June 21 may be the official first day of summer, but everybody knows summer starts the day after the last day of school. Most schools are out by now- so let the fun begin! Today, summer for most families may mean a patchwork of day camps, classes, lessons, sleepaway camps – what’s a working parent to do? It doesn’t matter, because summer is still fun. But when I was growing up, while there might have been a week of day camp or vacation Bible school, summer was wide open for all-day play. And we took full advantage of the time.

In the St. Louis suburb where I grew up, we started off summer with a full-out joyous celebration of the season. The day after the last day of school, a Saturday, we had a school parade in the morning. Each class marched through the streets with students carrying hand-made banners, the high school marching band played, parents cheered, and I imagine the superintendent of schools rode in an open car and waved. I’m not sure about the last part because I was always too concerned with holding up my banner.

But the parade was just the prelude to an amazing day! After that, everyone in the school district was off to the local, much revered amusement park, the Forest Park Highlands, for the whole day. Families packed huge hampers of food and the parents and grandparents sat at picnic tables in a shady pavilion. BUT if you didn’t have a ride, or if you were too old for that nonsense – say Junior High or High School age – there were buses to take you there and pick you up.

The picnic area was  home base for us kids. We pretty much roamed freely with our friends (after a certain age) but regularly reported back to the family for more tickets, more cash, something to eat, something to drink, Sno-Cone money. The parents came along on some rides or for a trip to the Penny Arcade to play Ski-Ball (I loved that game – especially with my grandfather) or watch old Nickelodeons.

I don’t think it cost much and if you ran into a member of the school board or some other exalted person, he or she might just present you with a bounty of free ride tickets.

There were rides for really little kids at the front near the ticket booths. I don’t recall ever riding those.

I usually hit the Bobsleds first since it was near the front of the park. Fun but short – it left you wanting more. Next to that were the bumper cars . I waited until later to ride that. I remember “driving” my grandmother on that ride. She was completely unruffled throughout the ordeal. Grandma didn’t drive, so other people’s bad driving didn’t bother her.

A little farther in was the Ferris Wheel – oh the joy of getting stopped at the top, especially if there were cute boys or even non-cute boys involved – and the Tilt-A-Whirl was always a favorite. I think my mom liked that because I remember riding with her. And there were the airplanes – always an exciting choice.

There were also two “fun houses” – one riding and one walking. I don’t remember much about the riding one – it was on water, a traditional Tunnel of Love.

But I’ll never forget the walking one. Outside, there was a mechanical laughing clown straight out of a horror film. Just as you were about to go in – there he was, laughing hysterically at your foolishness at thinking you could possibly endure the horrors awaiting you. For several years running, I actually got to the door with my ticket, and changed my mind, turning back. I was a coward, but at least I was alive.

Eventually, however, I made it – thanks to my neighbor, Joel. Just mentioning Joel and his two brothers, Dave and Jim, brings up a world of memories. They lived two houses up the street from us and our families were the very best of friends. I wouldn’t be exaggerating to say that they are like brothers to my sister, Janet, and me.

Joel is the oldest. Dave is close to my sister’s age and Jim is a tiny bit younger than I was. He was  my best friend as a child. They didn’t even go to our school – they went to Lutheran school. But they came along (just as we were included in many of their family and school events) – thank goodness.

I vividly recall what  was probably my third year of chickening out. Once again,  I reached the laughing clown. My stomach churns just thinking about him.

I really wanted to go inside but once again, I froze. What to do? Walk past the clown and face unimaginable terrors? Or admit to being a coward once again?

“Here, just hold on to my belt and follow me,” Joel said.

I don’t think I’ve ever been given a more generous gift, because I REALLY wanted to walk through the fun house. I closed my eyes to shut out the clown, grabbed onto Joel’s belt and started walking.

The walking funhouse was classically cheesy. The 1950s effects were definitely less than special. Some mildly threatening neon faces and ghosts lit up along the walls. At the end was one of those rooms where you’re all off-balance and gravity-challenged. The whole fun house was a total piece of cake… but I was still tightly clutching Joel’s belt at the end.

I survived! It was a rite of passage! The laughing clown never bothered me again and soon I moved on to a much bigger challenge: the iconic Highlands roller coaster called The Comet.

—– to be continued!

Hi – this is Humphrey squeaking and just this once, I’m taking over Betty G. Birney’s blog because her paw is all worn out from signing lots and lots of books! She’s been spinning like crazy,  all over the U.S. (and even across the border) since mid-April to talk about my books. She says an airplane would be a very dangerous place for a small hamster like me but I’m pretty brave for a small creature and I’d like to try it sometime.

She started out in Vancouver, Canada, where she spoke at several schools and public events, sponsored by Kidsbooks. She LOVED-LOVED-LOVED Vancouver and showed me this  photo she took when her plane home took off from Salt Lake City.

