my desk is a mess...

Holysmokes. Check this out: 

That's my book, That Girl Lucy Moon, "plot-mapped" by Heather Hedin. It looks like that? I have that many colors in my book? I had no idea! 

By the way, I hope I'm not embarrassing Heather by putting this up on my blog. That's her photo. But I am flattered that someone would take the time. Thanks Heather!

Here's her take-away: 

That Girl Lucy Moon teaches me to keep plot layers moving throughout the book and to refer to my character’s emotional state frequently.

I love that she felt like the plot layers kept moving -- Hallelujah! Because yeah, I worry about that. But in my own reading, I love stories with layers -- lots of depth in characters, time period, setting. So of course, I want to write those kinds of stories too.

The part about Lucy's emotional state made me smile because that is SO me. Emotions are a big part of my own personal life, and they live right on the surface for me. Anyway, I'm not surprised that my characters reflect this and that a reader might note it.

A word (and a plug) about crying (something Lucy does a lot of): I believe in it. In my own life, I don't cry in front in of people, but I do cry. I usually don't like doing it. But in the end, I find it helps me move through whatever I need to feel. Then, on the other side of that cry, I find I'm able to think with unusual clarity. It's a good technique and I recommend it.

What a happy surprise to see this! Thanks Heather!

I had a lot of fun answering questions from a book group (pictured above) reading That Girl Lucy Moon a few weeks ago and I thought I'd share their questions with all of you! They were wonderful!  

Abby asks: What made you think of the yellow and green hat and what do you think it represented or said about Lucy Moon? Green and yellow hat... hmmm.  You know, I wonder more what YOU think the hat meant.  Because now that the book is in your hands, it's actually more important about what you, as the reader, make of it.  It's hard for writers to describe their own symbols. Symbols sort of grow out of stories and its the reader that notices them.  I'll give it a try though:   The thing that's important about the hat is that it's made of hemp, which is a sustainable product and something that Lucy would like.  Because it's made out of hemp wearing it becomes an act of protest.  What did you think?

About the green and yellow:  I have no idea.  Sometimes colors stick out as I'm writing a story.  Right now, I'm writing a book where this dress is teal.  It's a pretty specific color and I could not tell you why I picked it.  Back to the green and yellow: I'm wondering now if it's green and yellow because I'm from Wisconsin and the Packers are green and yellow, but I was not conscious of doing it while writing.  Does it mean anything to you?  Maybe you can help me!

Abby asks: Did you originally choose a different ending for this story? Interesting!  Sort of.  I thought it was going to end differently (won't tell you how), but then it ended as it did when I was working on it.  In fact, I started to cry at the end as I was writing it -- it totally surprised me.  And this is the first time this has ever happened to me -- me weeping over an ending.  I'm not really an emotional writer.  Most days I just sort of chug along at my computer.

Ava asks: Have you ever organized or participated in a protest? If so, what was it like?Once I did. I won't tell you what it was.  But I did it mostly because I was so nervous about being part of a chanting, picket line and I thought I needed to try it.  I don't like being afraid of things.  Anyway, I did it.  AND NO ONE WAS THERE.  There was a little group of 12 or so of us with our signs chanting and going in circles and then there was a meeting afterward in the basement of this building and it was INCREDIBLY boring.  It was a pretty wild experience.  These days the way I do that sort of thing is by writing and supporting organizations that I believe in.

Sara asks: Why wouldn't Lucy's Mom buy her a plane ticket instead of Mukluks if they cost around the same price? I think that's a question for you.  Why do you think that is?  It IS infuriating, isn't it?

Emma asks:Who is your favorite character you have ever written about? My favorite character is always the one I'm currently writing.  So right now I'm working on another middle grade novel and so my favorite character is   is Georgie Burkhardt of Placid, Wisconsin.  She's from the 19c and she's a bit of a hoot, and a little angry.  I like her!  It would be horrible to be working on a book and still pining for a character from a published book.  I DO like Lucy a lot though.  She's pretty great.

