WRITING BOOKS FOR KIDS

Finding ways to present stories for certain age groups, which contain some fairly specific educational goals, social skills development, language and sentence structure that's only just a bit on the challenging side, and a story line they'll like ... it can be a little more difficult than a person would think.

Going from the more complicated dual story lines of the Mamm Books to writing with the intent of both educating and entertaining children is most certainly a change of pace for this woman!

I have to say it's quite very fun, though!

The Mamm Books were fun for part of the time; some of it was emotionally draining ... the books for the little ones are almost ALL fun!

The simple illustrations are done with the first-hand knowledge that kids will almost inevitably color the pictures in books - so I've tried to make them 'colorable' ... it's all a learning experience for me, all completely new territory.

Yes I've been telling bedtime stories (and reading them) for a long time, but that's a little different from writing them ... let alone illustrating them ... so I learn as I go ... still, it's fun, just plain fun!

I'm going to be doing a little experimenting - and that's always entertaining, to me and to everyone who ends up with the results ... sometimes it all falls together just right, and sometimes it all just falls apart.

*grinning*

It's always a mystery until the very end, how the experiments are going to turn out. That's a big part of the fun of it!

At the moment the Younglings are vying for attention. Some want the Stories to be aimed at educational stuff, some want them to be adventures, some want them to be quiet peaceful Stories ... it's beginning to look as though I've got a lot of writing and drawing in my future if all of those differing goals of all those differing personalities and age groups are going to be satisfied. 

The Younglings range in age from five to eleven years, remember - Rua is five, Brann is six, Dothann is seven, Corrbed is eight, Diann is nine, and Merri is eleven going on twelve - with Dedan and Saba still littles around age three years, and the infants Saorsa, Colum, Mamm, and Marra to think about as we go along.

If I could, I'd sit myself down and write fifteen or twenty Stories straight through. At the moment I haven't got enough hours in any given day, but later this month I'm going to have several 'free' days in a ROW! So the Story lines are beginning to take shape in my head in anticipation.

I have no way of knowing ahead of time where those Younglings of Dunnottar are going to take us - we'll find out when we get there I guess! What we do know for the time being is that they're heading out to learn from experts in their area about Fishing; about Basketry; about Making and Playing Musical Instruments; about Woodworking, Fur, and Hides; about Farming and Animal Husbandry (Ranching); about Artisans and Marketing; about Education and Administration ... those are the individual specialties of the communities in their close vicinity.

Then there's their 'pretend time' which is liable to be somewhat strange as they turn their imaginations loose into the ancient past.

They might run into a mystery or two in their everyday lives, have adventures that don't spring from their imaginations, and they might even have to try to learn to cope with situations they have no idea were going to crop up.

And that's just the Younglings.

There are also Characters from some of the other books who will be having adventures of their own.

OH PETUNIA is one of them, from 'The Lonely Little Owl'.

Solo and his Princess Sisters, from 'Going to the Moon', have places to go, people to see, and things to do.

Jessie, Sedge, and Blue, from 'The Surprise', are likely to run into more surprises.

And there are Characters you haven't met yet who are rather impatiently waiting their turns. A Mouse Family is waiting in the wings for their introductory book, and some Bandannas, and maybe a Tumbleweed or two  or three.

And who knows who all else is going to show up on this stage!

We've got scads of ideas.

Now I just need the time to get them written down, and even more time to get the sketches done.

Uffda. 

MN Math and Science Academy, St. Paul Minnesota USA

One of the most enchanting hours of my life!

On November 24, 2014 I spent an hour at the Minnesota Math and Science Academy where my daughter Tess teaches first grade. 

While she collected her students I 'hid' in the classroom and was delighted when the first of the students to come in kept my presence 'hidden' albeit they signaled one another to 'look, look!' ... 

One of the books I recently finished was a story from Tess' young days which she well remembered, called 'The Surprise', and we had the cover of it projected up on the board at the front of the classroom. 

It was the perfect introductory story and the class paid attention (for the most part; they are, after all, younglings!) and had of course figured out the 'surprise' of the story well before we got to that part!

The other story we read was 'The Lonely Little Owl' and by then we had all relaxed enough in each other's company that the whole of them joined right into the fun of Oscar's search for other nocturnal friends. They 'hooted' right along with him every time he and Barry the Bat discovered yet another friend who was awake in the night as they flew their way along the forest path.

