Grampa’s gift

Recently I discovered another piece of history—another treasure—when I was given a few diaries that my paternal grandfather, Grampa Copley, had written. I’d heard he kept diaries but thought they’d all been lost or destroyed. 

The treasure is a diary from 1934, a summary of diaries from 1912 to 1969, and a scrapbook from his young adulthood. 

Burr Copley was born in Unadilla, New York, and graduated from Cornell University in 1913 with a degree in agriculture. He used his knowledge to run a successful farm and grain, feed, and turkey business along with Marion Lowry, whom he married in 1917. Grampa Copley loved his family and valued education and faith. 

What we know—or think we know—of family is sometimes challenged when we read primary sources that document what actually happened at the time it occurred. For example, I thought my grandparents had always lived in their large, rambling farmhouse with its barns and sheds and coops and generous land. But in the 1934 diary, I learned that the family, which by then included five children, were renting a home in another part of town. Grampa spent much of that year scouting out a permanent home to buy. 

I also learned about how they managed the farm, from both domestic and business prospectives, which has given me the details that will give my current middle-grade manuscript the authenticity it needs.

The summary diary records highlights of each year, which, judging by the quality of my grandfather’s handwriting, he wrote from either existing diary entries or from memory later in his life. Although it doesn’t have the immediacy of the 1934 diary, it provides important dates and events.

And the scrapbook includes photos of my fun-loving great aunties, whom I’d known only in their middle and late years, as fun-loving young women.

Having these treasures has given me insight into my grandfather as a young man, a young father, a successful business person, and a grandfather. They’ve also added to who I am; knowing more about my family helps me understand more about myself.

Writing in a diary takes only a few minutes of your day, but it will be an unending gift to your family for generations.

Happy writing! 

A bookcase of days

I’ve written about my great-grandmother’s diaries—how they’ve provided insight into my family, how I’ve used them as research for some of my historical fiction, and how they influenced me to begin my own daily diary-writing practice 25 years ago. 

For many years my mother was the keeper of the diaries. Whenever I visited her, I’d spend several hours reading through them. And when my mother prepared to move out of the house I’d grown up in, she sent the diaries to me. Now they’re displayed in a bookcase in my bedroom—which, until our young-adult children leave the nest for good, is also my writing space.

There, they’re just a reach away, so I can research and immerse myself in historical New England. When I was writing Full Cicada Moon and wanted to know the weather each day in 1969, I turned to her diary. As I’ve been writing the middle-grade novel Family of Ghosts and wanted to understand how women’s suffrage, World War II, and the influenza pandemic affected her and her small New Hampshire town in 1918, I turned to her diary. As I wrote the adult verse novel The Women of Shunem and needed details about the death of her son, I read her 1937 diary. And as I’ve been writing the adult novel Restored and wanted to know anything about the inn that was once a birthing hospital, where my mother and uncle were born, I read her diaries from the 1950s and ‘60s.

When I find a bookcase for my own diaries, I’ll post a photo of them.

Happy reading and writing!

My 2021 reading challenge

Like many people, I have stacks of books that I’ve wanted to read for months (and some for years). Somehow, knowing my house is filled with unread books is like knowing my fridge is full of food but going out to eat.

But lately, the growing book inventory had gotten out of hand. And now that I’ve exchanged my technical writer and editor career for full-time writing, I have the time and mental energy to do more reading.

So, last December 2020 I decided to become more disciplined about reading the books I’d collected, and set a modest goal of reading one book a week in 2021 (so, 52 books). After I finished a book, I could either give it away or keep it. But, because part of the goal is to reduce the stacks, I must have a really good reason to keep a book I’ve read. For example, a nonfiction book has information I want to reference or a novel has a compelling voice.

Here’s the list of books I’ve read so far in 2021. We’re entering the 16th week of the year, so I’m ahead in the challenge!

Buy from your local independent bookstore—buy Indie Bound!

1. The Book of Boy - Middle-grade fiction by Catherine Gilbert Murdock
2. Enchanted Air - YA verse memoir by Margarita Engle
3. From the Desk of Zoe Washington - Middle-grade fiction by Janae Marks
4. The Skin I’m In - Middle-grade/YA fiction by Sharon Flake
5. Deluge - Poetry by Leila Chatti
6. Save the Cat Writes a Novel - Nonfiction/how-to by Jessica Brody
7. Irish Tales of the Fairies and the Ghost World - Fiction by Jeremiah Curtin
8. The Tradition - Poetry by Jericho Brown
9. The Balloonists - Poetry by Eula Biss
10. Ghost Of - Poetry by Diana Khoi Nguyen
11. Brown Girl Dreaming - Middle-grade verse novel by Jacqueline Woodson
12. Mermaid Tales: Books vs. Looks - Chapter book by Debbie Dadey
13. Outrun the Moon - YA historical fiction by Stacey Lee
14. Show Me a Sign - Middle-grade historical fiction by Ann Clare LeZotte
15. May B. - Middle-grade historical verse novel by Caroline Starr Rose
16. Kent State - YA historical verse novel by Deborah Wiles
17. Systems for the Future of Feeling - Poetry by Kimberly Grey
18. The Great Influenza: The story of the deadliest pandemic in history - Nonfiction by John M. Barry
19. Like the Willow Tree - Middle-grade historical fiction by Lois Lowry
20. Penny from Heaven - Middle-grade historical fiction by Jennifer L. Holm
21. Countdown - Middle-grade historical fiction/documentary by Deborah Wiles

Happy reading!

