Welcome to our newest blogger, Carol Coven Grannick! ~ by Patricia Toht

The GROG has added a new blogger to its roster:

Carol Coven Grannick!

PT: Welcome, Carol! How did you get started as a writer?

Carol: As a child, it seemed natural for me to write, to put thoughts and emotions to paper. From childhood on, poetry and wonderful stories delighted and moved me, and the most natural thing in the world seemed to be for me to create the same. I suppose without putting it into words at the time, it felt like this - this thing, this experience is 'me.'

As far as I've meandered from full-time writing, being a writer has always figured into my multi-faceted identity. But there did come a time, once I was writing for children in a committed way, when I said to myself that whether or not I ever became book-published, I was a writer, and would keep writing. For several years, I put submitting on the back burner, and that freed me to write exactly what I needed and wanted to write. I still do. The deepest joy is in creating and re-creating.


PT: What inspires you?

Carol: Everywhere I go, everything I do, every moment of my life, can inspire a poem or idea for a picture book. It could be something a child does or says, something I observe or experience during the day, but it's always something visceral and something that my brain sees in language. An idea comes from this kind of response to anything - always something that catches me, sparks a sensation of wonder, even awe. Something tiny, but breathtaking, whether beautiful, joyful, painful, sorrowful, will catch my attention, and I'll hear an opening line of a poem, a title or opening lines for a picture book.

Advice Image source and CC link

PT: You've written quite a bit for newsletters and blogs. What are your favorite bits of advice for writers?

Carol: It's true that I've written lots of articles on the writer's inner life for newsletters and blogs. In fact, before I had a professional interest in the writer's inner journey and the strengths needed for persisting on the journey, I wrote columns for my high school paper, and later longer papers and articles that always leaned "internal." 

I never offer advice that I don't take myself, and so the small pieces of advice I'd offer - as a writer and clinical social worker - are these overarching things:

1. trust or learn to trust your emotions and refrain from judging them; 
2. if a pessimistic framework seems to inhibit your work, choices, and life, learn - with help and practice - to reframe language into a heartfelt, optimistic framework; and
3. when preoccupied with the self-absorbing issues of working at being creative, make certain that your life has "other-balance" - focusing on what you can do for others or the greater good.

PT: Which books and authors are among your favorites?

Carol: Many authors have impacted my writing life, from the ALL OF A KIND FAMILY books I received as a child and classic picture books like BLUEBERRIES FOR SAL, MAKE WAY FOR DUCKLINGS, and THE STORY OF FERDINAND, to the extraordinary books I discovered at Skokie Solomon Schechter Day School, where Irene Sufrin had created and shared a magnificent K-5 library that took my breath away and turned my writing journey toward children. I read and re-read Jerry Spinelli, Linda Sue Park, Katherine Applegate, Kerry Madden, Karen Hesse, Lois Lowry, Claudia Mills, Deborah Wiles, Frances O'Roarke Dowell, Richard Peck, and so many more I don't have room to mention.

PT: Tell us a little about your upcoming book. What was your path to publication?

Esther Hershenhorn

Carol: My middle grade novel in verse, REENI'S TURN (Fitzroy Books, 2020), is a story of becoming, as one of my mentors, Esther Hershenhorn, so aptly said - really, a story of a shy, self-conscious preteen girl becoming the girl she'd like to be, without giving up the person she already is. It is a body-positive story that challenges the cultural notion that who we are, what we achieve in our lives, and what we even allow ourselves to want, is dependent on the size and shape of our bodies. 

The seed story for the novel appeared in Cricket Magazine in 2001, and inspired the award-winning experimental film, La Folia (Filmelodic, 2018). For now, I'll say that REENI has been through many years and more drafts and versions than I could have imagined, with me facing plenty of obstacles not unique to our business, but important to learn from, and to share. The degree of help and support I received from so many people in so many different arenas was a true gift. I took a turn toward independent, traditional publishers in early 2019, and found my good (and best) match with Fitzroy Books and publisher/editor Jaynie Royal.

Carol spent time this summer on a creative retreat, led by
Esther Hershenhorn in Landgrove, Vermont.

PT: Do you prefer the initial writing or the revision process?

Carol: I prefer revision, hands down! I love revising and have learned to revise with the eyes of a stranger. The benefit of putting away a manuscript for some period of time cannot be overstated. Our brains need the distance in order to see clearly.

PT: What's next for you?

Carol: I believe I've circled back to where I began my writing life - with poetry, whether verse or poetic prose, it feels like where I belong.

Heidi Bee Roemer

Poetry for the very young is my primary focus right now. When I began writing full-time, for the first time in my life, in July 2018, I took an intensive class with Heidi Bee Roemer. I felt like my brain exploded into a garden. I couldn't stop writing poetry for the very young, and I didn't want to! My inspirations were, and still are, the beloved children at the cutting-edge early childhood center where I'd worked for six years, and continue to serve as a volunteer story-reader. Heidi is a wonderful teacher, and a loving and supportive mentor. My classmates and I continue to exchange valuable critiques online.

I'm also working slowly and carefully on a poetry chapbook for adults that deals with an experience in a major hospital that jeopardized my husband's life, and had a major impact on me that I'm still processing.