I was, and still am, thoroughly charmed by the students my daughter has in her classroom - and by the other staff that I was blessed to meet that morning. 

The farewell hugs I received almost knocked me off my feet, not that I could have fallen - what with being closely surrounded by all those young people! 

That hour almost undid me, I tell you true. I loved every minute of being in the company of that group of children, not to mention my daughter.

I'm not fond of city traffic but as I wove my way through it and onward to Fargo I was grinning ear to ear and once in a while broke into laughter, remembering ... other drivers may have thought me a mite odd but I don't care. 

It was truly a blessed hour, that one I spent at the MN Math and Science Academy.

If ever I get to return, and I'm surely hoping it will be soon, you'll no doubt find more photos of this marvelous class of my daughter's.

I couldn't decide which of the photos to post so here they all are! (yes I have appropriate permissions to post them)

Just looking at them all again now brings happy into my heart.

This class will soon be getting its very own special book.

Each and all of them have had a say in what will be included in it!

My Bit of the Shop

Here's the current look of my bit of the shop that my sister and I are opening in our little town.

There's a small painting 'Flight of the Wild Geese', 

a bigger textured painting I was going to 'finish' with colors only to realize I had better leave it as is because nobody who looked at it saw the same thing in it, 

circles using the same texture and metallic paint, 

the Mamm Books, 

a few pencil sketches, 

a few 'scapes in acrylic on 100 year old cedar shakes that came off the roof of my house when I re-did it, 

a few miscellaneous things,

and of course the kid books!

The Circles of Dunnottar are here too; can't possibly do without them.

There will doubtless be many rearrangements of this little space - that's part of the fun of it!

Looking at it, I want to move the Mamm Books to the space beneath the Circles, which is where they belong. And that, naturally, will mean the whole of it gets moved around ... but not tonight I think.

We want to put a work station where the chair now sits, so we'll have a designated 'projects in progress' spot ... where I can, for example, set myself up a good light and work on sketches or sculptures or paintings or design for things that the Characters might want (Alia likes pretties, the twins want arm and shin guards, and Caileen and Talorc are nagging me to remind everyone to watch their step on the spiral and put circles on my crosses for pete's sake ... not to mention the Younglings ... ) My sister can use it for whichever of her projects she might find it useful for. That way our desk top can stay pretty much cleared but for our computers.

At any rate, it's pretty fun to see our things on display, and to watch them leave the shop with happy customers!

To be totally honest, a major part of the fun of it all is that for every item that leaves here we get to make more to replace it!!!

As my stock of 'scapes on cedar shakes has recently diminished (Yay!) I've been focusing on replenishing it. And getting another Youngling book or two done. I've also got to get a bunch more paintings done in the embroidery hoops as I'm totally OUT of those ... 

Well, Monday will have to be soon enough for most of that, unless I can manage some more yet tonight. Starting tomorrow it's four days of part time shift-work for this woman.

One thing I particularly enjoy about being up here at the shop is that we have unlimited internet so I get to listen to Celtic Thunder the whole time I'm up here without tapping out my own data access ... *big smile* ... thank you to the computer store next door!!! (Yes we kick in for the fee, but it's still great!)

AND ... lest I forget ... the gal who runs the 'Melding Pot' (I call it a Little Curiosity Shop) found a big kettle that I'm going to snag tomorrow for mine very own. 

*contented sigh*

I kind of wish I could just stay here all night listening to these guys' fabulous Voices. They take me straight back to the writing of the Mamm Books when those Voices were constantly in my ears as the Story developed. Elements of their 'Mythology' Songs are throughout the books if one knows to search them out and recognize them.  Parts of certain Songs led me into research I might not have thought of, and from there to the development of related scenes both 'historic' and fictional.

I wonder if music artists ever even know the effect their gifts have on some of us.  I badly wanted to put the set of Mamm Books into the hands of George Donaldson at the first concert I could get to once they were done - because he's the only Scot, you know - but ... well ... they're done but he's gone ... 

And on that sad note I'm going to close this post ... 'Voices' has just begun and I want to listen to it.

So Glad Mamm Isn't All Alone!

Watched the movie 'Frozen' with my daughter and grandboy ...

