The Day After Thanksgiving - a Thanksgiving poem

The Day After Thanksgiving
by
Gregory K.

Yesterday my grandpa pinched my cheek and said I’d grown.
I heard my uncle’s lousy jokes and held back every moan.
I had to watch the football games instead of what I like.
I had to watch my cousins all take turns on my new bike.
I had to take a taste of Auntie’s tofu bean sprout "stuff."
I didn’t get the apple crisp – Mom didn’t make enough!
The table got so messy that I had to clear it twice.
I couldn’t wear my comfy clothes since Dad said, "Please dress nice."
All day I heard my grandma say how crazy my dog drove her.
Today I’m thankful we’re alone ‘cause I’ve got zilch left over.

I hope all of you who celebrated Thanksgiving had a happy day. I did (the above is actually not autobiographical in any way, I'm pleased to say)... and am looking forward to the weekend ahead.

A big thanks to all the folks who have hosted the Poetry Friday roundup, including this week's host Jone! (You can find the roundup here.)

If you want to get all my new poems (and only the poems) emailed to you for freeee as they hit the blog, enter your email address in the box below then click subscribe!

It's a Fibonacci Kinda Day! (Or... Figure Skating and Fibonacci: Who Would Have Guessed?)

It's 11/23 (or 1-1-2-3) and therefore a great day to be talking Fibonacci. OK, sure, 11/23/58 woulda been an even better day, but I'll take four numbers in sequence anytime.

And how to celebrate such a superbly sequential day? What about a guest post from author Kate Messner who, it just so happens, features Fibonacci in her upcoming novel Sugar and Ice (a Junior Library Guild Selection and a Winter 2011 Kids IndieNext pick)? Yes!

Because the truth is, I just had to find out how Fibonacci and figure skating ended up in the same place... and luckily for me, Kate was willing to explain.

Figure Skating and Fibonacci: Who would have guessed?

The great thing about writing a novel is the mental playground that opens up during that process. Writing a book is an invitation to explore places you love, places you’ve always wanted to go.  It’s a chance to meet people long dead and invent people out of thin air.  And it’s a chance to play around with all of your favorite ideas.

Like a maple farm at sugaring time.  A figure skating rink with high stakes competition. And why not throw in a little cool math, too?  Though they might seem like unlikely companions, all of those threads play a role in SUGAR AND ICE, my latest novel for young readers, due out from Walker/Bloomsbury December 7^th.   

Small-town figure skater Claire Boucher has always been content to skate in her local Maple Show and help out at the community rink, but when a charismatic Russian skating coach shows up in town with a scholarship offer, she finds herself transported to the uber-competitive world of Lake Placid’s Olympic Center, where ice time takes priority and Claire finds herself struggling to meet her school obligations – even the math project on Fibonacci numbers she was so excited about.

Why is Claire fascinated by Fibonacci?  Mostly because the number patterns he wrote about really do appear in some amazing places in nature and elsewhere (maybe even in skating!)  And it doesn’t hurt that the cute, friendly guy at skating is a math geek, too.  Here’s an excerpt from one of Claire and Luke’s Fibonacci conversations in SUGAR AND ICE:

“You still working on that Fibonacci project?” Luke asked. “I could give you a hand if you want. I like that stuff.”

“Actually, I’m doing pretty well. I’m making a slide show, so I’ve been taking pictures around the farm now that the flowers are out. I’m trying to find more examples of the numbers in places other than nature and art.”

“Don’t forget music.” Luke held up the iPod. “You can listen to that Bartók on here later if you want.”

“I found that on iTunes when you talked about it before. But I was thinking about Fibonacci in figure skating. Those numbers are everywhere. They must be in skating, too, don’t you think?”  Claire leaned forward in her seat. “Any idea whether or not the rink is a golden rectangle?”

“Hmm…it might be a little long. We could check.  But what about the lead in to our spins?”  Luke traced a spiral in the air with his finger.

“Oh my gosh!” Claire bounced a little in her seat. “I bet you’re right! I bet it’ll be a golden spiral. That would be perfect!”

Luke’s eyes lit up. “We can test it out later. I’ll do a scratch spin right after the Zamboni comes out, and we’ll check the tracing on the ice.”

Abby sighed a dramatic sigh.  “Luke, this is the saddest attempt to impress a girl in the history of the world. You are getting geekier by the minute.”

Luke leaned back and punched her lightly on the arm. “You’re just jealous that you don’t share my mathematical awesomeness.”

“You mean your Fibo-nerdiness.”

Claire laughed. “Aw, go easy on him, Abby. I’ll take all the help I can get. If I can manage to get this project done with my skating schedule, it’ll be a Fibo-miracle.”

