Wordcraft blog by Avi

Now

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In isolation, my wife and I sit in our 630 square foot house—two rooms—in Denver, Colorado. She is recovering from surgery—very nicely thank you—and I am, as always, writing a book. The novel is a work of historical fiction and it has absolutely nothing to do with what is happening in the world, and what is happening to the world—you have noticed—is that it’s going to hell, quickly.

Denver

Denver skyline, Darryl Brooks, 123rf.com

It’s hard to think about what I am doing. It’s my work, of course, and since I’ve been doing it for so long the process is truly habitual, though as always, each book, this book, has its own problems, its challenges.

But the news—the horror of the pandemic—keeps pounding on the door. I think of the people who can’t get any help, the poor, the homeless, and the already ill. The people who can’t get tests. Or buy food. I think of those who have lost jobs and have no idea where the next paycheck will come from—if it ever does come. I think of the ignorance, which amounts to the cruelty of our national government, and of powerful people. I think of those who are alone and frightened. Who are discriminated against. The people who have no legal standing and can’t get any help. I think of my daughter, a doctor, working in NYC, and wondering what will happen to her, and her infant daughter, and her husband. And as I wander the empty streets—trying for a little exercise—I wonder what are people doing? Are they reading? Playing games? Watching TV? Doing nothing?

To be writing at such a time seems a kind of self-indulgence, except I try to remind myself it’s not. It’s what I’ve done for most of my life, and while I live—as I intend to—I’ll do it. In one sense, it’s a way of reminding myself that I am living as I want to. I’m lucky there. I can. Most of all, as I work on this page and that page, I’m thinking about my readers. Will they understand? Is this exciting enough to pull them along? Will they keep turning the pages? Is it interesting? Will they laugh? Or cry?

Today I made a decision about the plot that took me by surprise. That pleased me because as I’ve referenced many times, it’s all about something Robert Frost said. “No surprises for the writer, no surprises for the reader.” Oh, I’m thinking, that surprise will surely catch the reader. 

You see, there are all these readers around my head, too. As always, they are invisible. But maybe, just maybe, it’s they who are pounding on the door.  I like to think so. And so I continue to write. Not isolated. There are readers—waiting. I’m trying catch up with them. I’m not waiting for the waiting to be over.

Remembering History

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The Button WarWhen, a couple of years ago, my book, The Button War was published, a number of readers were puzzled about the context, that it takes place during World War One. 

My sense of things is that all nations have selective memories about their history. And the history that is remembered is often told to emphasis certain ideals, myths, and aspirations. The “bad stuff” is forgotten, denied, even hidden. That knowledge of “The war to end all wars,” as the conflict was called, has faded, does not really surprise me. Even as my wife and I went to the film 1917, she turned to me and said, “Can you explain to me what the war was about and how it happened?”

I did my best. It is a complex story.

That said, the successful film, 1917, seems to have brought a remembrance of World War One back into public consciousness.

As a writer of historical fiction, I’m often asked “How did you ever find out about that?” (Whatever the that is.)

The answer is, I am aware of history and read it.

Catch You Later Traitor and The End of the World and Beyond and Night Journeys

Catch You Later, Traitor deals with the “red scare” of the 1950’s. As a kid I lived through that.

The End of the World and Beyond treats of the way 18th Century England dealt with felons: Sending many thousands of them to North American for forced labor. Thomas Jefferson, for one, said it never happened.  I first learned of this by reading Dickens’ Great Expectations, all be it’s setting in 19th century England.

Night Journeys tells a story about a colonial boy who comes across a couple of those felons, who have escaped. I was interested in American Quakers and how they dealt with oppressive government.

Who Was That Masked Man Anyway and Gold Rush Girl and The Player King

“Who Was That Masked Man Anyway?” is a tale about kids who are obsessed with the adventure radio shows of the 1940’s. I was one of those.

The about to be published Gold Rush Girl is set in booming San Francisco right after California gold was discovered. I saw a picture of the hundreds of abandoned ships that brought gold-seekers to the West Coast. I wondered about those ships, found out why they were left to rot, and went on to write a novel about them.

The Player King treats of a 15th century boy—no one knows where he came from—who was crowned king of England (in Ireland!) and was king for a few months. He was given an army to bring down the Tudors. Didn’t work.