We cherish our together time; it's all too limited.

On this evening we chose to watch one of their favorite movies, one I had heard about but hadn't seen yet.

Z-Bug snuggled in with me and we munched our popcorn as the beginning of the movie unfolded.

My daughter's facial expressions cued me as to what sort of scenes were coming up - smiles, a serious sort of concentration, a frown - so I wasn't as taken by surprise as I might otherwise have been.

Part of the joy was hearing them sing along with the songs of the movie.

Another part of the whole thing was my own reaction.

At one point we took a mid-movie break. My daughter told me that she and her husband had discussed their own reactions to this movie, had been kind of surprised at the intensity of those reactions and wanted to understand them.

She told me their observations and conclusions, and they confirmed something I had recognized in my own self as I watched and listened to the movie.

The two of them had been taken back to a time they remembered from their younger days, a time when the movies had been more like some of the original fairy tales, with dangerous obstacles for the characters to overcome, bad guys for them to defeat, and the romance of a happy ending to look forward to.

My own time being even further back than theirs, the memories evoked by this tale were more of reading than of watching movies.

To top it off, from the opening notes of music through the entirety of the movie I kept having feelings that were borderline deja vu. 

Remember that I've only recently finished a series of books based on ancient times with hints of ancient myths and legends here and there for those who may recognize the (mostly) subtle references. Researched material from the very old days fit well with this movie. 

No wonder it felt sort of familiar to me.

No wonder I enjoyed it. 

I was responding not only with the part of me that has held to the myths and legends I read of in my long ago days, but with the more recent part of me which spent so much time immersed in stories much like the one of this movie.

And, you know, it makes me smile.

It seems there is something within many of us which responds to the ancient roots of this story.

I think it's the same something that led me through the labyrinth of the writing of The Mamm Books.

We want to believe, or to at least spend a little time now then pretending that we might believe, in heroes and heroines who overcome whatever comes into their path, who defeat the bad guys, and who prove that love triumphs over all in the end.

So yeah. It makes me smile to see Faith, Family, Friendship, Freedom, and the Future prevail in this story. I like seeing the components of Choice, the Cycle of Life, Peace, Faith, Healing, Hope, Love, and Unity all come together.

It makes me happy to realize that the Characters of The Mamm Books and the Younglings of Dunnottar aren't all alone, and that the people of our own times respond, intuitively perhaps, to stories of  'ancient times'. 

The old old stories have survived the ages; it's pleasing to know that they're surviving still. 

As the time comes upon me to follow the Younglings of Dunnottar, wherever and whenever their imaginations take them, in the books that are looming on the horizon it's encouraging to realize that I'm not the only one in this day and age that believes in the value of the ancient tales. 

OH PETUNIA is going to make some mischief I'm afraid

OH PETUNIA is a character in The Lonely Little Owl. She's going to be getting a few of her own books it seems.

Then there are The Younglings of Dunnottar who are also about to set out on some adventurous escapades into the myths and legends of times that are even more ancient than their own (relatively speaking - their times weren't ancient to THEM although they certainly are to US).

And the characters of both MOON and SURPRISE are in line for their own turns at further adventures.

I've begun a folder that's rapidly filling with ideas for paintings for the gallery I want to create as a part of my shop area, with sculptures to to with them thrown in for good measure.

Meanwhile I'm supposed to be marketing the Mamm Books so want to work on a couple of things for that - trailers are great fun to do, plus I want to do a series of 'Character Interviews' videos for my YouTube channel, which has been sadly neglected but which I intend to give my attention to ASAP.

Luckily for me OH PETUNIA is a fun character, easy to write stories about. 

When it comes to that all of the kid book Characters are fun and going to be easy to write about. I've got a beginning for the first of the Youngling books, the first set where they make the rounds of the local communities learning about all the different specialties of the area they live in. This particular set is going to be aimed at probably grades five and six because they're more complex than the kindergarten/first grade ones.

At any rate, it's going to be incredible fun to do them!

So I'm looking forward to things settling down a bit around here.

What's Wrong With This Picture?

I have a couple of dozen new kid books running around in my head, several blog posts that I want to write, a bunch of paintings and sculptures nagging me to get busy on them, and some very fun trailers just waiting for my attention.

So why am I not doing any of the above?

