Cynthia Lord's Blog, page 6

Every summer Island Readers and Writers holds its annual summer meeting at a beautiful home on Mount Desert Island. This is the view we had for the morning.



Over 100 of our supporters came for blueberry pancakes, eggs, and bacon. There were speakers, including me and the principal of Milbridge Elementary School who talked about how it is to be on the receiving end of our programming.

Then she surprised me by telling the whole audience that since my next novel is set in Washington County, her school wants to hold a launch for it.

I've never done a launch. But when 100 people turn around in their chairs and look at you, there's really only one thing you can say. . . .

"Okay," I said. "I'm in!"

My daughter wanted to do some  "Maine things" for her week at home. So last night, we went on a sunset and full moon kayak tour with LL Bean's Outdoor Discover School.


We had a fast rain shower on our way to Freeport. As we arrived, there was a rainbow.


Our guides, Mike and Chris, suited us up with water shoes, PFDs, and splash skirts.


After some instructions, we headed out to the dock.


We had perfect conditions: a little cool, and a completely calm ocean.


We were all in tandem kayaks, except for our two guides. They said it was for stability, but I suspect it's also easier to keep track of 14 people in the dark, if they're in pairs.


Every now and then Julia and I would say to each other, "We're on the OCEAN." I put my hand on the surface a few times and marveled that a whole world of fish was going on under there.


We pulled ashore on Upper Goose Island. Mike and Chris had brought sparkling cider, chocolates, and cheese and crackers. We toasted our trip.


As we paddled in the dark, a really big SPLASH happened very near us. I think it was a porpoise. It was cool, and also shivery to know something was swimming along with us. An amazing reminder that the night ocean doesn't really belong to people.


Unforgettable.

Had a wonderful few days in NH with my daughter and my friend, Holly and her kayaking dog, Zoe.



Zoe is in Half a Chance!



And so are the loons.



We had a perfect time.

My daughter is home for a week, so yesterday we went kayaking with a group out to Malaga Island. The island is the island in Gary Schmidt's Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy, and it has a long and complicated history, but what a beautiful place. And there is something magic about being on a wild island, a place most people don't get to see.



We left from Sebasco, Maine with SeaSpray Kayaking. There were about a dozen of us, including my friend Mona and her sister-in-law, Sherry.



We saw lots of gulls and ducks and I loved these two cormorants who looked like they were having a conversation.



Do you see the seal peeking at us from the water in the bottom middle of the photo?



Malaga Island on the left, Bear Island on the right.



Mona and my daughter, Julia



There were broken shells covering the beaches. The Native Americans left them behind for years and years. Our guide said the layers of shells were actually 12 feet deep.



From Malaga



Me and Julia

My husband took this photo a couple weeks ago on his way to Rangeley, Maine. "I didn't even juice up the colors," he told me. "I just waited and it happened."

And last week, I met my friend author Tamra Wight at 5:00 am for a sunrise kayak paddle. She took these amazing photos of a bald eagle that we saw.

This summer has been especially beautiful in Maine. Or maybe I'm just noticing it more because we waited so long for it. A flash of brilliance, quickly gone. In A Handful of Stars, the book I just turned in for copyediting, it says about summer:

            At the beginning of summer it always feels like there’s so much time ahead: whole empty calendar pages of sunshine, warm sea breezes, midnight thunderstorms, and running barefoot in the grass. Enough afternoons to do every single thing you wanted to do and even some days left over to do nothing at all.
           But somehow summer fills up and flies by.

So this morning when I woke up early, I drove to the water to watch the sun come up on this new day.

I spent Thursday morning with a wonderful girls' running and reader group in Wilton, Maine. Their group is Fit Girls of Wilton Maine and they greeted me with a big group hug.



I joined them for their walk and then they showed me the photos they had taken for Lucy's scavenger hunt in Half a Chance.



They each created a cover for their portfolio


Out of Place.

For "out of place" one of my partners took off her head band and I put it in the tree. We thought that the fact it is was man made and in a place of nature and bright red would make it pop.


Holding On.

Thinking about a long lost memory.


Holding On.

That beetle is holding on for dear life!


Collection.

We decided that we're a collection of friends.

These are only a few of the photos, and I was very impressed with all of them! Such creative and thoughtful kids! And yes, we even saw saw a loon out swimming in the lake.

Deb and Mallory do an amazing job. :)  There was a nice article in their local paper about my visit and the program.

Today, I'm visiting with Fit Girls of Wilton Maine, a reading and running club for girls. They read Half a Chance and they have been taking scavenger hunt photos, like Lucy in the story.

We're meeting at Wilson Lake (that has loons), the girls are going to show me their photos. Then if it's not raining, we're going on a hike together. How cute are these two?

1. I've been working on my 2015 novel, A Handful of Stars. My editor and I are doing a fast pass through to get it ready for copyediting. Milo, my little assistant, is always ready to work!

2. Yesterday I went up to Camden, Maine to meet with Nancy Johnson and Scott Riley, with whom I'm presenting at the National Council of Teachers of English conference in November. Our program is about my books and keeping the ARTS in Language Arts. They are such amazing and inspiring teachers. It was great to meet them in person and spend the day with them.

3. I had another special treat yesterday, too. Author/illustrator Chris Van Dusen is Scott's neighbor. Chris and I have done lots of events together, but I'd never seen his studio! He gave us a tour and showed us what he's working on right now.

I got to see the sketches for the second "Tales from Deckawoo Drive" book by Kate DiCamillo (Wow!) and a book called Hattie and Hudson that Chris both wrote and is illustrating about a girl and a sea monster (publishing date 2016), which I think is already my favorite book of his! I absolutely loved it! Here's Chris with the original art for President Taft is Stuck in the Bath.



4.  For the 10th Anniversary of the Schneider Family Book Award, I was interviewed on The Late Bloomer's Book Blog. Rules won the Schneider back in 2007. I talk about the award, my purple dress from Goodwill, and a surprising and lovely moment at the Schneider luncheon with Katherine Schneider and her seeing-eye dog.

5.  This week, I am visiting a girls' day camp in Wilton, Maine that has read Half A Chance. The program meets at a local park on a lake with loons. How perfect!

6. Yesterday was also the official loon count day in Maine. It makes me smile to think of all those people out doing Loon Patrol!

"Since 1983, citizen scientists have gone out to their favorite lakes and ponds on the morning of the third Saturday in July to count loons. . . .With more than 900 volunteers statewide, their observations help us promote policies that protect loons and their lake habitat in Maine. Volunteers make their observations between 7:00 and 7:30 a.m. – this early morning time provides an excellent snapshot of Maine’s loon population."

I had a lovely day on Saturday in Boothbay Harbor. First I signed books at Books in Boothday, a summer book festival, and I saw lots of friends, which was so nice!



The book festival was held at a railway museum, and in our envelopes was a ticket to ride the train if we wanted to. So, hey! You don't have to ask me twice. So children's author/illustrator Gary Urey and Betsy Sholl (Maine's former poet laureate) and I rode the train together.





In honor of Half a Chance, I bought some rock candy in the gift shop.They had great flavors: blueberry, root beer, watermelon, etc. I bought blueberry.



But I think my favorite photo was this family who was so excited to see a new Hot Rod Hamster book that they read it right there in front of me!

Today I'll be at Books in Boothbay: Maine's Summer Book Fair from 9 am to 12 pm. It's a gorgeous day and Boothbay Harbor is a beautiful place. Win-win!