Did You Know...Maurice Sendak

Well, this is it, the last post of 2013. I can't believe that New Year's Day is the day after tomorrow. With that in mind, I've decided to change things up in the coming year. I'll be cutting back on my Between the Lines character interviews and will be bringing back the popular Did You Know? series. For those of you not familiar with Did You Know?, I feature little-known facts about a different children's book author each week.

Before we continue I wanted to wish you all a very Happy New Year, may all your dreams come true in 2014! Thank you all for the love and support you have given me this past year. I really appreciate it!

This week, we'll be discovering some fun facts about illustrator/author Maurice Sendak. Thanks to Wikipedia for the facts! If you have a fun fact about Maurice Sendak that I did not list here, please share it by leaving it in the comments.

Did you know...

• Many of his extended family members died in the Holocaust?
• When he was 12 he decided to become an illustrator after watching the movie Fantasia?
• Older brother Jack Sendak was a children's book author,, too? Maurice illustrated two of them.
• In addition to illustrating his own books such as Where the Wild Things Are, In the Night Kitchen, and Chicken Soup With Rice, he illustrated many books by other authors, including Else Holmelund Minarik's popular Little Bear series?
• One of his first jobs was creating window displays for F.A.O. Schwarz in Manhattan?
• His first job as an illustrator was illustrating a textbook? The name of the book was Atomics for the Millions by Dr. Maxwell Leigh Eidinoff in 1947.
• His book In the Night Kitchen is one of the most frequently banned/censored books? The book features illustrations of a boy running naked through his dreams.
• Sendak was on the original board of advisors for the Children's Television Workshop when the concept of Sesame Street was developed?
• In addition to illustrating and writing books, Sendak designed sets for a number of ballets and operas? He also consulted and designed numerous movies, television shows and plays for both children ad adults.
• Sendak was born in 1928 in Brooklyn, New York and died in 2012 in Danbury, Connecticut? 

Now, here's a little interview with Maurice Sendak about his views on childhood among other things:

 

A Writer's Week #96: Beginning Another Journey

Hello all. I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas/holiday. Mine was great, which is why I'm so late with this post. My children have been at my parents for the last few days and my wife and I took advantage of that by going to New York City yesterday. So, here's a rundown of what's been happening.

Looked up Eloise at the Plaza, but she wasn't home.

 I met with illustrator Daniel Vogel to talk about the progress of the artwork for The Deliverers 3: The Golden Dragon of Ang. Well, actually, I went over to his house for a get together with his family the day before Christmas. He kept me in suspense saying he wanted to wait until the cover was colored and the effects done before I saw it, but the artwork is complete and I should see it early in January. I can't wait!

I received a lot of gift cards from Amazon foe Christmas and I took the plunge and used some of them to purchase some movie making software. I've been pondering it for a while and doing some research. Amazon was offering a fantastic discount after Christmas and that decided me. The software will give me a lot more options when making video book trailers. Once I get it installed I'll take a stab at making new trailers for Sharky and the Jewel and Order of the Crystal Lion. I like the job I did on them, but I felt constrained by Windows Movie Maker. The software will give me a wider range of options and I'll be able to layer more tracks so I'll be able to try my hand at some voiceover.

Finally, I am pleased to say that the day after Christmas I began writing The Deliverers 4. I have to tell you
that I'm still hazy on quite a lot of the details, which is both scary and exciting. As usual, my weekly writing goal will be 2,000 words. I only wrote 900 words over three pages, but the important thing is that I;ve started it. I'll keep you updated on my progress every week.

So, as we sail from 2013 into 2014, things are looking very good. As always, I thank you for your interest in and support of The Deliverers Series and I hope you all have a very safe, happy and healthy New Year. I'll have one more post in 2013, kind of a blast from the past with a new twist. Look for it tomorrow evening! See you then!

Found this great journal--this has to find its
way into The Deliverers 4!

Between the Lines: Ebenezer Scrooge

Christmas is in a couple of days and Christmas Eve is tomorrow! I really can't believe it's come so quickly. My children are bubbling with anticipation. As a matter of fact, all the children are bursting with a barely contained excitement. It was really evident at church yesterday. The priest gathered all the kids around the alter for the homily and they could not sit still. Anyway, I want to wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas/holiday. may God grant you all you desire in the coming year. I won't be posting again until Friday, so enjoy your holiday.