I have no idea.

This time last year I had just gotten SONG done and The Mamm Books were beginning, not as a set of five books but as the first (single) book of a set of seven. Then they became the set instead and the other six books remain to be written.

Now there's no logical reason for me to not be tending to what I need to be tending to, so why am I not doing it?

Elephino.

Fatigue has me strapped at the moment, and I've got another day of shift-work tomorrow before Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday when it will be shop-work instead - then I head for the Forks and Bemidji until Sunday which is Home For The Holidays at the Festival Hall. Then another Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of shop-work before it's back to shift-work for me.

The good news is that the shop-work, once it's a more settled routine thing, will provide me with designated time to follow through on the things it inspires me to do - which includes most of the above. 

I can tend the shop and write kid stories (they aren't as emotionally involved for me as the Mamm Books so I'm not likely to spend hours on end in tears as I write difficult scenes), get the blog posts written, sketch out the paintings and sculptures and maybe even work on some of them if I can stake out a bit of a work-space, and even do the trailers.

I just have to focus on making that environment my new 'creative' place.

I sure as hell wish I had the resources with which to really stake out a space for myself and transfer my own working studio from my house to one of the empty shop areas.

I remember some places in Old Colorado City that artists used for their working studios - it was great! They had their finished pieces there for sale and their works in progress in front of them, getting done.

Huh.

If wishes were horses I'd have a herd.

A Lady Where I Work Had A Great Idea

At least I think it's a great idea!

Being unable to implement it my own self, lacking the requisite skills and history, I put out a Facebook post and we'll see what comes of it.

We were talking about the shop, Close To Home/Deronda designs, my sister has invited me to join her with at the local place that will soon be opening, called  ' The Q '  in our hometown.

This was a small group of elder ladies; we were talking about what kinds of shops would be good to have in our little town, and one of the ladies said, 'How about a Norwegian shop?'

The next lady added, 'How about a German one?'

Many of the early settlers in our area were of Norwegian or German origin; needless to say they brought with them their traditions - which are incredible (except for lutefisk) - and my eyes lit up at the thought of being able to see, taste, hear, touch, and smell a collection of the best of the best that the families of our settlers can and do still produce.

Being as I hadn't eaten in more than a few hours, my belly was the first to kick into high gear as I sat down to do the Facebook post - and just the thought of the awesome stuff that are traditional around here had my mouth watering. Minus the lutefisk, of course. 

Since I'm not Norwegian, and only a little bit German, and not at all German From Russia, I'm not the one who has what it takes to produce the wonderful stuff that many in this area kind of just take for granted.

And the smorgasbord my belly craves is only just the beginning.

Into my head popped some of the traditional costumes.

Into my head popped some of the music.

Into my head popped some of the artwork.

Into my head popped some of the sweater designs, and scarves, and mittens.

Into my head popped accents of the languages of those who settled here.

Just sayin'. 

Me, I think it would be an awesome project to collect family stories 'from the locals', and photos if they want, and pictures of stuff they make, and recipes of foods they prepare (with tips and helpful hints), and at least the words to some of the songs, and traditions, and ... and ... and ...

And put it all together into another local book about Small Town USA! 

Think of all the stuff I'd learn in the process! It would be a rare and priceless gift, I tell you true.

So I personally would LOVE to have all the Norskys and Krauts in the vicinity get together and present to the rest of us a cumulative collection of everything they've got to show off - which is plenty, let me tell you! 

I would love to do a full color book of it all, but that's cost-prohibitive in print form so only the cover would get to be colored - BUT Kindle does color without the added cost that goes along with print so a 'match' deal would probably be a good idea for using the color photos ... they'd be greyscale in the print books but full color in the Kindle version ... hmmm ... I think I like that idea.

But it isn't going to be up to me so there will be no getting up of my hopes here.

HA.

My hopes are already up for what could turn out to be so much fun I can't even think of it without grinning - not to mention the heaven my belly would be in if our friends and neighbors can be talked into it. Mmmmmmm ... 

Right.

It's past my bedtime right now.

What do you bet I'll be dreaming of kuchen and knoephle soup and kraut and sausage and krumkake and etc. and end up waking myself up with a growling stomach and drooling all over my pillow? 

WHY can't I write about this stuff in the daytime?!?!