Make yourself at home

I've written about using diaries for research, but I also use several other sources when doing research for a historical (or contemporary) book. For example, I use magazines and catalogs from that time; weather records; newspapers; any primary sources such as letters, postcards, photos, diaries; and books and articles written about that time.

Today I'm working on a manuscript for a middle-grade novel set in 1918. No one needs to be reminded that a lot of stuff was going on that year, especially in the second half:

• World War I
• The influenza pandemic
• Women's suffrage
• Ongoing racism toward Irish and Irish American people (and others, of course, but this book is focused on the Irish)

Although I'm telling a fictional story, it's based on historical events and the prevailing culture. To create a believable story, I want to know as many details about that time so that I can authentically tell the story from my character's perspective. Not all the details will go into the story, of course, but my knowledge of the details will be reflected in what my character notices and how she frames her thoughts, words, and actions. 

Just the other day I discovered that is actually the secondary reason for doing this research. The first reason is more significant to how I work as a writer and create the worlds of my characters. 

I realized that the hardest thing for me to do is believe what I make up. So, when I make up stuff (which is essentially what fiction writers do), I know that if I don't believe this world I've created, my readers won't either. I'm a stranger in this world I'm trying to create for my character/s, and everything feels weird and questionable. But, if I steep myself long enough and deep enough in the world my character lives in, then it becomes my world--my home--as well. I'm no longer a stranger to this world but a citizen of it. One who eats, sleeps, dreams, walks, and loves in this world.

And it's so much easier to write when I feel at home.

Writing from diaries

During the past year, I’ve been working on four new projects: 

• a memoir in verse
• a historical young-adult novel
• a time-slip adult novel
• a memory book for my brother’s milestone birthday

As you can see, each project is unique. But they all have one thing in common: a diary. Each one either includes actual diary entries or is fully or partially written as a diary.

• The memoir in verse quotes and references entries from my diary and my great-grandmother’s (Gramma Clark). I wouldn’t have been able to re-create the timeline of events and my emotional response to them without reading through my 2011 diary.
• The young-adult novel is written as the diary of a girl living in 1918. While living through a pandemic, a global war, institutional racism, and the Suffrage movement, she had more than enough to write about.
• One protagonist (of two) in the adult novel tells her story in a diary. What better way to record a secret love affair, while confined to a “home for unwed mothers” than in a diary?
• The memory book includes scanned pages from Gramma Clark’s diary that reference events in my brother’s life. The witnesses to our lives, especially our youngest selves, give a treasure when they mention us in their diaries.

Why am I so enamored of using diaries as a tool and a form for creating fiction and nonfiction work? Here are a few reasons:

• Diaries provide a template for stories that cover a specific period of time, showing patterns and growth in a character’s life.
• Diaries mark important events in history, especially the history of a person’s life, which might not have appeared in newspapers and by other public means.
• Diary entries can deeply explore and reveal the innermost heart of their author, whether fictional or actual.
• A diary reveals to the reader what’s important and unimportant to its author, by what the author chose to include and omit from the entries.
• When you have a diary, you hold history—as it was made, as it was perceived and analyzed, as it was preserved.

Btw, recently I came into possession of a few diaries from another family member. You can imagine the hours I’ve spent with them! I’m already thinking of stories they will lead to.

Happy writing!

Full Cicada Moon: Links to interviews and reviews

Lately I’ve received several emails from student and adult readers of Full Cicada Moon who had questions about the book. Many answers to those questions can be found in interviews I did around the time the book was published (September 2015). If you have a question, or want to read a review or see additional information about this book, check out these links.

Interviews: 

Book Q&As with Deborah Kalb

Young Inklings - Ink Splat

MG Lunch Break

Nerdy Book Club

The Hiding Spot

Teachingbooks.net (plus recorded excerpt)

Mr. Schu Reads 

Reviews:

Booklist (starred)

Kirkus Reviews (starred)

School Library Journal (starred)

Publishers Weekly

Kid Lit Craft

Bustle

My Brain on Books

Colleen Conway's blog 

Other media:

Linden Tree Bookstore

Indibound.org

APALA Awards 2015-16

Puffin paperback announcement 

Bank Street Best Books 2016

California Book Awards 2016 (finalist)