Neil Gaiman’s Newbery Award Speech & Smoked Sockeye Salmon

This evening was an exciting literary moment. I and countless others followed as the faithful tweeted Neil Gaiman’s Newbery Award winning speech at A.L.A. Oh my, it was good! Thanks to a talented Harper-Collins person and quick typing librarians, the poignant moments of his speech were tweeted to those of us online to encourage him through Twitter and enjoy his speech. He was wonderful. He tweeted photos from his seat (which has to be a Newbery first!) and was very articulate in his speech.

These are from a wonderful person at Harper-Collins who tweeted poignant moments from Neil’s speech.

“I was expected to choose sides between the books that are popular and the books that are good for you. But I always have been and always will be on the side of books that that you love.”

“Sometimes fiction is a way of coping with the poison of the world.”

“Live your life, the pain and pleasure- leave no path untaken”

“Reading is important, books are important, librarians are important, but libraries are not childcare facilities.”

I was overcome with the personal attention he gave to this speech but should have expected nothing less. I suppose that’s why I hung on every tweet to see what he had to say. It’s a long journey from beginnings to Newbery. Of course it would be a lovely, endearing speech. His honesty and sincerity made this a testimony of an author’s journey and definitely a moment to remember. Hopefully it will be up on YouTube soon so I can watch it in its entirety. I will link it here when it becomes available. He’s an amazing author who has opened up his world through technology to his legions of fans, many of whom, like me, are teachers and interested in writing. Thank you, Neil and attendees, for the author’s birdseye view of the Newbery experience and for keeping us in the loop during your speech.

Other than this! it has been a stay home day, very leisurely kind of day. I smoked some salmon on the grill, enough to last for quite some time, and had some for dinner. It was the fresh sockeye from Alaska that I picked up at the market. Gorgeous fillets! Merlin and I went for a few walks today. The last one was blowing up a storm. Looks like we’ll get some rain tonight. I could see it beginning to fall across the valley at dusk.

Well, I’m yawning myself into quite a tizzy. So I should say goodnight before I find myself just staring at the screen and yawning. Goodnight and sweet dreams to all.

-Patricia

A Day to Remember and Neil Gaiman on Writing

Today was my day to go to Yakama for my National Board exam, the last part of National Boards. I had everything but my photo id. Seems I left home without it at 4:30 a.m. and discovered I didn’t have it as I approached Yakama. That makes me so human doesn’t it!  So I turned around and came home. Two and half hour drive. Oh well. Nothing else I could do.

I was hoping to see wild horses in the Yakama Hills but none were around at that hour of the morning. Still sleeping somewhere. That bugged me more than not being ready for the test. It was wonderful being out so early on a new morning. I drove through miles of forest that were so fragrant in the morning. The smell of sage and laurel were intoxicating. Then the rolling Yakama hills. It still amuses me how quickly you can go from forest to desert in this state. It’s minutes. Watching the landscape change from timberland to desert is an experience unlike any other. Trees disappear and are replaced with sage and desert plants. I’ll be rescheduling my test for another day which will give me another chance to photograph the wild horses of the Yakama Hills.

A little something on writing for you. This one is Neil Gaiman on writing. Although it says it’s for young writers, it’s applicable for all writers, I think. Wish more authors made videos like these for the public, especially aspiring writers.

Writing, Responsible Reporting, What Kids Like, and Code of Ethics

A long day that I have given to others has finally ended.  I’m drained but arrive home to find another writing job, a ghost writing job of a memoir, ten chapters, in my email queue.  Some people would run from this screaming all the way, but not me.  That’s what makes me a different sort.  I’ll see what the offer looks like and go from there.

I’m thinking I’ll dream of karma visiting a reporter who writes nasty things surrounding the success of Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book. My students read it, loved it, and they recommend it to their friends.  They developed a real affection for Bod.  And me…I love the Danse Macabre chapter.  I think that was the best chapter I have ever read in a book.  It was so concise, and its development was superb.  And as an English major, English teacher, one who loves to read (obviously), and write (also obvious), I’ve read a lot of books, both classical and contemporary.

With all due respects to credible reporters, the one who reported that librarians didn’t like this book is due for a career change.  He suggests that librarians are overly critical and essentially frothing at the mouth because this book received a Newbery Award which I suggest is irresponsible journalism.  This article merely indicates the writer’s “snark-astic” viewpoint and own bias.  To see this reporter’s response, tiny…click here.

