|
|
Welcome to my first Words and Wildlife Newsletter!
|
In May and June, as school is winding down, I hear students conversing up and down the halls about their summer plans; swimming, hanging out with friends, campfires, fishing, gaming, backyard sleep-overs in tents. Remember being a middle schooler? Now imagine their reactions when they ask me, "What are you gonna do over summer vacation, Mrs. Wight?" And I respond, "I'll be rewriting my middle grade novel."
|
"Writing?" they ask with confused looks. "Sounds more like work Mrs. Wight!"
|
Ah, but summer vacation for this school Ed Tech doesn't just mean days upon days of gardening, hiking, kayaking and wildlife photography. Sure, those things are high on my must-do-often list. But July and August also become an opportunity for me to write more. Plot more. Revise more. Instead of sitting at my desk for an hour or two after supper (if my eyes aren't drooping from my school day), I can write outside for hours under the pine trees when my muse is feeling creative. Or work in the garden while debating how to get my character into trouble. Summer is my writing season!
|
A common question I'm asked at speaking events is, "What are you working on now?" Truth is, I usually have several projects in varying places. Between Cooper's adventures Mystery of the Bear Cub and Mystery of the Lost Lynx, I worked on and off on finalizing a firefighter middle grade story. Rule of Two has been more than twelve years in the making! It's now with my agent Katie, and finally in a place to be submitted to publishers.
|
So I thought I'd spend this summer finishing up a first draft of a shiny new idea, but Katie expressed interest in an older manuscript which had been sitting in my file cabinet since 2008. I took it out, dusted it off, gave it a read, and with her notes in mind I decided it deserved a second chance! Whistle Stop is very, very different from my other books. It has mystery, magic and tiny things! I've been having a lot of fun putting Nolan and Emma into more trouble than previous drafts.
|
Read on below to hear about the inspiration behind Rule of Two, see what I recommend reading after you've finished Cooper and Packrat's adventures, and check out my latest wildlife sightings! Click the Cooper and Packrat adventures below to learn more about the series, including where to find them.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rule of Two
Rule of Two is a story near and dear to my heart. Its inspiration came from a program created by Shannon Shanning at Whittier Middle School and the Poland, Maine fire department in which students from Shannon's and my inclusive classroom go to the station weekly for lessons on firefighting ~ real lessons like knot tying and what each knot is used for, CPR and First Aid Certification, cold water rescue, hose drills, the science behind fire, fire rescue simulations and more.
|
At the station, I watch our students shine as they master skills such as bandaging a wound, giving CPR compressions, recalling what a firefighting tool is used for and trying on firefighter's gear.
|
Learning alongside students year after year, I began to wonder, what if? What if a student wanted to be a junior firefighter but something huge stood in their way? What if they might lose the chance to be a firefighter forever?
|
Rule of Two took twelve years from a what-if idea to a polished finished draft and it had eleven-plus rewrites, two of them with major plot changes. Now I put it into Katie's hands to find a home for Lillie's story, as I move onto my next adventure.
|
|
I'll talk more about Rule of Two's journey soon!
|
|
|
|
|
|
Snapping
Turtle Fight!
I'd headed out to join a friend for a power walk a couple weeks ago along our lakeside road. As I got close to her dock, I noticed a couple people staring into the water and talking excitedly. I picked up my pace to join them. My friend pointed into the water and I gasped.
|
It was a snapping turtle fight!
|
I'd only witnessed this wildlife behavior once before, back in 2016, on Lower Range Pond where I owned my campground. At the time, I was writing Mystery of the Bear Cub and had been struggling with the opening chapter. I knew the season needed to be summer, I needed to explain the background of the series, the boys needed to be on the lake fishing, and they needed to see "something shaggy-dog-like" swimming across the lake (which of course they would investigate and it would turn out to be a bear in Chapter 2). Buuuut, no matter what I did, those things were a bit dull for an opening chapter. I'd been trying to think of something interesting to add, something my readers might not have done or seen before, maybe give them a new wildlife behavior to experience. This way, I could show how interested Cooper and Packrat are in wildlife behavior, rather than tell it.
|
The minute I saw the snapping turtle fight, I knew I'd found what I'd been looking for!
|
|
|
|
|
|
Read And Read S'more!
Over the last six months I've received emails and snail mail from readers telling me they've finished Cooper and Packrat's mysteries. "I love wildlife and adventure," they write, "What should I read next?" One of the books at the top of my recommendation list is Home Away from Home by my friend Cynthia Lord . . . and for a very special reason.
|
I was reading Cynthia's latest book in my ELA classroom during Silent Reading Time (every student reads their own books silently for 15 minutes). The timer silently went off, but one glance told me students were still engrossed in their books, so we kept reading. I was so entranced with Mia! I connected over her love of wildlife, her worries for the unusual white bird of prey and the danger she'd put it in, and her concerns about her family. When I got to the part about Mia talking to Warden Cooper, my reading brakes went on. I backed up a couple paragraphs and read it again. And again. Warden Cooper? I thought. Could it be my Cooper?
|
I took out my phone and texted Cynthia, feeling a bit shy about it. But I had to know! Was it my Cooper?
|
"Yes," Cynthia replied. "I needed a name for a Warden, and I thought who better to work with Mia, than your Cooper, all grown up and doing what he loves!"
|
Needless to say, I became teary right there in class and had to explain why to my students. But what a wonderful discussion we had around it!
|
|
Click on the book or on the link below to find out more about Home Away From Home, published by Scholastic.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Latest Wildlife Sightings
|
|
|
|
|
|
It's been an interesting month, wildlife-wise!
|
We had a young raccoon pop up in the middle of my lily flower garden one evening at dusk. I'm not sure who was more startled, it or us! I was able to get a couple quick pictures before it ambled off.
|
July is the time of year when I get to watch the adult birds bring their young to our feeders. It can be quite comical to watch the little ones try to land on the feeders, or chase their parents around the yard looking to be fed. Once, I watched a male cardinal lead its chick into the middle of the stationary feeder. Instead of eating the seeds at its feet, the young one hollered for food very, very loudly while shaking its wings. If birds could roll their eyes, I'm sure the adult would have!
|
Three times this week while power walking on our lakeside road, a broad-winged hawk flew out of the woods to a branch over my head, and began to call very, very loudly. The third time it happened, I ran home to grab my camera! While taking pictures, I could hear lots and lots of songbirds in the surrounding trees. I also heard a distant answering call to the hawk. Putting it all together, I believe the broad-winged hawk was a young one, perhaps newly off the nest, who was being harassed by the area song birds, including the robin in the photo above.
|
|
Click on the photos to enlarge them.
|
|
|
|
Follow me on social media
for day to day
Writing News and Wildlife Sightings!
|
   
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