I am not an historian. But I am a great believer that to understand the present (and the future) you need to know about the past. One of the best compliments for my work I ever had came about when a parent told me about her daughter. The girl had read Crispin: The Cross of Lead. She brought the book to her mother, held it up, and said, “Ma, did people really think this way?”

They did. We just forget.

I hope my books let people remember.

Reading Poppy Aloud with Students

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We authors love to hear from readers of our books. This lovely note from a teacher—I don’t know her or where she teaches—sent this:

Poppy“Poppy is my favorite read aloud book of all time. I started teaching 17 years ago and have read it aloud to every class since then. It has my favorite written line ever (Hit the puke switch and duck.). All of my students know it well. I still burst out laughing every time I read it. I have the whole series and my students eagerly gobble up the rest after I read Poppy. 

One class so loved it that they convinced me to read all the others aloud. That year, the last book in the series (or so I thought) came out the day before school got out. I had a copy of the book on hold at the book store, drove down to get it, and read it all on the last day of school. My students voted to hear your book over going to field day!!!  

RagweedI can’t wait to read the new book. [Ragweed and Poppy] I was introduced to the series by the first grade teacher at my first school. I was trying to decide what book I would read with my students. She suggested that I get Poppy because she had read Ragweed with her students and they had really enjoyed it. So, I bought Poppy books for the class. I was young. It was my first job. I didn’t think about reading the book first. So we sit down to read the book, the kids tell me all about Ragweed (for at least 15 minutes they relived his adventures in the city). I explain that this is the next book in the series, we read the blurb, and I tell them that I bet Ragweed and Poppy are the two little mice that go dancing in the moonlight and that this book will be all about the new adventures Poppy and Ragweed have together. Alas, I now know that is not true and I have never again read a book with students without pre-reading it! I began to read that afternoon, while my students eagerly followed along. My eyes were scanning faster than the words were coming out of my mouth. It was not long before my eyes saw the horror and even sooner that the words came spewing from my mouth. Tears, really sobs and wails, could be heard from our classroom as the children mourned the loss of their favorite character. It was in that moment that the bell rang and I had to get the kids out to their parents and onto the bus. So, in short. This book that will be published soon is the book that I thought I was reading all those years ago.” 

Story Behind the Story #70,
Part 3: Gold Rush Girl

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Gold Rush GirlMy good friend, the late Betty Miles—who wrote many fine children’s books—once told me: “I have to work on a book for about six months before I feel like a real writer.”

I also recall Thomas Mann, the early twentieth century German writer, saying something to the effect that “The amateur writer finds writing easy. It is the professional writer who finds writing difficult.”

For me, it is always the first draft of a book which proves hard. Thus it was for Gold Rush Girl. I came to the story in backward fashion. That is, when I learned about the abandoned ships—Rotten Row—in San Francisco’s early Gold Rush days, I knew I wanted to write about such an odd thing. But knowing about Rotten Row was not enough. I didn’t have a story, much less characters to bring that story alive. I had the stage set, so to speak, but not a play to put in the stage.

The World Rushed InWhen I began to do my research, I wasn’t looking for information to give depth to my story as much as I was looking for the story. As it turned out there were stories everywhere. The thousands of people who flocked to California all seemed to have stories to tell. Overwhelmingly male, hard times surely drove some of them to go west. The promise of quick riches drew plenty others. But many came because they wanted adventure, change, and a new life. They were not just working-class people either, but professionals: lawyers, bankers, doctors, and the like. Overall, there were plenty of references to “Gold Fever,” and fever seems to be the right word for many who come. The World Rushed In is the title of just one of the many books about what happened. It’s an accurate phrase. Some, like the Chinese, were going east. Folks from Chili went north. Mexicans, a conquered people, were already there.

My task, as a writer, was ultimately to reveal why an east coast girl should ever want to go to California, what circumstances would compel her to go to such a wild, untamed place, where feminine company was rare, and then explore what happens to her once she gets there.

In short, I had to become part of Tory’s adventure.

As often happens when I work (if I get lucky), at some point the characters become real, separate from me. Then it seems I just tag along and see what choices they make, and how the adventure unfolds. That’s when—to harken back to Betty’s words—I, ironically, feel like a real writer. “No surprises for the writer, no surprises for the reader,” said Robert Frost. Gold Rush Girl kept surprising me. My expectation is that readers will experience the same surprises.