Sweeeeet! Thanks for stopping by, Kate, and all I really need to say is "Fibo-nerdiness!" Yes!

For more on SUGAR AND ICE,  you can visit Kate’s website. And if you live in the Northern NY area, you’re invited to join Kate for a book launch at The Bookstore Plus on Main Street in Lake Placid from 3-5pm on Saturday, December 11^th.  

If you can’t make it but would like a personalized, signed copy, call The Bookstore Plus at (518) 523-2950 by December 10th, and they’ll send it out after the event on the 11^th. Pretty cool.

For even more Fibonacci fun, I've got a guest post up over at Kate's blog today, too, telling a little about my own fascination with Fibonacci... and the sequence that led to my own book deal. 

Do you have any big Fibonacci plans today (or anytime, really)? We'd love to hear about it if you do. Regardless, enjoy the day, and Fib on!

A #kidlitchat pot-luck, and...

Tomorrow night's #kidlitchat should be a lot of fun - it's gonna be a pot-luck! Bonnie and I are inviting everyone to bring topics to the table, and we'll chat about 'em all. I imagine some topics will lead to full chats later, others will involve giving thanks, and no doubt a few will revolve around food. But what else will happen?

#kidlitchat happens on Twitter every Tuesday night at 9 PM Eastern. If you're new to Twitter chats or want to learn more about 'em, I highly recommend Debbie Ridpath Ohi's incredibly helpful article about them. I hope we see you there!

I'm also excited about tomorrow as I'm featuring a guest post here by Kate Messner. And guess what? It involves two of my favorite topics: children's books and Fibonacci! So, I also hope I'll see you here tomorrow. Good times, indeed.

Publishing, Whirled

I don't often talk about the world of publishing here at GottaBook, though it's not for lack of interest. And as things continue changing so rapidly, I find that I think about the business side of things more and more.

So it was with great interest that I watched, yakked in, and read tonight's #kidlitchat, all about the questions, really, of what it means to try and make money in this nutty business... and of whether the goal is to be published at any cost, to be well published, or to combine what we must do to make a living.

As usual in areas like this, there are no definitive answers. But as big publishing consolidates and publishing options expand, these choices are gonna be more and more prevalent. I think they're worth thinking about now, at least for those hoping to make a career out of writing. And if you're not, well, I'd still love to hear your thoughts!

The Guilt of the TBR Pile

I have a big to-be-read pile (well, more of a mound plus a shelf, but that's just semantics)... and it makes me feel guilty. Not cuz I haven't read all the books in it, but because I've realized that some books simply slide down the imaginary list of the TBR pile. A new book comes along and suddenly I'm reading that instead of a 9 month old denizen of the mound.

So I review the books to see if I can get rid of those older ones... but no. I want to read them. Really. 

I can't be the only one who goes through this cycle, can I? Don't you find some books that never quite make it to the top of the list, even if you can't determine why? Yet I also know that sometimes I read those same books and curse myself for waiting so long. That, I suspect, is the cause of what I'm calling "guilt."

If you've got solutions, I'd love to hear. An extra couple hours a day or days in a month would be really helpful, if you happen to have any to spare!

This week on #kidlitchat - what's working for you online?

I spend a fair amount of time online - I tweet, Facebook, blog, email, am on listservs, and hang a couple places, too. Sometimes I hang out for fun, but sometimes I have more of a business focus. We chat co-hosts, that Bonnie Adamson and me, know that EVERYONE who participates in #kidlitchat hangs online, too, so we have a bunch of questions for this week's chat:

What's working for you? Do you mix professional and personal... and is that only on certain networks? Do you find anything particularly effective for marketing? For friendship? For connecting?

In other words... how do you spend your time, and what's working for you?

I hope you can join us for #kidlitchat on Tuesday at 9 PM Eastern/6 Pacific. For information on how to join in Twitter chats, check out Debbie Ridpath Ohi's incredibly helpful article. And if you can't join us, please feel free to weigh in here!

Too Much, Too Soon - a holiday poem

TOO MUCH, TOO SOON

by

Gregory K.

I’ve looked in every book I own...

I still can’t find a reason.

So tell me why’s November first the start of Christmas season?

I see the trees and hear the songs.

Big ads are everywhere.

I even saw a pumpkin wearing Santa’s beard and hair.

It’s not that Christmas isn’t swell,

But can’t we wait a tad?

Besides I got a frantic call -- Thanksgiving Day is mad!

