Out of the Final Turn and Into the Home Stretch

Yeah, I know. Horse racing analogy, polo image. Whatever. I have a book to write, people. 

I'm so, so close to being done with this book. So close. I can see it out there, glimmering on the horizon, and the only way I know it's not a mirage is that there's a huge brick wall just behind it with the words "HARPERCOLLINS DEADLINE" printed in Times New Roman 5,000 point font.

November first. It's coming, and damn fast.

That said, I'm announcing last call. Serve up your best quotes and experiences and lay 'em out on the bar for my delectation and possible inclusion in my book.

Here's what I'm looking for:

• experiences of learning from failure 
• regret because you or your kid did not learn from failure 
• examples of not allowing kids to experience the consequences of their actions 
• tales of resilience, perseverance, and diligence 
• moments when a fixed mindset hampered learning
• moments when a growth mindset fostered learning 
• or anything else you think might be relevant

Send them along to the email address over there on the right side of the screen! 

If I use your quote, I will send along a HarperCollins release, and as I am able to assign initials to your quote, it can be anonymous. 

Thanks, everyone. I now understand why the acknowledgement sections of books are so long. There's simply not enough paper to thank all the people involved in this book. 

T-minus 35

T-minus 35 days until my manuscript deadline. What I did not think about when I suggested November 1 was that my amazing, talented, smart agent, Laurie Abkemeier would want to see the aforementioned manuscript before I send it off to HarperCollins. She's a fantastic editor, and I am grateful for her edits, but I didn't really figure that step of the process into my mental planbook. 

This has all happened so fast, and it's all been so mind-blowing that sometimes I have to just stop and catch my breath. For all of my new readers, here's the story of how I got to T-minus 35 days in "The Anatomy of a Viral Post," Part I, Part II, and Part III. 

Anyway, I've been attempting to keep my sanity by doing this:

and this: 

and this. 

All of these things have helped, but I am, for better or for worse, also doing this:

and this:

and added in this: 

and [a lot of] things like this: 

So life has been a little crazy. 

Today, I'm under the weather, so while I just turned a chapter in to my agent, I'm resting with our two new kittens, Lucie and the little one (who has four names, depending which member of the family you ask). So today, T-minus 35, looks like this:

So thank goodness I had a sane moment and realized I could not also do this, the thing that started it all:

But in all the madness, a piece of my heart resides there, with my students, in that leaky, creaky, absolutely beautiful classroom. 

Following Tom Ryan

I have wanted to be a full-time, real-live, professional writer my entire life. This week - today, actually - my dreams came true. Today was the first day of my full-time writing career, and I wanted to mark this occasion by reprinting (thank you, Cassie Jones at HarperCollins) a little bit of the P.S. section of the paperback edition of Following Atticus: Forty-eight High Peaks, One Little Dog, and an Extraordinary Friendship by Tom Ryan. For those writers out there who like to read what amounts to publishing porn, you can find the salacious details of the story in "When Opportunity Knocks: Anatomy of a Viral Post" Part I, Part II, and Part III. Yes, it takes three installments to tell the tale. 

I don't remember if Tom found my writing first or if I found Tom's, but I do remember that we found each other on Twitter. We tweeted, then we emailed, and we built a friendship. One day, he called me up and asked me to write the author interview and introduction to the P.S. section of his paperback edition. He had plenty of other offers to write that section, from authors far, far more well-known than I, but he knew I got his book.

Despite the fact that we both live in New Hampshire, and we both love to hike, I don't get to see Tom very often, as he's a private, quiet kind of guy, and I respect that. I do, however, want to take this opportunity to thank him for his faith in me. Faith that I could write part of his book, and faith that someday, we would both be full-time, real-live, professional writers. 

Introduction to an Interview with Tom Ryan

I have always been a sucker for a good coming of age story; tales of adventure, trials, and spiritual epiphany fuel my mind, my soul, and my teaching. These are our stories; the tales of humankind’s journey through the world, into the wilderness, and back home again. These are the stories I tell my children and my students. Stories of heroes who step out of ordinary lives and, despite the obstacles in their path, achieve the extraordinary.

When my copy of Following Atticus arrived in the mail, I dropped my briefcase on the floor of my mudroom, sat on the nearest chair, and opened to the introduction. The first passage I read was Tom’s description of Atticus, a lone figure atop Wildcat Mountain: “He is Frodo Baggins, he is Don Quixote; he is Huck Finn. He is every unlikely hero who ever took a step out of the door and found himself swept up in adventure.”

When I read that passage, I knew. I had found a kindred spirit. Two, actually.

Heroes are not necessarily the stuff of summer blockbusters and caped crusaders. Sometimes, they are just a man and his small dog doing what they know is right. Doing what they are meant to do.

Tom writes that Following Atticus, “…is not the end of a book but nearly a chapter.” In the following interview, I ask Tom about the new direction his life has taken since the book’s release, the obstacles he and Atticus have encountered in the world beyond the White Mountains, and the paths these two unlikely heroes have explored in search of their next chapter.

For more, including my interview with Tom Ryan, see the P.S. section of Following Atticus: Forty-eight High Peaks, One Little Dog, and an Extraordinary Friendship

Following Tom

I love walking across the street to our tiny village post office. My proximity to this lovely little outpost of civilization is particularly convenient just before Christmas, when I remember what a nightmare the pre-holiday post office was when we lived in cities. These days, I stroll over, wrapped presents in hand, and chat with Jewel, our postmistress about the news of the neighborhood as she tabulates my postage. Today was particularly lovely, however, as I received a package. I handed Jewel the "you have a package!" yellow slip from my post office box and she handed me an envelope from HarperCollins. I ripped it open, and there it was. My advance copy of the Following Atticus paperback.

I flipped to the P.S. section to find my part in the book: an interview with the author, Tom Ryan. Yes, I get to do interviews all the time, and yes, seeing my name in print has lost a teensy bit of the lustre and thrill I felt when I saw my first published pieces, but it's still pretty damn cool.

What makes this particular project special to me is that my involvement in this book is a gift from Tom. Tom discovered my work - through Twitter, I think - and we started corresponding about our writing. At that point, Following Atticus was not out in hardcover yet, so I got to watch Tom's progress through the gauntlet of book publicity and appearances. When it came time to prepare the paperback edition, Tom went out on a limb and asked HarperCollins to allow me to write the author interview and its introduction. Normally, the publisher has someone in-house write this section, and it's unusual for the author to be named, but Tom pushed. Fortunately, his wonderful editor, Cassie Jones, was game, and they supported me through the process of producing the P.S. section.

Authors can be a snarky and divisive lot, and it's unusual to find the ones who will share their success with writers who have not yet broken through. Tom is one of those authors. He is not only a talented writer, he is a kind and generous person, and I am grateful for his faith in me.

Following Atticus comes out in paperback on August 7, and Tom's blog has all the details of his book tour, if you want to come on out to get a book signed and meet him (and Atticus).

Happy reading!