Story Behind the Story #70,
Part 2: Gold Rush Girl

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The California Gold Rush was indeed a rush. The United States had taken over San Francisco as a result of its war with Mexico. (1846-48). That aggressive war—fiercely objected to by many, including Abraham Lincoln—had, as one of its objectives, the annexing of San Francisco Bay. When gold was discovered, chunks of it went on display in Washington, DC. They caused much excitement. But it was a speech to Congress by President Polk (widely publicized) in which he not just verified that gold had been found, but touted its abundance and ease of finding.

California Gold Rush

illustration: Wikimedia Commons

At the time the USA was suffering a financial downturn, with much unemployment. Hence, easy wealth was a grand inducement to go west. The rush was on.

Something UpstairsWhen I was living in Providence, Rhode Island, writing a book called Something Upstairs, I did research on my old house. I learned that in the year 1848 the family living there was named Blaisdell. From what I also learned about Providence, there was reason to believe (or want to believe) that the Blaisdells sold that house to go west.

True or not, it seemed a good place to start my new story. Thus, both books, Something Upstairs, and Gold Rush Girl begin in the same dwelling. The Blaisdells would move into my new book.

(The old house, which is still standing, is at 15 Sheldon Street, in Providence, Rhode Island, and may be viewed on Google Maps.)

When you do historical research, serendipity is a splendid thing. When I learned that Jane Eyre was first published in American in 1848, I had the framework for the emergence of my protagonist, Victoria Blaisdell.

As for San Francisco, there is a vast library of materials about the California Gold Rush of 1849. It is so much a part of our national history that San Francisco’s football team was named the “Forty-niners,” with the assurance that all would know the reference. (One can’t say the same for, say, the Colorado or Nevada gold rushes which happened later.)

Ships abandoned in Yerba Buena Cove, San Francisco, during the 1849 California Gold Rush
(photo: Wikimedia Commons)

 The Gold Rush was also the first major event in US history for which there is a photographic record.

Gold Rush GirlMy problem was not “how will I find out about the moment and the city?” but how to deal with so much information.

The historical growth of the city, which went from a tiny Mexican town to a large, crowded city in a matter of months, is fascinating. It was chaotic, rowdy, violent, and unique, casting a blind eye on much that would be considered proscribed by the polite society of its day. The city still treasures that reputation.

 For a novelist all that is its own gold.

 To be continued …

Story Behind the Story #70: Gold Rush Girl

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Gold Rush GirlSan Francisco is a city where I have lived often, visited, and have great fondness for. I first went there in the fall of 1961, having finished my graduate class time at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. A fellow I knew was setting up a new theatre, and he wanted to do a play I had written. I took a Greyhound bus from Madison to Chicago, another bus from the Windy City to the Golden Gate. I have a vivid recollection of the bus coming to a stop moments after crossing into Nevada. “Nevada!” the driver shouted, waking me up. “Half an hour stop.” I watched most of the passengers pour off and start playing slot machines. It was two AM.

Once in San Francisco I met the guy who wanted to produce my play. Turns out he had already hired an actor for the first play he was going to put on—an adaptation of James Joyce’s Ulysses. That actor was named Tom Ewing, a good friend of mine from Wisconsin theatre days.

The theatre producer allowed us to take an upper, unused room in the theatre. The theatre was on Green Street, in the North Beach area. Tom and I dragged in mattresses (who knows where they came from) and we lived there for a few months while the first play went into production, opened, and failed. The theatre closed. My play was never produced. Tom and I went our separate ways.

(Years later, I went into the building that had been the theatre. It had become a bar. I chatted with the owner. He claimed Jack Kerouac had previously lived in that same room where Tom and I lived. True? I have no idea. Could have been a bar story.)

Meanwhile, when the theatre closed, I had to get a job, and found one printing signs for The White House Department store. Each morning I rode the cable car, which stopped in front of my door on Russian Hill, to work.

There in that basement apartment I wrote plays. Not very good ones. I also learned a lot about San Francisco. I stayed in California for most of the year, then went back to NYC.

But since my twin sister (and her family) moved there, as did one of my sons, I have often visited. A few years back, my wife and I were wintering in the city. We were walking along the Embarcadero, the city’s restored shoreline along the great Bay. Multiple flagpoles were flying flags with a curious photographic image: a mass of abandoned 19th Century sailing ships.