With Tuan Nguyen of Mackin and Cynthia Oubre, Kolter Elementary School librarian

Betty came home to re-pack and then  – whoosh – off to Houston to visit Kolter Elementary School – which had won her visit in a contest sponsored by Mackin, an educational resources company. Too bad they don’t let hamsters on airplanes, because I think I’d be quite a prize to win! Kolter is an outstanding school … and they even have a buffalo. I’m not sure it’s real, but Betty says they have a prairie and a garden which among other things, yielded 200 pounds of sweet potatoes last year!

Betty at IRA

From Houston, she went – whoosh- directly to the IRA (International Reading Association) Conference in San Antonio.  I do love it when Mrs. Brisbane reads to us!  It was fiesta time in San Antonio (sort of like Mardi Gras), but it’s always a fiesta when Betty get to hang out with the people from her publisher, Penguin … especially her editor, Susan Kochan! She spoke at the One School One Book symposium, put together by Read to Them, a terrific non-profit which is growing the One School One Book program and expanding my unsqueakably wonderful audience!

Betty celebrating with John Rocco, Sarah Weeks and Jordan Sonnenblick at AIA

Whoosh – Betty left the hotel in San Antonio at 5:00 am to head to Rochester Hills, MI for Authors in April. I know she’d been looking forward to it for a long time because she was there with some really great people. Author, illustrator and Caldecott Honor Medal winner John Rocco spoke to the kindergarteners and first graders and Betty says he can draw a great hamster and other equally cool things. He has a very talented paw! Sarah Weeks spoke to the third and fourth graders about her hamster-rific books, including one about Oggie Cooder – I wonder if he’s related to Og the frog? And Jordan Sonnenblick spoke to the big kids and taught them a lot about writing. I’ll bet he keeps his ideas in a notebook, just like I do.

  John          Sarah

They were so busy, they hardly had time to eat … but when they had the chance, they chowed down on food that looks even tastier than my Nutri-Nibbles.

Betty spoke to the second and third graders at fifteen schools, attended a fancy banquet, did a library event and signed more books than she’s ever signed in one place before. She says the kids in Rochester and Rochester Hills are BIG-BIG-BIG Humphrey fans – so I LOVE-LOVE-LOVE them!

Birthday girl Betty G.

She even spent her birthday there … and they celebrated at a fiesta at a Mexican restaurant. She says they don’t allow hamsters there either! Mostly, though, she talked about how wonderfully she was treated and how much fun the week was. (Note to self: find out when I have a birthday, please!)

Betty returned to Los Angeles, packed her bags again and – whoosh – she headed up to Bakersfield, CA. This time she went in a car and I know for a fact that they allow hamsters in cars. But she said it was 100 degrees in Bakersfield when she arrived and I must say, we hamsters don’t like weather that’s too hot or too cold.

Betty with authors Kristine O’Connell George, Tina Nichols Coury and Greg Trine

Again, Betty was paired up with unsqueakably great writers. They were busy, speaking all day at different schools. She spoke to big groups of kids there – I’d love to give them all great big hamster hugs! It was mostly work, but there was a banquet, speaking at the Kern County Young Authors Fair AND some of the writers sneaked out one night and went to Buck Owens’ Crystal Palace for a hootin’ and hollerin’ good time. (Hootin’ and hollerin’ hurts my small hamster ears.)

Betty’s home again and she says she’s never traveling again … but I happen to know that she’s going to the Edinburgh BookFest at the end of August and squeaking about me! Then off to London. Oh, how I’d love to shake paws with the Queen!

But I have to scurry off now, because now MY paw is tired.

Signing off …. your furry pal HUMPHREY

I was thinking about firsts in author’s life because of something I’ll tell you about later on in this post. I was amazed at how many there are.

  There’s the first book that you can actually buy in a store that has your name on it. Actually, this had three names on it, but one of them was mine and I was thrilled.

 There were other Disney books but after a lot of hard work, there it was – the first book with my own characters – not someone else’s.

Then, there was my first middle grade book published. I didn’t know it would also be my first series. (Yes, this was the original cover.)

 If you’re lucky, there are the first starred reviews which I got for this book.

Each book has its own set of firsts. There’s the first time you see the cover, the first time you hold the book in your hands, the first review. Fingers crossed that it’s a good one- even if there are less flattering ones to come, you’ll have that in your pocket. (Whew, Humphrey’s were all positive.) It goes on and on. The first fan mail, the first award, the first time a book earns back its advance, the first school visit.

          I was thinking about this when I learned about author Bridget Zinn. I don’t know Bridget and I never will because though her debut novel, Poison, just came out this week, Bridget didn’t live to see this first. But she wrote it and and she sold it and she knew it would be published and that’s quite an accomplishment. If you haven’t done it, try it – it’s not as easy as it sounds. I haven’t read Poison yet but I’ve ordered it. Who can resist a 16 year old heroine who’s a specialist in poisons and potions and oh, yes, she has a pet pig. The pig sold me. And so did Bridget – you can read about her, see her and hear her on her website.   You’ll wish you knew her — and you can. One of the greatest thrills about having a book published is that it’s there, somewhere, on a shelf and it doesn’t go away. Eventually, you may not find it in a bookstore, but it’s still in a used bookstore, a library, on a shelf in a home – and ebooks will probably always be available. I’ve ordered the book because it sounds like a great read. And also because of Bridget. Why not see for yourself?