This poem's been kicking around these parts for a long time. It's never seemed done to me, and maybe it still isn't. But every year, it seems more and more relevant, so... voila! And hey, if you want to check out other poems and poetry related posts that might be more finished, head on over to Teaching Authors and check out the Poetry Friday roundup. You'll be glad you did.

If you want to get all my new poems (and only the poems) emailed to you for freeee as they hit the blog, enter your email address in the box below then click subscribe!

Books, Audio Books, and More

Over at the Happy Accident, I have an interview up with Holly Cupala - YA author, Readergirlz diva, and verrrrrry creative when it comes to using social media and other tools the help create opportunities for herself and her debut novel, Tell Me a Secret.

If you're interested in the story of someone who turned down a deal for an audio book and did it on her own... who used blog tours and blogging along with traditional tools... and who, oh, just go on over and check it out :-?

One Week

My blog spoke to me. It said "It's been one week since you blogged on me, typed your words on my page and showed you loved me; Five days since you checked you stats saying 'where'd ya'll go, wontcha come back and see me.'"

I can always look back at my year and identify different events in my offline life by looking at gaps in my blog and, specifically, Fridays when I don't even mention Poetry Friday or mention it late in the day (and for the record, this week's roundup is at Toby Speed's Writer's Armchair). 

I wonder if the uber-active on Facebook or Twitter can look back at an individual day and say "oh, see that one hour gap in activity? I was really busy doing xxxxxx and talking to yyyyy" or if it doesn't quite scale the same way? Questions. I've always got questions....

Happy Halloween, y'all! If you end up with any extra of those adorable little Reese's cups, be sure to save me a few!

Not To Sound Like a Broken Record...

Actually, I don't think I will. Instead, I have a question:

How many people, when they hear that phrase, know what a broken record sounds like? Do any kids today know it? At what age does it go from being something that has no relevance to something that, for me at least, brings up specific LPs that stuck and repeated like, well, like broken records.

Writing for kids, we're always told it's best to avoid slang that dates your book (unless you're trying to be of a certain time, of course). I wonder if a phrase like this, which is one I can use naturally, is going to disappear from the lexicon? And what other phrases are like this, based on something that we just don't experience with regularity anymore?

Now You're Talking

Or really, "Then We Were Talking" would be more accurate....

No matter, though, I wanted to put up a link to the transcript of last night's #kidlitchat conversation about the differences between Middle Grade and YA... and whether any of it matters.

We had authors, editors, readers, agents, and teachers weighing in on a whole range of issues related to the topic. We talked about "upper MG" and "teen" and chapter books, and whether it's all about marketing or not.

Good times and a good convo, I thought. Check it out for yourself and let me know what you think!

Is it YA? Is it MG? This Week on #kidlitchat

Can you define the difference between YA (young adult) and MG (middle grade)? Is it about content? Theme? Language? Sex vs. no sex? All of this and more? None of the above? And why do any of these distinctions matter... or do they?

That'll be the topic of conversation tomorrow (Tuesday, October 19th) at 9 PM Eastern/6 PM Pacific at #kidlitchat. I hope you'll come join us.

#kidlitchat is a weekly chat on Twitter, co-hosted by Bonnie Adamson and me, and featuring an incredibly smart, vibrant, ever-changing collection of others passionate about children's literature - writers, illustrators, editors, agents, librarians, readers, teachers, and beyond. Everyone's welcome. I think it's always informative and a blast, though I suppose I'm biased.

If you have never participated in a Twitter chat (and even if you have!), Debbie Ridpath Ohi has a must-read article that will explain the whats, whys and hows of it. Feel free to ask questions here or find me or Bonnie on Twitter and ask there.

You can also check out the transcripts of all prior #kidlitchats at their home on my other blog, The Happy Accident.

Hope to see you there!

This is Not a Poem

This Is Not a Poem
By
Gregory K.

This is not a poem:
It’s a moment caught in time.
It isn’t full of imagery
Or meter, form, or rhyme.

This is not a poem.
It can’t be heard or read.
It’s nothing but a small idea
Now planted in your head.


I've written many a poem when I should've been listening or working on something else. This one probably had its roots in M.T. Anderson's breakout session at the SCBWI Summer Conference this year... or maybe at a recent visit to the BCAM here in LA. Or maybe it's never had roots because it's not a poem :-) No matter, though, the Poetry Friday roundup (full of poetry and NOT poetry, perhaps) is up today over at Liz Garton Scanlon's Liz in Ink. That's always a lovely blog to visit, so you should go there just cuz.

And if you want to get all my new poems (and only the poems, yet including the "not a poems") emailed to you for freeee as they hit the blog, enter your email address in the box below then click subscribe!