Puzzled, I did a little investigating. What I learned was these images were of the fleet of abandoned ships which were part of the Gold Rush. When news of the 1849 California gold spread around the world—and it did so with amazing rapidity—people rushed to San Francisco from everywhere and in every way. Many came by ship. Of course, the would-be miners hurried off the ships to head for the diggings. But so too did the boat crews, including officers. The ships were left to rot. They even acquired a name: Rotten Row. At some point there were more than seven hundred of these deserted ships. Some were converted into saloons, churches, jails, hospitals.

I was fascinated and hooked. I began to think about the book that has come to be called Gold Rush Girl. It’s just about to be published by Candlewick.

To be continued …

When Characters Die

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Crispin at the Edge of the WorldI recently received a letter from a young fan concerning my Crispin books. The writer informed me that when he read the second book in the series (At the Edge of the World), he “fell in love” with the character Troth. Then, when he turned to the third book, and realized Troth was not part of the story, he was heartbroken. 

He asked me to rewrite that book and put Troth into it.

A number of years ago, another reader wrote to me about my book Lord Kirkle’s Money, concerning the character Mr. Drabble. In the course of the story (near the end) Mr. Drabble dies in a fire. My reader was distraught that this was the fate of her favorite. She was so furious with me, she swore (at great length) that she would never read another of my books, and promised to tell her friends to avoid my writing.

I wrote back to her to suggest that as in life, characters sometimes do die, and offered a few famous examples, Charlotte from Charlotte’s Web, Leslie from Bridge to Terabithia, and so on. Never received an answer.

Charlotte's Web, Bridge to Terabithia

Over the years I have received other such letters regarding other characters in other books,

One of the joys of writing for young people is that they often fully engage with your story and characters. They do so to the point that the characters become real, but then again not so real that they forget it was me who invented the characters—hence they complain to me. I’m sure many other writers get letters asking—at the close of the book—“But what happened next?” I suspect this is why series books are popular—there is an afterlife.

It’s one of the curious contradictions about fiction: The better written it is, the less like fiction it feels. The writer must—I know I do—struggle to create that reality. The manipulation of the text is to hide manipulation. The art is to make the art invisible.

That said, we often think of children’s literature in terms of who writes what, and how well the author has written. But sometimes I think what makes the field unique is how young readers respond to story and characters, and how deeply they feel about what transpires in a tale.

I, for one, love that.

Thoughts on Book Reviews

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Book ReviewsConsider: what is the purpose of a book review? Is it simply to register a reader’s subjective response? Is it to evaluate the writing within the broader context of literature? Or is it the reviewer’s task to determine what the writer wanted to achieve, and evaluate if those goals have been achieved?

Are reviews meant to monitor writing for other readers? For the most part, reviewers of books for children are not children.

A good review doesn’t just make the author feel good about his/her work, it gives the writer confidence that their own judgement about their writing is justified.

Similarly, a dismissive review, or a personally negative review doesn’t just make the author feel bad, it undermines their self-confidence (see above).

(Consider—whatever your profession or job might be—how, at the end of a year’s work—or two—if you received a one-paragraph negative, dismissive evaluation of your work. How would you feel?)

 A good review can surely increase interest in the work, and lead to greater sales. A cluster of good reviews can bring attention to that work and lead to awards and recognition.

A bad review can choke off all of those things.

A well written critical review can teach the writer something—something the author can absorb and use. In the same way even praise for aspects of the writing can teach the writer what he/she is doing that resonates with readers.

What I have learned is that if a variety of reviews all say the same thing (negatively or positively) it probably is an accurate evaluation.

RagweedWhen my Ragweed (book one in the Poppy series) was published a number of years ago, it received good reviews but there was criticism for its use of excessive slang. I decided that was valid. So, recently, when my publisher told me they were going to reissue the book, I asked if I could rewrite it.  They said yes.  I was able to go through the book and cut much of that annoying slang.  That doesn’t happen very often but I was delighted that I could do so. Thanks to the criticism, Ragweed is now a better book.

There is a skill in writing reviews just as there is a skill needed for any kind of writing. There are well written reviews and poorly written ones. Should readers of reviews note that? Should review writing be taught? Should criticism be reviewed? From what I have observed, critics get very defensive if their criticism is criticized.

When all is said and done the most important critic of an author is the author. Self-criticism is a constant and vital component of any writing.

Does anyone want to review what I have said here? Feel free to criticize.

Q&A: Why do you have dedications in your books?