Time after time, when I talk to aspiring young writers – or even aspiring not-so-young writers, I hear their frustrations about how they have good ideas but the stories just don’t turn out well when they put the words on paper. It’s possible that they’re not good writers. But it’s more probable that they simply stopped too soon.

I certainly had that problem when I was a kid. I loved writing stories and I had tons of ideas. But I had trouble finishing my stories. Usually, I just abandoned a story and started a new one. That’s why I was happy to find a childhood story that I actually finished. It’s not a good story but I’m extremely pleased with it because it has a great structure. After all my failed attempts, I was unlocking at least one of the “secrets” of writing. A story needs a beginning, a middle and and end. Also, unlike some of my great failures based on subjects I knew nothing about (the Southern plantation girl, the Hawaiian girl) the story that worked was simple, age appropriate and relatable.

I think a lot of writers who give up in frustration have forgotten the most important thing about writing: revision. Getting the first draft down on paper is the hard, sweaty labor. But then you have something to work with – something you can hone and craft and play with and make better and better with each draft. That’s the stage I’m currently in.

I just completed a manuscript and I’m guessing I did about 20 revisions – which isn’t a lot for me.  That doesn’t count the mid-writing revisions. For instance, I was well into the revisions when I realized that I needed to add a lot of detail to create a complete, believable and appealing world. So I stopped there and revised what I’d already written, building in that world before continuing. As usual, when I reached the end, things had changed along the way and I had to do several revisions to focus the story more sharply toward that ending. And then, I had to take out some of the detail I had added and make some changes in the lead character. Now I find I need to dive in again and re-define two of the characters.

I thought about revisions when I pulled out some of my father’s carvings. My dad was a great amateur artist and he did a lot of wonderful, whimsical wood carvings.  Late in life, he had eye problems and although he didn’t abandon art, he put down his carving knife. After he died, I found some unfinished carvings and as soon as I looked at them, they reminded me of a writer’s rough drafts. The shape is there but the sharp cuts aren’t. The little details aren’t there either and none of the color. And yet, in each one, I can already see the personality emerging! Dad always put a lot of character – and movement – into his carvings.

This dog is just a beginning – the shape is very rough. But already I know that he’s an inquisitive hound.

 This gnome-like creature looks like a cranky Hobbit to me. He’s definitely not a happy one.

 This lady skater didn’t fare well in my suitcase. She’s rough as well – no defined skates yet, the hands are very rough. Still, I see the breeze picking up the ends of her scarf and the way he was going to catch her in an off-balance pose. Dad did a lot of skaters and they always could stand on their tiny carved skates, except for the one on his rear end.

(By the way, Uncle Alf’s magical Christmas village and the woodcarver who makes the angel – both in The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs – were inspired by Dad’s incredible Christmas village.)

When you write a series, you end up answering the same questions over and over, which is understandable. Who wouldn’t wonder if I have a hamster or what was the inspiration for the book? Deborah Kalb recently interviewed me for her (adult) book blog and dug a little more deeply. I always like questions that make me think. Here’s the interview: http://bit.ly/T6l9Hw.

I recently was at a school where I did two sessions (third and fourth grade) and we had a lot of time, so it was more relaxed than usual. The students asked all the usual, obvious and again, perfectly understandable questions. But then a miracle happened: they started to ask questions about writing. Really good questions about writing. I wish that happened more often at school visits. Yes, the author is there to inspire the students, which is what I try to do. And entertain as well, so they don’t fall asleep. But often, people miss the opportunity to have a writer all to themselves and ask for answers they’d never get off my website, for instance, or in the bio on the back of a book.  Once the kids loosened up that day, they dug more deeply and I hope they enjoyed it as much as I did. I love it when a child asks a question that really makes me think!

I guess at a perfect school visit, the teachers would have had time beforehand to explore the possibilities of asking a real writer questions about how they really write. But I know how limited their time is.

It would be ideal if the students were asked to listen to each answer instead of waving their hands and hoping they’ll get called on. (They all do this, but if you really think about it, it’s rude to have your hand up while a person is answering another question.) And the students would not repeatedly ask questions that were already answered because then it’s obvious that they weren’t listening. (One of my son’s previous teachers, whose class I’ve visited several times calls students on that bad practice but she’s the only one.)

It would be really lovely if the teachers listened and didn’t do their paperwork while I spoke. When they do that, I realize that there’s no hope that they’ll take what I said and reinforce it back in the classroom. Most of the time, teachers do go back and talk to their students about what I said and give them a project that builds on that. But not the ones who don’t listen.

In the end, this is what school visits are like and 99%  of the time, the students and teachers are enthusiastic, interested and lots of fun.

Life isn’t perfect anyway, after all. But please – don’t hold back from asking those burning questions.