Fibonacci EVERYWHERE

It's not just in poetry or nature. Nope, Fibonacci... and the Golden Ratio... show up the darnedest places.

Like Twitter's new design!

Sweeeeeeet!

With a Link, Link Here....

And a link, link there!

Here's a link to the Poetry Friday Roundup over at at Jen Rothschild's Biblio File.

There's a link to the new Carnival of Children's Literature over at Great Kid Books.

Everywhere (well, I wish!) a link to nominate books for this year's Cybils awards.

(And again, if you happen to be coming to the Orange County Children's Book Festival on Sunday, be sure to say "hi!")

Cybils Time! Judging and... Nominating

I'm excited to be a judge for the upcoming Cybils awards - I'll be serving as a finals round judge in the poetry category. And I'm super excited to be joining such great folks in looking at this year's children's poetry books. Check out these fab folk:

The round one judges (who read 'em all and hand over a smaller group to us final round judges):

Bruce Black, Wordswimmer
Elaine Magliaro, Wild Rose Reader
Gina Ruiz, AmoXcalli and The Graphic Landscape
Laura Purdie Salas, Writing the World for Kids
Sylvia Vardell, Poetry for Children

The final rounders (who debate and discuss and ultimately determine one book to get the Cybil):

Kelly Fineman, Writing and Ruminating
Sara Lewis Holmes, Read Write Believe
Greg Pincus, right here at GottaBook
Jama Rattigan, Alphabet Soup
Liz Scanlon, Liz in Ink

Kelly, by the way, is the "fearless leader" of the whole poetry category. Lots o' work, that, and I'm glad she's there to do it.

Now, the Cybils start taking nominations on Friday, October 1st. And the thing is, if folks don't nominate, then we judges have nothing to do. So start thinking about your favorite books (not just in poetry, but across the kidlit board) and get ready to nominate. You can only do one book per category... but there are a lot of categories!

UNFAIR - a county fair poem/a life's unfair poem

UNFAIR
by
Greg Pincus

The fluffy candy looked bright pink,
But it was really cotton.
The caramel apples looked delish…
But every one was rotten.

The petting zoo had great big signs,
You Only Look -- Don’t Touch.
The penny candy cost twelve bucks -
I didn’t have that much.

My giant lolli fell apart:
The spiraled rings uncoiled.
I waited for the rides so long
My deep-fried Twinkie spoiled.

I went to watch a sheep get sheared.
Instead, it cut my hair!
I sure can’t wait 'til I go home...
I don’t like this Unfair.

The Poetry Friday roundup is over at Karin Edmisten's Blog with the Shockingly Clever Title. Head on over and see what's poetically what this week in the blogosphere.

And as always, if you want to get all my new poems (and only the poems) emailed to you for freeee as they hit the blog, enter your email address in the box below then click subscribe!

Emcee is in the House (OK, Fine - in Orange County)

On Sunday, October 3rd, I'm going to be down in Costa Mesa at the Orange County Children's Book Festival. There's a ton of fun to be had there with authors and illustratrors galore as well as other entertainment. Oh, and booooooooks!

Plus, if you come on by the illustrators' stage, you'll see ME as the stage MC! I'm excited and working on all my old comedy routines and... okay, not really on the routines. But I am excited and hope that you come on by and say hello.

Talking PoetrE

I have a guest post up over at David L. Harrison's blog today, talking about poetry and the online world (I'm an optimist, by the way). I hope you'll go check it out, and I also urge you to check out David's blog in total. It is packed with great stuff.

The Poetry Friday Roundup is up over at Elaine Magliaro's Wild Rose Reader today (another blog you should explore). Be off and enjoy some poetic thoughts and posts... and I'll see you back here soon.

Those Were The Days!

It's volunteer librarian season hereabouts again. This year, besides the elementary school where I've been involved for five years, I'm also spearheading the startup of a middle school library. I'll be yakking more about this in the weeks ahead, I'm sure, but I've already noticed a "probably good for my writing but tough on my time management" issue....

Every book that comes into our system goes through my hands. I've been known to, uh, read a few of them. Okay... a lot of them. When it was all picturebooks, I could enjoy dozens and still get the library cleaned up in the limited time I can devote to volunteering.

Now, though, more middle grade novels are coming through my hands. And yes... I'm reading. I can't get through dozens anymore! I guess it's a lucky thing for me that we haven't built up much of a collection yet.... Unluckily for me, most of what I'm scrounging up is slightly older... and covers a lot of what I somehow missed when it came out.

I often put out a call for donations (I will again!), but right now I'm accepting donations of reading time. Feel free to pass some along. Thanks!