a few links that I’ve been stockpiling:

Via this GeekDad post on Transforming Picture Books into Film (“I have nothing kind to say about SHREK. When you look at the work of William Steig then turn to the ugly Dreamworks product, one can’t help but be saddened.”), I found out about this site offering free animations of Newbery and Caldecott winners, among other children’s titles.

The 2008 Cybils judging panels for nonfiction picture books and middle-grade/YA nonfiction titles have been announced. From personal experience, I can tell you that the folks involved are in for some spirited discussions, tough choices, and good times.

Austin author Julie Lake’s latest publication credit puts her in some pretty fancy company. Check out the lead letter to the editor in the October issue of The Atlantic…

Posted in Project_Bell, Project_J.R., Project_Pasta, Project_S.V.T. | 1 Comment »

What am I waiting for (12/07)?

Thursday, December 20th, 2007

The shortlist of Cybils nonfiction picture book finalists, which I’ll help judge.

Official word that publication of The Day-Glo Brothers is 12 months away, at which point I’ll start working in earnest on a full-fledged author website. (My wife, by the way, has been justifiably raving about this one.)

An editor’s verdict on J.R.

The posting of the complete schedule at the Texas Library Association conference.

After the holidays, when I’ll try to convince some of my local author friends to let me tag along on their school visits.

The right time to pick the brains of the librarians at the elementary school just down the street.

The right time to try my hand at writing a “Cadenza” for Horn Book.

The right time to pitch a children’s nonfiction panel for the 2008 Texas Book Festival.

The right time…

Posted in Cybils, Project_J.R., Socialit, The_Day-Glo_Brothers, Waiting | No Comments »

The Something Something of So-and-So

Wednesday, June 13th, 2007

Fuse #8 recently had lots of good things to say about The Puzzling World of Winston Breen. Around the same time, we had The Transmogrification of Roscoe Wizzle checked out from the library, and The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane was sitting atop a stack of books that 8-year-old S was ready to part with.

Not long before, I’d been thinking about The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing and The Invention of Hugo Cabret and the similarity of the structure of those books’ titles — The Intriguing Noun [or Adjective-Noun Combo] of Catchy Character Name — with the title I came up with for my J.R. manuscript (The Blankety Blank of Blank Blank Blank).

Now I’m wondering, is this an overused approach? I bet there are other such titles I’ve missed. Which have you noticed?

Posted in Project_J.R. | 3 Comments »

What am I waiting for (3/07)?

Tuesday, March 27th, 2007

News from editors on Pasta, James, Smith and P.O.

Submission (or revision) news on J.R. and Arbor.

Word on whether, where and when I’ll be traveling to do some on-site research for one project or another.

The Cybils post-mortem. Get your comments in now.

The receipt through Interlibrary Loan of an obscure figure’s autobiography — a book that might well be a crushing bore but might also inspire yet another research project. The two are not mutually exclusive, you know.

Official confirmation on a couple of fun pieces of news that I can share with you all.

The arrival of my very first issue of Horn Book, which I ordered over the weekend. It seems like it wasn’t very long ago, when I was first getting started in this business, that subscribing to Horn Book seemed like a total cart-before-the-horse extravagance.

Posted in Cybils, Project_Arbor, Project_J.R., Project_James, Project_P.O., Project_Pasta, Project_Smith, Waiting | No Comments »

What are you guys still doing there?

Wednesday, March 7th, 2007

Satchel Paige once said, “Don’t look back: Something may be gaining on you.” For me these days, it’s more like, “Don’t look back: A pair of old manuscripts may still be sitting there waiting for you.”

With J.R. out the door and Pasta still making the rounds, I’ve recently turned my attention to Arbor, a middle grade novel that’s been in the works for about a dozen years. Half of that time, it existed only in my head, but that still leaves a long history of development on paper. I’ve been happy with Arbor for a long time, too, but parts of it still aren’t clicking with editors, so I’ve gone back and worked some more on the first few chapters, where I think the problem lies.

Then there’s James, a biography I began researching about five years ago. On Monday, I read four “final” drafts of considerably different tellings I’ve tried along the way in attempts to make the story resonate enough with editors for them to want to help me shape it further. The most recent draft, which I last touched a year ago, I like very much. Still, I may be on the verge of yet another approach to James’ story.

The thing is, I don’t mind. I feel like my writing has come a long way over the years, but I really want these old projects to come with me.

Posted in Project_Arbor, Project_J.R., Project_James, Project_Pasta | 1 Comment »

What am I working on? (2/07)

Wednesday, February 21st, 2007

At the moment, not so much:

The ending of J.R., still. I’m now on the third version, since version 2 — dashed off Friday evening while waiting for my takeout order of cheese enchiladas — turned out not quite as brilliantly as it seemed to at the time.

Arbor, again. I’ve been working on this middle-grade novel for years, and the latest round of editorial feedback showed that it’s still not quite where it needs to me. What’s funny, though, is that the main thing I need to work on is something that hardly of the editors mentioned at all — my main character. I figure that when your main character doesn’t seem to register with editors one way or another, that’s not such a good thing.

Posted in Project_Arbor, Project_J.R., Working | No Comments »

What am I waiting for? (2/07)

Wednesday, February 21st, 2007

News from editors on S.V.T., Pasta, James and Smith.

P.O.’s return to circulation.

The right time to travel a few hundred miles east for some on-site research for J.R.

Anything that may develop from an animation studio’s recent out-of-the-blue inquiry about one of my projects.

TLA!

Posted in Project_J.R., Project_James, Project_P.O., Project_Pasta, Project_S.V.T., Project_Smith, Socialit, Waiting | 1 Comment »

J.R.’s been drafted!

Friday, February 9th, 2007

I just finished the first complete draft of J.R., which will soon be in the hands of two key readers — my wife and my agent.

Many thanks to those who chimed in with their support earlier this week as I struggled with how to end the thing. I think I managed to strike a balance between hopefulness and jaw-dropping realism.

But what I know for sure is that I’m done with the thing for now, and can take the weekend off.

I could, anyway, except that this great idea for a new picture book came to me yesterday morning…

Posted in Project_J.R. | 4 Comments »

The feel-bad picture book of the year

Monday, February 5th, 2007

With a self-imposed deadline of one week from tonight, I need to figure out how on earth to finish my first complete draft of J.R. — not to find time to finish it, but literally how to conclude the manuscript.

More often than not, it seems I have some inkling of an ending in mind fairly early in a project, and I write toward that ending. I picked J.R. as a topic because his life and times are fascinating, but the more research I’ve done, the bleaker the story becomes. I didn’t set out to write a downer, but at this point, I’m not sure how to avoid it.

So maybe I shouldn’t even try. Surely there are some examples out there of picture book histories or biographies that succeed despite — or even because of — the depressing nature of the stories they tell. Right?

Right?

Posted in Project_J.R. | 10 Comments »

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