Turning Swords into Plowshares

Last night I listened to Peggy Reiff Miller speak about the seagoing cowboys, a subject near and dear to her heart. She was asked to speak at the last in a series of Peace and Popcorn events, and the subject was titled Turning Swords into Plowshares.

Peggy and I are in the same writing group and she has devoted the last ten (or more) years of her time researching and writing about the seagoing cowboys. Her historical YA novel, which is phenomenal and will most certainly be on shelves someday, is about a seagoing cowboy who is trying to find his horse.

It was so enlightening to hear stories from real seagoing cowboys, who traveled on ships after WWII taking livestock to countries that were devastated by war. The cowboys who attended the event each shared what they remembered from their trips across the sea. Some common shared threads witnessed by the cowboys included the destruction left behind after war, and the evils of the concentration camps, including the soap making factories, which I had little knowledge of until reading the draft of Peggy's book.

The cowboys got several laughs sharing stories of being seasick. The up and down, teeter-totter feeling of the ship seemed to resonate with them all.

Peggy has done a great service by saving a part of history that would have otherwise been lost. You can read more about her work on her Seagoing Cowboys website. It is a unique and wonderful part of history that you may not know about.

Thanks for stopping by,
Katie M.

My Blog Title

My friend Anne recently started following my blog, and she questioned me about the title. I realized I've had lots of questions about my blog title over the years and maybe lots of others are wondering the same thing. Why would I title a blog after mouse poop?

At times, I can have a rather bizarre sense of humor, which is how the title came about. My first writing I ever sold was a picture book project based on a mouse. When I think of mice, I think of their droppings. And I know that I'm not a blogger that blogs on a regular basis. I tend to 'drop in' and post when I have something to write about. Which is how I came up with Droppings, since I'm just dropping in and blogging. It's simple, and sort of weird, but that's how I came up with the title.

Thanks for stopping by,
Katie M.

SCBWI Conference at McCormick's Creek

No... I haven't fallen off the face of the Earth. Although it may seem that way, since I have not blogged in, well, forever. I've been busy editing, but that's slowed down considerably since the first of the year, which has allowed me to devote more time to what I really love, writing!

On the writing front, our big SCBWI conference, held at McCormick's Creek State Park this year, is just around the corner. With only a month to go, I've been busy preparing for the manuscript critique, learning about the editors that are presenting, and organizing the HoosierLinks event that will be held Sunday morning after the conference.

I can't wait to see everyone, and hope that all our Indiana members are planning to attend!

Thanks for stopping by,
Katie

Summer Portage HoosierLinks Meeting

Wow, I can't believe it's been close to two months since I've blogged! Where does the time go?

Last spring I took over the position of HoosierLinks Coordinator for the Indiana chapter of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. Basically, that means I (try) to coordinate all the members in our state into smaller groups or 'links', and have them meet three times a year, so all our illustrators/writers can stay in touch in between our big conferences and events.

I also lead the Portage link and we just had our summer meeting last weekend. There were only two other members in attendance (Northwest Indiana members, I need you there!). Happily, the two members in attendance were very excited, energetic, and willing to participate. They are both dedicated writers and we had a successful and informative meeting.

Our meeting room was wonderful. Located at the Portage library, we met in the room off of the children's department. It was a cute room with glass double doors and a nice kitchenette, not to mention a bathroom right around the corner. Perfect, really. What more could you need? We started off with sweet morning treats and hot drinks, discussed our areas of writing, and then got down to business with our guest speaker, one of the children's librarians. She gave us a rundown on what is popular/not so popular with her patrons, along with what the librarians would like to see more of and what they don't want to see!

Our next portion of the meeting included sharing resources for finding agents/editors/and market information in general. We then concluded with questionnaires about what types of events would be beneficial for the future.

Overall, it was a great success and we look forward to our fall meeting. Thanks to Joan and Marcy for their participation. And woo-hoo Marcy, for getting started on that query letter!

Thanks for stopping by,
Katie M.

Barnes & Noble Summer Reading Program

I ran into a friend at my local library last night and she told me about this. Check out the summer reading program at Barnes and Noble where your child can earn a free book just for reading eight books and the parents are entered into a contest to win a Nook Color.

I'll do a longer post later in the week, when I've got some time.

Thanks for stopping by,
Katie

Honesty

Finding an honest person or good in the world is much harder these days than finding ugliness and violence, unless you're really looking. It's the media as a whole. The news, reality t.v. shows, opening up a paper.... there's always fighting, greed, and badness. But, I found a video on Mary Kole's Kidlit website about Josh Ferrin, an honest guy with integrity. He found over $40,000 in his new house and returned it to the previous owner's family. This is amazing. Go to Mary's website to watch the video. It's a feel good story for the day.

Thanks for stopping by,
Katie

Hold Still

Hold Still by Nina LaCour....what a haunting book. It was recommended by Lisa Yaskowitz at the IN-SCBWI conference a few weeks ago. Talk about drawing you in. If you ever hear from an agent or editor, "We're looking for a good voice" this is a prime example. The characters in this story will resonate with you long after you put the book down.

I started reading the book last night (right before Emma's science fair at school, bad idea because I didn't want to put it down) and just finished. I took it to the soccer game with me this morning and had to quit reading it there because I kept crying (and it's kind of weird to be crying at a youth soccer game and not watching your child). It's not a sobby, boo-hoo read. It's just such a sorrowful, hopeful, true tale. A story that grabs you. A voice that speaks to you. A tale about adolescence and hardships and finding your way.

Read it, you won't be sorry. But be sure to have tissues handy.

Thanks for stopping by,
Katie