The Art Versus Money Dilemma

I know I said I was done writing under contract. My agent's excited about my 2008-2009 goals to hone the craft and write a better story than I've ever written before -- I fear she's dreaming about an auction that makes headlines at Publisher's Weekly. In truth, though, we're both hoping I create a story that readers will check out of the library again and again, and the thought of climbing fresh literary heights is invigorating.

But now I've been asked to write a children's book by a start-up on-line company. They need a story that's a tie-in for merchandise they'll be selling, so they have definite plot parameters along with a deadline. The catch is that they've offered me a fairly sweet financial deal.

Suddenly, I've tumbled from the lofty peaks of art to the desert reality of money -- the two sides of my full-time vocation. What to do? Here's the strange self-talk running through my brain:

• You're not in your twenties, girlfriend; when it comes to time left for storytelling the hourglass is upside down. 

• If you pass on opportunities like this to free up time for "real art," do you even have what it takes to create a so-called "great story?" And what about your literary reputation?

• Chill out, snob, who's to say a merchandise-related story can't be defined as "great?" Heck, it could give joy to kids who read it -- why is that a lesser achievement than a starred review in the Horn Book?

• It's only 6000 words or so; you could probably write it in a couple of months starting in the fall after revising Bamboo People this summer.

• But a story, any story, takes creative energy. Is that a renewable resource?

Any advice?

Cyclone in Burma: How to Help

With the death toll rising in Burma, I thought I'd pass on one way to help -- through World Vision:

World Vision is airlifting emergency supplies to survivors of the devastating cyclone that struck Myanmar over the weekend. Right now, more than 20,000 people are feared dead. Thousands more have been left homeless and desperately need food, shelter, and fresh, clean water. World Vision is delivering emergency supplies to the children and families who've lost their homes in the cyclone. Some of the most important items include emergency food, survival kits, water purifiers, tarps and shelters, and mosquito nets for survivors.

World Vision's National Director in Myanmar, James Tumbuan, described a chaotic scene: "Yangon totally collapsed. All the roads were blocked with fallen trees ... Getting drinking water is a real problem. We need water purification units like those that were used in the tsunami. It could take days to get the electricity back."

If you know of other ways to help, feel free to leave the information in the comments.

A New Writing Season

This week Delacorte editor Françoise Bui told me that a copy editor's working on Secret Keeper (Random House, Spring 2009), the flap copy and author bio are good to go, and she's sending me cover art soon.

I've got one more revision of The Bamboo People due to Charlesbridge, but that feels more than manageable.

And agent Laura Rennert called to chat about future projects.

After almost three years of writing under contract, I'm free! Picture me on the Austrian Alps -- wait scratch that, the Himalayan foothills -- singing and whirling with arms akimbo.

My goal for the next three years? Hone the craft, sweetheart, and no signing on a dotted line before that first draft is finished.

Children of War: What Can We Do?

If you're in the Boston area, I'm delighted (as the author of Bamboo People, a forthcoming novel featuring a child soldier) to invite you and anybody else you want to bring along to an awareness-raising event at my church this Sunday evening in Newton, Massachusetts:

Related Links:
Boston Globe: "No Forgetting"
Washington Post: "A Child's Hell in the Lord's Resistance Army"
Oprah Article: Child Soldiers
Oprah Article: Grace Today


Map provided by Expedia.com

Let The Lady Rule!

One of my all-time heroes, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the democracy leader of Burma, is still under house arrest in Rangoon where the military government is shooting at the marching monks parading past her house. A significant, scary number of those soldiers and monks are teenagers, one of the reasons I'm writing The Bamboo People. Listen to this quote from one of this amazing lady's speeches:

It is not the prerogative of men alone to bring light to the world: women with their capacity for compassion and self-sacrifice, their courage and perseverance, have done much to dissipate the darkness of intolerance and hate, suffering and despair.