Emma asks: Sometimes when I am trying to write a story, I will write a lot (like 30 pages or more) but start to get bored with my story or my characters. Does that ever happen to you? Do you have any suggestions on how to get past that?If I get bored with my story it usually means that a) I don't know the character well enough, or b) I don't want to let the character do something that is bad, or dumb, or say something that I'm afraid of my mother reading.  It's hard to break through the wall though -- sometimes you have to put a piece away for awhile and come back to it.  I actually got bored with Lucy.  She was the hardest character to write and I had to let her be who she was and say whatever she wanted to say without me trying to make her completely good.  But it was hard work.

Ciara asks: Is there any girl who inspired your idea for the character Lucy?  Yes:  My cousin Rachel, my best friend Michele, another best friend Laura and myself.  As for myself -- it's the person I WISH I was, not the person I actually am. Her humor though is a lot like me.  And I can get sort of rant-ish and I used that.

Ciara asks; Why did you make her Mom leave for so long? I felt it was realistic, and that it COULD happen.  Sometimes kids books soften up the truth and I think readers recognize this.  I wanted to write the book for kids who had experienced something like this -- and I know they're out there.  Okay, but here's a funny bit:  My editor made me make the time frame shorter -- yes, shorter!  So what you're getting is even shorter than what I planned.  My editor couldn't take it.  She was probably right though.

Julie asks: How did you come up with the idea for the book Lucy Moon and did you have any experiences similar to Lucy's when you were growing up? If so what were they?  The idea grew from almost nothing.  The book started with the image of the blue sledding hill (it looks like the whole world is underwater).  That's where it started.  Then I started to write about growing up in a small town.  I really did get multiple bra checks in middle school.  It happened for days and though I turned around and grabbed a pencil, I never broke it.  I did not like the middle school boy-girl stuff much.  And even now when I remember that time period, I barely remember my classes -- only the craziness in the hallways.  So that stuff was pretty true.  I also had a HUGE sledding hill behind my house -- it was amazing and dangerous.  My dad was an ambulance driver and he picked up the injuries that resulted from sledding down that hill on toboggans.  We were forbidden from going on toboggans or from owning toboggans because of those injuries (mostly broken bones).  We sledded with an inner tube -- that was my favorite.  That's Sam's sled, isn't it?

...Miss Ilene Viola Wiggins lived at the top of Wiggins Hill -- the only good sledding hill in Turtle Rock -- and she ran that hill just like she ran the town. Miss Wiggins didn't let kids use toboggans (snap your back) or slide past dark (decapitate someone). Sledders dreamed about that extra slide, when the air turned so blue that the whole world looked like it was underwater, and the only light came from the reflection of the dusk moon on the blue-white snow. Those blue-lit runs were crazy, out of control, rushing, rushing, with roots of trees, clumps of snake-grass, and gopher holes taking on different shapes.

When a bold someone finally tried one of their schemes, they found out that Miss Wiggins was a force unto her own. Their friends would quickly tell them that if they didn't stop sledding, Miss Wiggins might not pay for the new school auditorium, or the machine for the hospital that mapped out a person's insides. Or if they didn't get off the hill, that movie theater with "all-around sound" was doomed. For those undeterred -- and there were always a few every year -- they would find out that Miss Wiggins could see through snowsuits and ski masks, that she knew the names (and more important, the stories) of that person's parents, grandparents, and extended relations. Even five-year-olds who couldn't tie their own shoes got the hint: there was no messing around with Miss Wiggins.

-- from Amy Timberlake, That Girl Lucy Moon (Hyperion Books for Children)

(Photo note:  Finally, a photo of that blue world!  This is a view of a frozen lake in northern Wisconsin.)

Click here for a Discussion Guide of That Girl Lucy Moon.  (If you need hard copies for your group, let me know and I'll see if I can get them to you.)