Now, I'm very excited to let you know that we've got someone very special here to speak with. Tonight, we'll be talking to that old humbug himself, Ebenezer Scrooge. So, let's see what the old miser has to say.

Greg:  Welcome, Mr. Scrooge. Merry Christmas and happy holidays!

Scrooge:  What? Oh, er, um, yes...why yes, it is getting to be that time of year! Why Merry Christmas to you my good fellow, and to your family as well.

Greg:  Umm, thank you. Excuse me for asking, but are you feeling all right?

Scrooge:  Never felt better in my life. Fit as a fiddle I am my boy. Why do you ask? 

Greg:  Well, it's just that I didn't expect to get that kind of answer from you. To be honest, I thought you'd get mad, and say something like--

Scrooge:  What? You mean like bah, humbug? No, now don't protest. I know that is what you were driving at. You're an intelligent young man I see. Yes, that was the old Ebenezer Scrooge. I was quite the wet blanket in the old days. I suppose people thought me quite disagreeable--a regular miser. But that all changed a few years back.

Greg:  You don't say. What happened?

Scrooge:  Well I'll tell you my boy, although I doubt you'll believe me. I had an epiphany of sorts. I received a healthy dose of Christmas spirit--three spirits in fact.

Greg:  I don't quite follow you.

Scrooge:  I didn't either, at first. It started one Christmas Eve when I was visited by my old partner, Jacob Marley.

Greg:  How nice, a visit from an old friend.

Scrooge:  Maybe, but in this case Marley had been dead for seven years, so it was quite a shock. To tell you the truth, I never liked him much when he was alive. He was even worse as a ghost. He kept yammering on and on about wasting his time being concerned with accumulating wealth. And then he'd rattle those chains that he'd forged in life. It set my teeth on edge.

To top it all off, he said that I was in danger of sharing his fate, and that I'd better shape up. He told me that I'd be visited by three more ghosts before the night was through. He got my attention with that one--but not for long. I figured I had a touch of indigestion. I burped, and he disappeared, so I quickly forgot about it and went to bed. 

Greg:  I'm guessing that's not the end of the story, though.

Scrooge:  You're right about that. First, the Ghost of Christmas Past took me on a walk down memory lane. That's a very painful road for me, I've got to tell you. Lots of trouble and angst. But there were also some good times, too--things I'd almost forgotten.

The next ghost to pay me a visit was the Ghost of Christmas Present, a thoroughly unpleasant specter  All he did was show me images of my impertinent relations who apparently spend all their time mocking me. I also paid a visit to the family of my lazy clerk, Bob Cratchit. They were very poor--I never realized just how poor they were. His little boy Tiny Tim was such a callow sickly lad. It about broke my heart. And yes, before you ask, I do have a heart.

The third ghost, the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, was the most horrifying spirit of all. The visions he showed me were terrible. First, Tiny Tim died, then, I died. I found that nobody really cared for me. In fact, they all despised me. Well, I thought, why would they feel like that? It made me think in spite of myself. The thing that really moved me, though, was that Tiny Tim had died. Such a happy, high spirited lad. There is nothing worse than a suffering child, I don't think.

Greg:  You're right there. So, what was the cause of your change of heart?

Scrooge:  Well, I'd like to say that it was the thought of what would happen to poor Tiny Tim, but if I were truly honest, I would have to say that it was the sight of my own grave. Of course, I knew that in order to avoid that grim apparition, I'd have to change my ways. I was thankful that the way for me to do that was to save Tiny Tim.

Greg:  Tiny Tim got better?

Scrooge:  I am happy to say he did. I made sure he received the best medical care, and I made sure there was always plenty to eat on the Cratchit table. In my life I have accomplished many things and made a mountain of money, but the recovery of Tiny Tim has been my greatest achievement. And, while I may have saved him, I owe him my life, because he just as surely saved me.

Greg:  Well, thank you very much for an unexpectedly enjoyable chat. I hope you have a very merry Christmas.