I’ve read where Neil Gaiman says kids like stories that are a bit scary, and he is absolutely right.  They do not fixate over death, murder, or the stalking of a serial killer.  They know it’s not real and enjoy the development of the story..the adventure..the wide-eyed “then what happened.”  This book’s themes of family, love, friendship, and trust make this a very appropriate book for children.  Adults will enjoy reading it, too.  If  you want to see an example of responsible journalism and read a great article, may I suggest this article from Publisher’s Weekly instead.  See anyone can write, but not everyone can write well or responsibly.

This reminds me of the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics.  Journalist should adhere to this code of ethics to remain credible and responsible as journalistic writers.  But when journalistic writers stray from “the code,” you, the reading public, get unreliable rubbish.  The reason for “the code” is to avoid getting journalist who simply make things up like this guy.

I’m falling asleep, so it’s time to say g’night world.  Sweet dreams.

-Patricia

February 2, 2009 at 7:42 pm · Edit

I’m so sad I didn’t discover Neil Gaiman when I was just a kid. He would’ve opened up whole new worlds of creativity to me that I didn’t even think were allowed to be children’s stories hehe

xalwaysdreamx

It’s never too late to become who you really are.  Read what you want, love what you want, and write what you want.  If you’re interested in writing, the literary age of reason is fifty.  Many great writers were published at or after fifty. So it’s never too late.

Blessings,

-Patricia

The Newbery Award!!

The very nice, very likable, and very talented Mr. Neil Gaiman (applause, applause) is now the recipient of the Newbery Award.  I read The Graveyard Book, and I agree.  It’s a lovely book with important themes such as the importance of family, loss, and friendship.   I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it.  That familiar blue cover will now have a beautiful gold seal on it which means a quality book inside.    Congratulations, Mr. Gaiman.  This award is well-deserved.  There should also be one for most caring dog lover.  He should get that one, too, for his dedication to the convalescing Cabal the dog.

Well, it’s getting late. Snuggle in and dream deep!  It’s 6 degrees outside!

-Patricia

Stephenie Meyer, Twilight, DreamWalker, Writing, Coraline, Neil Gaiman

The best part of today was it was Tuesday, not Monday.  It was great.  No Monday this week!!  I finished reading Twilight and have to recommend it as great bedtime reading.  It’s adventure with a little drama/romance around the edges.  It’s very nicely done.  After I finished, the author resonated with me…so I turned to YouTube and found a great interview with Stephenie Meyer.  What I enjoyed most about her interview was her encouragement to just ENJOY the writing and deal with the business end of it later and how an average person like Stephenie, the stay at home mom of three young children, is suddenly this awesome published writer!!  I’m so excited for her!!  Her life changed quickly!!  But the quality is in her writing.  It sells itself. And it’s work.

So my novel, DreamWalker…Chapter 1 is finished, and I have the idea for chapter 2.  So far I haven’t outlined or planned much…just written.  I may get to a point that I need to plan, but not now.  I’m enjoying the writing too much!

The inauguration…wow…it was splendid.  I watched it this morning with some students.  I was really impressed with the ceremony.  Aretha Franklin!  The first lady of soul herself.  That was a treat.  The speech by Rev. Lowry, I thought, was well done, and I really want to see a transcript of it.  I’ll be searching for it.  There were moments that I thought were so poignant and inspiring.

Well, January 28th is the day that Portland International Film Festival tickets go on sale for Coraline.  I will be ready/set/go on the phone as soon as they go on sale.  This is an exciting film that is so unique in its production and story style that I’m anxious to be entertained in this way…macabre and animation.  It’s visually rich in detail and so different than other production styles…the uniqueness of it really appeals to me.

Today I received two t-shirts from Neil Gaiman’s people for two of my students.  Thank you’s to Neil for the free swag for the contest.  The kids entered a contest from Neil’s blog, and what do you know…they are now sporting cool, black tees with an illustration of The Graveyard Book on one and Neil “Scary Trousers” Gaiman on the other.   I gave them to the kids today and hope to see them wearing them around soon.  Other kids are now interested in reading this book.  They are beginning to pass the books around from kid to kid.  I LOVE keeping a reader’s community active and well-fed on good books.

Okay, to bed,

-Patricia