PT: Wow, Carol! What an interesting journey you've had. Your path and persistence are an inspiration to me. We're so looking forward to having you join us on the GROG!

Hello, Carol!

************ WINNER ALERT!!! ************

Congratulations to Andrea Page,

the winner of Michelle Schaub's

new picture book/poetry collection,

FINDING TREASURE!

Andrea, please contact Michelle via her website
HERE.

Don't Miss This Manuscript Workshop! ~ by Patricia Toht

Children's writers, DON'T MISS THIS!

A Manuscript Workshop -

in Vermont -

in July -

Photo by Bill Toenjes

with brilliant writing coach Esther Hershenhorn!

Esther Hershenhorn

Esther is an author, a writing teacher, and blogger. She's a writing coach who helps authors achieve their dreams of turning manuscripts into books. I first met Esther when she was regional advisor of SCBWI-IL, and I can attest that she is one of the loveliest, talented, and most encouraging people in the kidlit world.

Recently, I sat down with Esther to ask her about the 2017 Vermont Manuscript Workshop that she will be leading. It will be held at the Landgrove Inn in Vermont on July 9-14.

Q: The Manuscript Workshop was founded by children's author Barbara Seuling. How did she impact your career as a writer, teacher, and coach?

Barbara Seuling

Esther: I am beyond honored to be continuing my mentor Barbara Seuling's venerable Manuscript Workshop, especially now that she is no longer with us. Simply put: Barbara's life as an author, editor, and teacher was pure Show, Don't Tell. She believed - in children's books, in children, and in each children's book writer's capacity to become. She held the bar high; children deserve only the best. "Only the best" was also what her readers and writers received - not only from her Manuscript Workshop but from her

best selling book, HOW TO WRITE A CHILDREN'S BOOK AND

GET IT PUBLISHED, both of which launched the careers of countless children's book creators. I feel so lucky to have known Barbara as a friend, to have learned from her as a writer, to have watched a true teacher at work. Last summer's attendees were lucky, too; her afternoon session was the icing on the cake. I'm already at work planning ways Barbara's affirming, caring spirit will continue to make itself known and breathe life into the Manuscript Workshop.

Q: Who do you feel will benefit most from this workshop - budding writers or more experienced ones?

Esther: The Manuscript Workshop is all about seeding and feeding children's book writers, giving each attendee what he or she needs (1) to grow his or her stories so they resound in readers' hearts and (2) to grow as a writer. There's the story the writer is telling, and there's the writer's story that the writer is living every day.

Attendees at last year's Manuscript Workshop

Writers need only: 
• a working manuscript on which to focus; 
• a want and a need to take that manuscript to the necessary Next Level, whatever that might be; and 
• a willingness to "only connect,' as P.L. Travers advised - with their world, their story, themselves.

All formats and genres for readers of all ages are welcomed!

Like Barbara, I do my best to make sure that any writer seeking the time, space, place, focus, insights, and care to make his or her story the best it can be will benefit from the Manuscript Workshop.

Q: How is leading this workshop different from coaching clients?

Tranquility in Vermont 

Esther: Barbara and I used to tease each other that we do things "the old-fashioned way - i.e. up close and personal," so when it comes to my coaching, the "care" mentioned in my answer above stands front and center. It's my job to not simply teach writers how to write for children, though I want my writers and students leaving with Major Writing Truths and Insights they can bring to each and every manuscript that follows; it's my job to make sure the writer continues to move forward on his/her plot line believing in his/her story and believing in himself/herself as the perfect person to tell that story. Think: teacher, facilitator, resource, cheerleader, travel guide, colleague and Jewish Mother. I'm happy to say that somehow all of those roles instinctively come into play when I teach a class, coach a writer, and/or facilitate a workshop.

Q: What is your favorite part of this workshop?

Esther: Last summer was my first time visiting Vermont's Green Mountains and the outstanding (and historic) Landgrove Inn that offered award-winning cuisine three times a day! 

Vermont's Green Mountains
Photo by Compass Points Media

My writers and I loved how GREEN everything was, the BLUE of the skies, the quiet of the day, except for the spirit-lifting bird songs. They were free to live inside their stories, free from everyday responsibilities, to go deep and true, yet free to share them with their fellow writers. Coming to know each writer - her connection to the story she was telling, her writer's journey, her wants/needs/wishes, and seeing the progress each made during the week, as always gladdened my heart. Seeing them come together throughout the week, however, to help one another - even now, seven months later as an online writers' group named The Vermonters - took my coaching to a Team Level that would have made Barbara Seuling happy. Like Roald Dahl's Matilda, when she discover the book in the library for the very first time, each writer realized she was not alone.

As I said earlier, if you are a writer, DON'T MISS THIS!

For more information about this year's Manuscript Workshop, or to discover more about Esther's work with students and writers, visit Esther's website HERE and HERE.

Please note that Tom Checchia is offering a 10% room discount at the Landgrove Inn for writers who register by Feb. 28th! Connect with the Landgrove Inn HERE.

Read Esther's blog about last year's Manuscript Workshop in Esther's blog post "Making Magic in Vermont."

Esther also reflects on the passing of the wonderful Barbara Seuling in "Barbara as Mentor" HERE.