Scrooge:  And you as well. Keep the Christmas spirit in your heart the whole year 'round, and no chains will be able to contain it. You will soar with angels.

The Character Book Club Welcomes Anna Green

Hey everybody! Today's a real special day, because Greg has handed over control of the Deliverers Blog to me--Kate Endria--and my friend, Hallo Tosis the dwarf. Why has Greg given us power over his blog? We've been asked to host this month's meeting of the Character Book Club! The CBC is this great club where characters from fantastic middle grade novels hang out and get to know each other better! Hallo and I are really excited to be speaking with Anna Green from Maro L. Dill's wonderful book, Finding My Place.

So, let's get right to it.

Kate:  Hi Anna! It’s great to meet you. Welcome to the Deliverers blog and congratulations on becoming a member of the Character Book Club. Hallo and I are really excited to find out more about you and your story. We aren’t from your world, but our friend Eric is, and he told us a little about the Civil War. What was it like to be living in a city under siege?

Anna:  Hi Kate! Before I became part of the Character Book Club, I didn’t even know there was another world, and now I am talking to someone from one. My brother, James, will never believe this, and he is going to be so jealous. To answer your question, living in a city under siege is very difficult. It was very hot during those summer months, and the caves we had to live in weren’t exactly underground—they were built in the sides of yellow clay hills. It was muggy, and there were an awful lot of mosquitoes, too. But the worst part was that my family was separated because of the war. Only three of us were together—myself and my younger siblings, James and Sara.

Hallo:  I heard tell you had t’ live underground for a spell. I’m a dwarf, an’ m’ folk live in the

Dwarf Kingdom under the Iron Mountains. What was it like livin’ in a cave an’ bein’ bombed an’ such?

Anna:  I really like the way you talk. To be honest, it was not very enjoyable to live in a cave. We were very bored. We had to stay inside to be safe from the shells flying overhead, so we played games like checkers and marbles. But James is a cheater, and so it is not very fun to play with him. Mrs. Franklin, our mean neighbor whom we lived with for a while, wanted us to do chores all day inside the cave. She would make up things for us to do. It was not easy.

Kate:  War is dreadful. What was your life like before the war? What do you do for fun?

Anna:  Before the war, my family lived all together in a house in Vicksburg, and we were very close. My pa read to us all the time, and my mom and our servants made delicious suppers. My older brother Michael helped me with my school work if I had any trouble. He is one of the smartest people I know. My youngest sister, Sara, who is only 6 played with her dolls a lot. My ma always wanted me to learn to be a proper lady, but I was much more interested in the books my pa was reading or writing my own stories.

Hallo:  For a long time, I was kind of a loner, don’t ya know. What’re your friends like?

Anna:  My friends are mostly at school. Once I came home, I had chores and played with my sister and brother. I didn’t have much free time. But I have a crush on one boy named Albert. I will tell you more about him later. I think Kate is more interested in boys than you are, Hallo.

Kate:  One of my favorite things about being part of the Deliverers and going on Assignments to different worlds is that I get to learn about how others live. What’s it like living in the 19^th century?

Anna:  I thought it was wonderful, but then I came here to talk to some other characters and saw these machines called computers. But, you want to know about the 19^th century. We lived in a nice brick house, but it was hot in the summer. In the winter, we had fires and wood stoves to keep us warm. We had a lot of chores to do just to live, although in town we did have a general store where we could go to get supplies. We travel around on a horse or in a wagon or buggy. Girls wear dresses all the time, and church is very important in our lives. My pa often reads to us from the Bible at night by a lantern. One thing kids always want to know is where did I go to the bathroom? I did not have a bathroom in my house or in the cave. We had to go in outhouses.

Hallo:  M’ Pappy an’ I didn’t get along so well for a while, but now we’re thick as thieves. What are your parents like?

Anna:  It’s hard for me to talk about my parents. I don’t really want to tell you why, but during the Siege, they are not able to take care of us. But before the war, they were wonderful, kind, and loving. My pa understood me better than my ma, but I know she loved me just the same.

Kate:  If you could travel anywhere in time, when and where would you go?

Anna:  Oh my gosh, I don’t know. I think I would travel to when I’m 16 (that’s just three years from now) because I want to know if Albert is going to marry me or not.  I also heard that the war ends in 1865, and so I want to leave the war behind.

