The following was written by my thirteen year old daughter, Abigail!

GOSSIP

        There are a series of horrible topics that need to be worked on. Some cases are at school, work, magazines, and everyday life. The broad term for these topics, is called sin. Now, don’t worry, every human sins, it’s completely natural, but what I want to say is important, so hear me out, please.

        I’m an eighth grader, a christian, and go to a great charter school called SCS. Though everyone's nice there and there is rarely drama, like every school, there is one thing, Gossip. Okay, I admit, I’ve done it, you’ve done it, and I bet the whole world has done it. But does it make it right? No. People get hurt, damaged, heart broken, and maybe embarrassed. Once you say one thing to someone, the story passes on to the next person, then to the next till the story changes to a rumor, and that rumor becomes a lie. So the person you were talking about, might be bullied or made fun of, and in some cases, you might have ruined their reputation.

        Gossiping does not only hurt the person you were talking about, but, it also may hurt yourself. He or she’s friends might get angry with you, or you might get yourself a bad reputation as well. Remember, first impressions stick, and if somebodies first impression of you is that you gossip, that would really stink on your end.

         I know that most of you think that you don’t do it, but, you probably do. Like I said, mostly everybody's done it, including me. Even if you're just talking about you're best friends crush or Freddie made a comment during class, it’s still called gossip. Yes and yes, telling stories to people is exciting and fun, but before sharing, make sure that you're story couldn’t hurt anyone else.

          Titus 3:2 says 

          “To speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people”

         and Ephesians 4:29 says

         “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.”

          Please don’t gossip, and show perfect courtesy toward all people. Thanks for reading.

-Abigail Vaccaro

Fear...

Fear is a prison of your mind, where your mind is both captive and captor...

Finders Keepers!

I was cleaning my room the other day, a task I've been avoiding for quite some time, and I came across my very first lap top.  Purchased during the first year of our marriage in 2000, my husband arrived at our apartment door with it in hand.  "Surprise!  Now write."  He said.

Swirling in nostalgia I wiped the thick layer of dust off the top and showed my husband.  Being the technical guru he is, he wondered if it would boot up.  Miracles upon miracles it did, and oh what a walk down memory lane, as I looked at writings I had long forgotten about.  Amidst college essays and short stories I vaguely recalled writing, I found a file entitled Random Thoughts.  I was pretty impressed by it, as were my children who said, "What poet wrote that?"  And responded with enormous astonishment when I told them I did!  At least I think I did.  Here's the thing, my names not on it...no one's is, however I have absolutely no recollection of writing the words I found on my computer.  Truth be told, it's not even finished, the last stanza stops mid word, and when I read it through a second time I'm not even sure it was meant to be a poem, but actually is just four paragraphs of random thoughts.  My husband thinks this is simply hysterical and I'm comforted to know I never cease to amaze him...

So, without further ado, I'd like to share this "poem" that I think I wrote many years ago, with the disclaimer that I may not have actually written it...though it was in my laptop.  I left the fourth and incomplete stanza out because, well it was incomplete, and I didn't think it was needed!


Random Thoughts

I want to be honest but there’s too much true

Sometimes I get so nervous that I take off everything,

Exposing myself fully to the perfect you.

Only to watch your eyes widen in disbelief, hearing

My voice admit my clothes are better on.

So much of me is longing to express. I’m fearing,

I’m not enough because I can see you

And I’m left as a child, young and weaning 

Off her mothers approval, for that is true,

I said too much already, and yet nothing at all.

I want to make people feel as I do from you

To elevate their souls with my voice, singing

Like an Angel in flight, tender, soft, to sooth

Speak that bodies be moved,

Write that I might express, express something true.

Hiccuping Hubert

Some of you may recall when I first started this blog, I had a little "run in" with Mr. James Preller and his book Hiccups for Elephant.  If you're not familiar with the tale, I encourage you to click James Preller's name on the side bar and read all about it!  After several attempts at revising my story Hiccuping Hubert I finally gave up.  I was resolute in thinking it just wasn't meant to be.  I would pack up Hubert and the whole hiccuping idea and move on.  Then one day, in the shower (I get my best ideas in the shower...) it hit me!  Eureka!!!  I'll make Hiccuping Hubert about the days of the week...

Here's the rough draft of the query letter:

Oh no!  Hubert signed up on Sunday for the talent show, but he's got a bad case of the nervous hiccups, "Hiccup-ba."  Hubert's friends have lots of ideas for him, but seem to be helping in all the wrong ways.  Can Hubert get rid of his hiccups and be ready to preform by Saturday?  Or will the show be a hiccuping flop?      

Each day introduces a new friend as Hubert prepares for the show.  But Hubert's friends can't seem to agree on anything, and no one is asking Hubert what he thinks.  Hubert's hiccups get worse and worse until Saturday:  Hubert is a nervous, overwhelmed, panicky, anxious, hysterical wreck!  Hiccup-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba...

Two More Queries!