Free Burma! Let the Lady bring the light. Here's what we can do. Listen to Jim Carrey explain why:

Make "Child Soldier" An Oxymoron

My forthcoming novel from Charlesbridge, The Bamboo People, features a fifteen-year old Burmese boy who's forced to join the army against his will. That country is one of the nine in the world reportedly using children to fight in their armies, and it's the only one not receiving military aid from the United States. The eight governments who do get money from us include:

• Burundi
• Chad
• Colombia
• Cote d'Ivoire
• Democratic Republic of Congo
• Sri Lanka
• Sudan
• Uganda

This Memorial Day, as we gratefully remember heroes who have defended and protected us, consider asking your elected officials to vote for the Child Soldier Prevention Act of 2007, sponsored by Senators Durbin (D) and Brownback (R).

More from World Vision: The Child Soldier Prevention Act of 2007 (S.1175) would curtail U.S. military assistance to governments that fail to take steps to demobilize and stop forcing/recruiting children into the armed forces or government-supported militias. Countries that do take steps to disarm, demobilize and rehabilitate child soldiers would be eligible for certain forms of assistance to help professionalize their forces and ensure that U.S. taxpayer dollars are not used to finance the exploitation of children in armed conflict. You may use this form to send a message of support for the Act to your elected official.

Beach Reads, Good News, Another Deadline

I'm back from two weeks out west, where I reveled in freedom from my laptop and read blissfully. I thoroughly enjoyed Anne Tyler's delicate exploration of life between cultures in Digging To America, but would love to hear from Iranian-Americans about how the author depicts their community. Two YA reads that I devoured were E. Lockhart's The Boyfriend List and Sarah Dessen's This Lullaby. While some of the racier bits made the parent in me squirm, both authors treat their teen protagonists with immense respect and employ a fresh humor that was inspirational.

Finally, I read Scott Westerfeld's Uglies and Pretties ... interesting page-turners, but I found myself wondering how a teen with "squinty eyes" (Asian? This is how Westerfeld describes his protagonist when she is an "ugly") and/or "frizzy hair" (African-American?) would respond to the author's descriptions of the mesmerizing "pretties," with their big, wide eyes and straight hair. In his futuristic world, there's a "certain kind of beauty, a prettiness that everyone could see. Big eyes and full lips like a kid's; smooth, clear skin; symmetrical features; and a thousand other little clues." What do others think about this?

On the writing front, I came back to the delightful news that Charlesbridge made an offer on The Bamboo People, my novel about a teen soldier and a refugee boy who meet along the Thai-Burma border. Now I have to write like crazy, as the first draft of First Daughter Book No. 2 is due to Dutton by Sept. 1. I'm off to Peet's Coffee for three empty latte cups or 5000 words, whichever comes first.

Bamboo People! Come Forth!

I just had lunch with Judy O'Malley of Charlesbridge and handed her a revision of Bamboo People into which I tried to weave her insightful suggestions. She'd read a draft back in October but discussed the characters today as though she'd visited them in the refugee camp last week. And she's going to share the book with other Charlesbridge folks and get back to me soon, telling me once again that she loves it! Hooray!

She also gave me the galleys for Rickshaw Girl laced throughout with Jamie Hogan's amazing illustrations. Wait till you see the cover; I can't wait to show it off out here on the Fire Escape. I read the book again just now, and Jamie's illustrations make me love Naima, my main character, even more than I already do. I hope you come to love her too — the book comes out Spring 2007, but Charlesbridge should have ARCs ready by the holidays this year. Enjoy the weekend; I plan to, it's in the high-sixties here in Boston and I can see the tips of the daffies in my garden.

The Bamboo People

I'm SO excited! I'm meeting with an editor on Wednesday who GETS my vision for a novel that's been soundly rejected by many a publishing house. The book is called The Bamboo People, and it's about two boys on different sides of a war who meet for a moment and change each other's lives forever. We lived in Chiang Mai, Thailand for almost three years and visited the Karenni refugee camps along the Thai-Burmese border. The Karenni are a much-overlooked, valiant people fighting a battle against genocide not unlike the ones lost by aboriginal nations all across the globe. Have you heard of the Karenni? Did you know that many of the Burmese soldiers enlisted to fight them are teenagers, even children? Hopefully, readers will learn about this quiet, desperate war if The Bamboo People ever gets published. I'll keep you posted.