tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6245713210697867499.post7077931537223183373..comments2023-03-24T05:50:29.791-04:00Comments on deborah wiles: field notes: setting characters in placeUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6245713210697867499.post-15369774201980495202011-02-10T17:17:19.255-05:002011-02-10T17:17:19.255-05:00We have a snow day in Memphis, so I had a chance t...We have a snow day in Memphis, so I had a chance to read <i>Countdown</i> last night and all day today. I'm a middle and high school librarian who reads around 3 books a week in order to keep up with the latest in children's and YA fiction. Your Documentary Novel is fascinating and so well done. Last night, as I was starting it and perusing the opening photographs and primary source documents, I stopped and said to my husband, "Hey, this one's different. Take a look." He took the book and like me, stared at each page and caption, pausing and lingering as neither of us is wont to do over each one. Like me, he was immediately drawn into the time and place.<br />I'd like to tell you more, if you'd like to hear, about what I thought about this novel, and how I journeyed carefully and slowly through it. 11-year old Franny seems so familiar--with her squareness, her need to be recognized and rewarded, her hand shooting upwards each time a teacher asks a question. I was born in 1961, so Franny is around 11 years older than me, but she's the real thing. You've done a beautiful job of evoking a time and place and people.<br />Still looking for a place for your character in the next novel to work? Have you considered Sunflower Grocery in Greenwood or a nearby Delta town? Did you know that Sunflower Foods was (maybe still is) owned by a Jewish family, the Millers? Scott Miller is a dear friend of ours. I noticed Fannie, from Countdown was from Sunflower County, Mississippi, and wondered if the original plantation owners were Jewish. That would be a fascinating element to add to a novel about Freedom Summer, and one that doesn't get told much, I think.<br />Anyway, I've never written an author about her work. I liked your book enormously. I'm going to recommend it to my book club--are you selling to adults much? I can't quite place my finger on your young audience: fifth grade? 8th grade? high school? It's almost like Richard Peck's <i>The River Between Us</i> or Laurie Anderson's <i>Chains</i> in that it's so intelligent and layered that it might struggle to find an age group.lbillingshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07004563618985689870noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6245713210697867499.post-52749034771786368422011-02-03T00:10:32.133-05:002011-02-03T00:10:32.133-05:00I'm backtracking on your blog a little bit, bu...I'm backtracking on your blog a little bit, but just wanted to say, I love how you share your writing process. Thanks for taking the time to unpack it; I just might have to share this post with my basic writers as we talk about forming their narratives.One English Teacherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05082401053093545982noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6245713210697867499.post-41793398596749727612011-01-18T10:38:26.578-05:002011-01-18T10:38:26.578-05:00It *is* lovely, Melodye. We had a wonderful time. ...It *is* lovely, Melodye. We had a wonderful time. Watch for photos in my next post! I loved that temps were in the 70s, and there was lots of sun -- I could see how the rain had wreaked havoc, though...Debbie Wileshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16785048910673370370noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6245713210697867499.post-15012630794748393742011-01-14T13:37:12.987-05:002011-01-14T13:37:12.987-05:00Hey, you're headed to my neck of the woods!
...Hey, you're headed to my neck of the woods! <br /><br />That monastary is lovely, I'm told. It's high on my places to visit this fall/winter. Maybe now that the skies have cleared and the muddy earth is getting dry...<br /><br />Wishing you a sunny, love-soaked trip!Melodyehttp://newport2newport.livejournal.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6245713210697867499.post-43527560113538592942011-01-14T11:31:30.548-05:002011-01-14T11:31:30.548-05:00Caroline, I believe I suffer from the affliction o...Caroline, I believe I suffer from the affliction of writing out of my life and not trusting that I can write from a place I don't know like the back of my hand. All my books are fiction but come from personal experience. This one will be different, so it's a first for me.I'm wading into unknown territory, and the way I'm doing that is by visiting... sort of making it mine as I go along. :> We'll see how it works!<br /><br />Congrats on your book!Debbie Wileshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16785048910673370370noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6245713210697867499.post-22480502469629380182011-01-14T11:19:21.805-05:002011-01-14T11:19:21.805-05:00I have to confess I've written (and sold) a mi...I have to confess I've written (and sold) a mid-grade historical fiction without ever visiting my location. I'm fascinated by your process here! Thank you for this glimpse.Caroline Starr Rosehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04597510685273079757noreply@blogger.com