Today’s quote comes to us from my friend, fellow VCFA alumna and extraordinary picture book author Sarah Sullivan. I first met Sarah when she was a graduate assistant during one of my residencies at VCFA. After one particularly long day, she invited me to see the F&G of her latest picture book, Passing the Music Down. We talked late into the night and I remember thinking, ‘This is why I love the children’s book writing community. Because of our generosity and kindness and willingness to share.’ Sarah is the embodiment of these fine qualities.

When I asked her what quote shores her up as a writer, this is what she said: “I have several quotes, each one of which has sustained me at different times, depending upon what difficulties presented themselves at a given moment. Lately, I’ve been holding onto Eudora Welty’s well-known quote,

“all serious daring starts from within.”

“I’m not sure when I first saw it.  But, the older I get, the more it means to me.  If a story is to have weight, it must have emotional resonance and achieving emotional resonance requires taking on a seemingly impossible task.  It requires ‘serious daring’ that ‘comes from within.’  The preceding portion of the quote reads, ‘A sheltered life can be a daring life as well.  For all serious daring starts from within.’  I’m not really thinking about living a sheltered life.  Rather I’m thinking that the very act of creating characters, setting, dialogue, plot – the whole ball of wax is an act of serious daring and it all starts inside your head and your heart.

“I think that quote speaks to me now because of where I am in the writing process. My fourth picture book came out a few months ago and I just sold a middle grade novel in June, so now, before I receive my editorial letter and dive into revisions on the novel, I’m attempting to push forward on a new manuscript.  But, I don’t really know enough about the characters to feel secure about decisions I need to make to move forward.  I need to put my literal, analytical mind on hold and let my dream mind and subconscious take over.  That’s an uncomfortable feeling because it’s filled with uncertainty.

“Writers have a streak of “control freak” running through their veins because, after all, they are puppet masters in their own stories.  When you begin a new project, the desire to impose order comes into conflict with the need to invite uncertainty which you must do if you are ever to discover something fresh.  So, simply to begin something new is to seek out discomfort and dissonance.  It’s in the resolution of that dissonance that you create story.  The whole process sounds like a recipe for mental illness when I describe it this way, but I think writers will know what I mean.

“To tell a new story, to start with a blank page and try to create something fresh is an act of daring, like stepping onto a tightrope.  One false step and it all comes crashing down.  Unfortunately, false steps are an inevitable part of the creative process.  You must be willing to dare — to try something dangerous and uncertain.  To fall off the tight wire and tumble, arms flailing, into the net.  That’s what writing is.  And it all starts from within.”

You see what I mean? Generous. Kind. Willing to share.

That fourth picture book Sarah mentioned above is Passing The Music Down and it has been nominated for a West Virginia Children’s Choice Book Award.  Also, the middle grade novel was bought by Candlewick and has the working title, Ticket to Edgewater. It has a publication date of 2013.  Bravo, Sarah. You deserve each lovely success.

“How are you?” friends and acquaintances ask and I pause, take a deep breath and then say, “Good. I’m good.”

You see, I have to pause. I have to take a deep breath because this has been a year of loss. Our 13 year old dog died in January. My 64 year old sister died in September. My 90 year old father moved into a nursing home where he could be safe as his mind becomes increasingly untethered from reality. I feel a bit raw on the inside. But during that pause and deep breath, I think, “I have a roof over my head, a comfy bed to sleep in, food in my fridge, my daughter and I are healthy. There is no war outside my door. No wildfires have savaged everything I own.” In that breath, I remember each small thing, which allows me to say, “Good. I am good” and mean it.

But here’s the thing. Some people aren’t doing so well. Some people don’t have roofs or food or healthy bodies. Some people have suffered much more loss than I have.

In Bastrop, the library had a devastating loss of books. When the wildfire devastated the hundreds of  homes, all the books that were checked out were lost as well. The Austin Society of the Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators(ASCBWI) is raising money and books to fill the children’s and teen section of the Library with books. If you would like to help restore the library’s shelves, you can donate here.

In Austin, a University of Texas professor Carla Petievich started the Hoshyar Foundation to raise and distribute funds in support of human empowerment through female education. Just by watching this amazing video, you will trigger a $1 donation and you might be inspired to give more to this project.

Before she died, my sister Libby taught me this very important thing: Being alive is the opportunity to touch another’s spirit. Giving is one way to do that.

Libby

I will be taking a week off from blogging in honor of this holiday. My love to you and all you love. See you on November 29.