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When an author dedicates a book to an individual—sometimes to more than one person or even to a group of people—it is a gift of appreciation, recognition, or in some way acknowledging a very positive personal connection. (The detective book writer, Robert Parker, always dedicated his books to his wife.) The writer is bestowing a gift only an author can give. I usually put a lot of thought into it. And, since I have published many books there are many dedications.

Dedication to Teofilo F. Ruiz

The dedication in Crispin: Cross of Lead

It may be believed that a given book has a particular meaning to the person. Sometimes yes, sometimes no. I dedicated Nothing but the Truth, to my dear friend and writer, the late Betty Miles, because she was so involved in education.

Crispin was dedicated to Professor Teofilo Ruiz, the historian. It was a brilliant lecture he gave that got me thinking about medieval times. At the time I didn’t know him. Since that dedication we have become good friends. Poppy and Rye has the dedication “To Us.” I’m not sure who “us” is.

Dedication to Dan Darigan

The dedication in City of Orphans

When I published my first book, Things That Sometimes Happen, the dedication was for my son, Shaun. I did so because I had created the stories for him in the first place. Since then all of my kids have had books dedicated to them, and to their kids as well. My forthcoming Ragweed and Poppy will be dedicated to my newest grandchild, Henrietta. It will be a while before she reads it. When Rachel Vail and I together wrote the book Never Mind, we each dedicated the book to the other.

Gary D. Schmidt

The dedication in Catch You Later, Traitor

There have been dedications to my sister, brother, cousins, aunts and uncles. Any number of friends have been cited, as well as people in my publishing world, in particular editors and agents. When I dedicated a book to my wife (for the first time) it was my way of acknowledging she was going to be my wife. When I set down a dedication in the book that became The End of the Beginning, it was done in the spirit of the book’s characters: “To Avon from Edward: With Surprise.” Some books like, A Place Called Ugly, have no dedication. I don’t know why. To be completely honest there are a couple of dedications—from long ago—that I no longer know who the person was.

dedication to Natalie Babbitt

the dedication in Punch with Judy

How do people react to having a book dedicated to them? The range is extreme. A few folks have told me “I’m greatly honored.” One person said, “It’s about time you did that.” Most often they just say, “Thank you.” A fair number of people say nothing. I’m never sure if the folks who get a dedication ever read the book.

I’m not sure it matters. I like putting down a dedication. I think when I write my last book, I should put down, “To Avi, from Edward. Thanks for all the fun.”

(Can you figure that one out?)

Titles

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While Shakespeare once wrote, “A rose by any other name will smell as sweet,” a good (or bad) title can make a difference for a book. The book’s title is the introduction of a book to the reader. It is enormously important.

Curiously, you cannot copyright a title. That explains why some titles reappear for different books.

Titles, some famously, change. When Stevenson’s Treasure Island was first published (in a magazine, as a serialized work) it was called The Sea Cook. Only when published as a hardback book was the title (as we know it today) changed, by an editor, if I remember correctly. The original titled referenced Long John Silver.

Wolf RiderOver the years, with so many books written, I have had my share of titles, both good and bad. When I begin a book I give the work a title, not with a sense that it is the one that is final, but more like a label, a way of thinking about it, and referencing it. In book contracts a title is given, but that does not mean it is used.

Wolf Rider was not a good title, insofar, as it doesn’t readily connect with a reader. Even those who have enjoyed the book (and many have done so) have asked me to explain the title. Not good.

The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle was first called The Seahawk. That title derived from the ship on which the story takes place. Curiously, when I first thought of it, I had to check, finding it hard to believe it had not been previously used.

Nothing but the Truth was titled Discovery. That word references the legal term for the evidence in a case, which is the way the book is organized.

School of the DeadPoppy was called Pip. I had been reading the manuscript to a class when a boy showed me a book called Pip, the Story of a Mouse. “Is this,” he asked, “the book from which you got the name?” In fact, the name “Pip” came to me from Dickens’ Great Expectations. In any case, I changed the name of my character (and book) to “Poppy.”

Crispin: The Cross of Lead, my Newbery book, was titled, No Name.

School of the Dead was originally called The Weird History Club.

The forthcoming Gold Rush Girl was called Rotten Row.

Catch You Later, Traitor had the title Season of Suspicion, which cross-referenced political suspicion with a famous baseball season, both subjects of the book.

The Fighting Ground was called Twenty-four Hours.

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