The following are my query attempts at two more of my stories:  LITTLE FROG, BIG JUMP and GREEDY GURDY...




LITTLE FROG, BIG JUMP

“Little Frog dreamed about leaping high into the sky, and laughing with the other frogs.  But Little Frog was afraid.  So day after day he didn’t even try, and day after day, he passed the puddle by.  While day after day his friends would fly.  Until one day…”

Little Frog, Big Jump is a 500 word picture book of courage and perseverance, with a twist that teaches the value of learning to laugh at yourself.   

GREEDY GURDY

Ignoring Grandpa Gus’s warnings, Gurdy’s about to find out, “from the tips of her toes, to the tip of her nose,” just what happens when she’s too greedy.  Can she find a way to change, or will she be stuck like this for ever?

Greedy Gurdy is a 356 word picture book about a girl who turns into a snowman after eating too much ice cream.  Her teacher, school nurse, and principal don’t know what to do, and what will Grandpa Gus say when he sees she’s disobeyed?

MONSTER TRAP

Yesterday, in an attempt to get more organized in my writing, I spent the entire day sifting through the many saved items on my memory stick and revising as many stories as I could.  I managed to revise and print seven stories.

My next step is to create a query for each one.

This is what I came up for Monster Trap:

What a monster mess!  Moose is missing, mom is sticky, dad stinks, and Chuck’s baseball cards are spoiled.  Can Chuck trap the monster before things get really out of hand?

Monster Trap is a 499 word picture book about a boy out to avenge his pet mouse, Moose.  Using clues from the scene of the crime, Chuck designs several monster traps. But his traps seem to catch everything except the monster!

READ LIKE A WRITER

With my recent departure from my steady full time job I am trying to be resolute (can you try to be resolute?...) in becoming more serious about my writing.  Thusly on the days I do not get a subbing job, rather than devoting my solitary hours to cleaning my house, which by the way is desperate for some attention, I am spending a good portion of my time on the computer searching for any and all information I can find regarding my craft.  

My search today brought me to the New Hampshire Writers' Project, where I discovered a very helpful article,  Children and YA by David Elliot:  Writing for Children and young Adults 101.  In the article, author David Elliot expounds upon the importance of a writer to first and foremost be a READER!  This is something I truly struggle with, and have struggled with all my life.  I can remember in College having an assignment from my professor, David Crouse to interview a number of Authors/Editors.  Each and every person I interviewed stressed the importance of reading as a writer.  At the time, though I loved to write, I didn't think I liked to read, and therefore was doing everything I could to prove one didn't have to read to be a good writer...oh the naïveté!  I now truly understand that to enrich your own talent you need to study others' and observe their techniques and styles.  Not to mention it's quite helpful to know the current trends...cuz times, they do change!  

David points out, however, it's not enough just to read, but we need to read like a writer:  We need to ask questions about the Point of View, the techniques the author used to make us care, the amount of dialogue, and so on.  He challenged us to write an annotated bibliography of the School Library Journal's "Top 100 Picture Books" which is one of the first assignments he issues to his students. 

The number one picture book listed is Where the Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak.  

This is a well known book, however I can't recall ever reading it before today, which truly astonished me.

 Here's my attempt at the assignment:

1. Sendak, Maurice.  The Library.  New York:  Harper Collins Children's Books, 1963.

Max, wearing his wolf suit and causing some mischief, was sent to bed with no supper.  His room transforms into another world where max sails to where the wild things are.  Max becomes the "King of all wild things" but grows lonely, and so, sets off to return home where "someone loves him best."  There he finds his supper waiting, "and it was still hot. "

Sendak uses repetition of both phrases and words.  The repeated phrases are found on Max's journey to where the wild things are, and then on his return, only the phrase has been inverted, bringing the reader full circle.  One of the most famous lines from the book, "they roared their terrible roars and gnashed their terrible teeth and rolled their terrible eyes and showed their terrible claws," is found when Max first arrives, and is repeated when he's about to depart for home.  The repetitiveness of the word "terrible" is extremely effective here.    

Sendak also uses the word "and" a lot.  I feel it gives the story continuity and a dream-like flow.  I also read Worst in Show by William Bee today, and though Bee's story has only 687 words compared to Sendak's 1,200, I found Sendak's to be a quicker read due to the "and" sentences.

Out of the 1,200 words, there are only 8 lines of dialogue which are short and simple.  In the beginning of the story Max tells his mother, "I'll eat you up!"  which is what get's him sent to bed, in the end the "wild things" tell Max "we'll eat you up - we love you so!" which again brings us full circle, tying the story up with a pretty little "wild" bow.

I found the story to be about repentance and forgiveness.  Max decides to give up his Wild Kingship to return home, and when he arrives he finds a hot supper waiting (mom has forgiven...). 

Now it's time to look at my own writing with some fresh eyes!  I'm going to evaluate my work to see if I haven't yet, how I might utilize some of these techniques...stay tuned!