Hallo:  We’re comin’ up on the holidays. M’ folk like t’ have a kinda wild time when it comes t’ celebratin’. How do your folk celebrate Christmas an’ such?

Anna:  We always have too much to eat, including a huge turkey that my brother Michael hunts for us. He loves to hunt. Sometimes, we would go to my grandparents’ plantation a few miles away from town, but it took a very long time to get there, since we had to ride in a wagon. Sometimes, they came to our house. We always go to church on Christmas Eve and thank God for giving us his son, Jesus. In the morning when we wake up, we each have a few presents to open, and we sing Christmas songs.

Kate:  Okay, so I’ve been dying to talk about this, but wasn’t sure how to bring it up. Eric and I have been on a few Assignments together now. I really like him, but sometimes he drives me crazy. I think we’re just friends, but there are times when I catch myself hoping it might be something more. He seems to be totally clueless about that sort of thing. How did you and Albert get together? How did you know that you liked each other?

Anna:  Kate, I have been waiting for you to tell me about Eric and to ask me about Albert. At first, I couldn’t even talk in front of him. It was like bees were buzzing in my stomach the entire time he was in the room. But then he helped me when my parents weren’t able to during the Siege. We spent more and more time together, and then one day, he kissed my hand, and I felt it all the way to my toes.

Hallo:  Well that’s interestin’ an’ everything, but can’t we talk about somethin’ else? Eric might just be readin’ this, don’t ya know. Do ya have any soldiers in your town and what’re they like?

Anna:  Hallo, unfortunately, the soldiers that bombed us for 47 days while we lived in caves are the ones that won the Siege. Our army had to surrender, and now we have Yankee soldiers in Vicksburg. Some of them are nice, but most of them take our food and belongings. We have all started to bury items we want to keep away from them. My brother Michael says things will go back to normal in a while when these soldiers become busy with other people and other cities. I hope he’s right. 

Kate:  Thanks Anna, it was great meeting you and finding out a little bit about yourself and life in the 1800's.

Hallo:  Yeah, it was real illuminatin', don't ya know, 'cept maybe that girl stuff 'bout who likes who, but I guess that can't be helped.

To find out more about Margo L. Dill and her books, visit her website.
You can also get a copy of Finding My Place on Amazon. 

Paying it Forward, Thanks to You

There are signs all over that Christmas is fast approaching--people are smiling more, everyone is rushing about, lights and decorations are everywhere and my children are bubbling with barely controlled excitement. Another sign that the magic day is almost here is that the packaging of the gifts has begun at the Salvation Army.

Six wonderful authors joined me in donating 114 books to this fantastic event. My family and I spent the past two nights helping other volunteers put together gift packages for children in need. Once packaging is completed tomorrow, parents will come on Friday to pick them up. This is such a great program and it brings the joy and spirit Christmas not just to those who receive but also those who give.

I am thankful for the opportunity to share the gift of giving with my family. Each year Christian and Abigail are able to do a little bit more as they grow and mature. They make me proud. My wife Stephanie is a tremendous example to them and I'm glad she's my best friend.

This year had been even more special, because when I asked for help my readers came through by purchasing books so that I could donate one for each that I sold. I am truly grateful for my author friends who either donated copies of their books or copies of books that they had collected. A huge thank you to:

                                                     

 C. Lee McKenzie  Alligators Overhead               Karen Toz  Pie and Other Brilliant Ideas

Margo Dill  Finding My Place                          Kimberly Sentek  Oh Brother! A Nico and Tugger Tale

Celia Carlile  The Christmas Song

Stephanie Robinson, The Secret Files of Fairday Morrow

I can't possibly thank you all enough!

I wanted to post some pictures now, because I won't be posting a Writer's Week column this week, Instead, I'll be hosting this month's meeting of the Character Book Club, featuring Anna from Margo Dill's wonderful book, Finding My Place. I hope to see you on Friday. Now, here are some pictures from the gift packaging:

Books and toys being bagged

 

Gifts bagged & ready to go!

Christian in the midst of Santa's Workshop

A lineup of really cool books