The Sadie’s Sketchbook Read Along Starts Today!
Join me for the From Sadie’s Sketchbook Read Along at www.sadies-sketchbook.com!
Holiday Read-Along
Join me at sadies-sketchbook.com for a read-along of the From Sadie’s Sketchbook series this holiday season. Starting November 1, 2012, I will be hosting a book club, blogging about the themes of the books, answering reader questions and sharing behind the scenes stories about my writing process. Stay tuned for surprises such as featured reader interviews, autographed book give-aways, and even a Twitter Q&A! The book club will run through February 2013.
In the books, Sadie Douglas, a spunky seventh grader, moves from the Bay Area to a small town in upper Michigan. Her dad’s job is to mediate between the hunters, community members, and a researcher about their conflicts over the black bears in their town. Sadie arrives in town expecting fun and adventure, but quickly finds herself on the outside. Sadie does make friends with Ruth, and the researcher’s son, and also meets Vivian, an artist. Vivian becomes a mentor for Sadie and encourages her to explore her questions through drawing and record her thoughts in her sketchbook. The four books follow Sadie through the seasons as she comes to love the bears and worries about their plight, faces the ups and downs of friendship, and learns to see the world differently as she works through her growing need to understand what she believes.
Just like the Sadie books, which raise deep questions and yet bubble over with fun, readers can expect the read-along to challenge them to think deeply and laugh out loud, too. Creative activities, fun Advent suggestions, and prompts to spark ideas for stories, poems and sketches will pop up throughout the three months. Bookmark the blog and join in on the fun!
Sketching with Sadie
In honor of the upcoming release of Brilliant Hues, the fourth book in the From Sadie’s Sketchbook Series, I’m hosting a Sketching Challenge.
If you’ve read the first three books, you know that sketching becomes a way for Sadie to explore and ultimately better understand her new life in Michigan. Many of us are starting new, with new classrooms, new teachers, maybe even new schools or towns. Why not do what Sadie does… and sketch?
There’s something joyful in searching for a scene to sketch. As you search, your mind will start to take mental snapshots. You’ll notice just how vivid the orange clouds are at sunset, be surprised by a dragonfly’s blue-green wings, or burst out laughing at a puppy wriggling on his back on bright green grass. The ordinary becomes so much more interesting when you pay attention.
Consider carrying a camera with you. Snap real shots of moments you’d like to sketch, so you have all the details when you sit down with pencils and paper.
Start by just noticing, even if you don’t sketch yet. Vivian would say that “Learning to see is the first step in learning to draw.” If you sketch something you love, email the pdf to Naomi with a title for your image. I will post many of your images here on the blog. For the next month or two, check back for new drawing challenges. More are on the way!
Happy Sketching!
Bushwhacking
We’ve got a debate going at my house. When is the end of the year?
I believe, and have long-held, that the end of the year is the last day of school. Of course, those that hold that December 31 is the last day of the year are technically more correct. Still, in the cycle of my life, when school ends and the summer stretches long in front of me, I feel like I’ve stepped into a land of new beginnings. New possibilities spring up.
The first thing I do is bushwhack. Yep. As though my office is a jungle (and on the last day of the school year, it practically is), I hack through the piles and paperwork and clutter. As my recycling bin and donation boxes fill, and I start to see my desk’s surface, I feel my lungs open and I can finally breathe.
Clearing my desk allows me to clear my mind–always a joyful process because where there’s space, creativity is possible. When I’m in the thick of commitments and appointments and classes, buried in paperwork and email and to-do items, I simply can’t think of a single new thing. But my heart feeds on these new ideas, these full-of-hope possibilities, and creativity is generally the thing I most need when I’m in those overwhelmed, too-busy moments. So, today, I’m feeling grateful as I scan my shiny, clear desk. Anything is possible. Perhaps, today, I can get back to the important work of learning how to play.
A Question for Sadie
So, I decided to divulge a secret––most mornings, as I get ready to write, I play a game. You can learn more about it at #rollnwrite. The game warms up my mind and sparks creative ideas, but more importantly, by playing, I practice opening myself up for surprise. So much of the creative process is about saying YES to the new ideas that pop into our heads, particularly when they catch us by surprise. Still, there are so many reasons why we don’t want to say yes. For instance, that new idea might introduce a plot twist, or complication, or it may mean we have to rewrite many, many pages.
However, I’ve learned that when I say no to the surprises, my words start falling flat. They have no spark, no energy, no drive. Too many no’s and my creativity goes off in the corner to sulk.
Anyway, today, I rolled my dice, and I rolled “Character” and Question.” So, I decided to ask Sadie a question. What would she do for her 13th birthday party? She’d go waterskiing with her friends at Lake Tahoe. She’d have chocolate cupcakes with vanilla frosting and Reeses Pieces on top. She’d definitely want a candle to blow out, and she’d make a wish––to see her friends back in Owl Creek, MI soon. She’d give out party favors, probably sketchbooks and drawing pencils, hoping to entice her friends to draw along with her. And she’d ask her best friend, Pippa, to take lots of pictures so she could make a collage of the day later, and put it up on her bulletin board.
What would your character do on their next birthday?
