My editor, Cheryl Klein, talks about patterns in her editorial taste. (How often do you see an editor spell this out in such detail?) As for me, I'm admitting right here that I had no idea that Operation Yes dovetailed with Cheryl's taste. Nope. I knew of her, and her blog, and a little about some of her books, but it was my brilliant agent, Tina Wexler, who made the match. But when Cheryl and I have an editorial conversation that veers off into a Connie Willis lovefest (as happened last week) or I read another book she's edited (as I did with Marcelo in the Real World), or she tells me that a necklace she owns is of the same archetypal shape as my main character's name (as happened in the manuscript I just submitted this month), I can feel the crossing of threads that we're both following. Patterns are cool that way.
Esme Codell reads from Educating Esme: Diary of a Teacher's First Year on NPR's program, Hearing Voices. I love the rich detail, as when she describes how her Golden Rule is spelled out in gold glitter or what shoes she picks for the first day of class in order to appear "mean," but what I really love is the mixture of defiance, insight, and pure love that she brings to her tale of a school where gangs can throw rocks at a bus on a field trip and no one does a thing. Go listen. It's terrific.
Finally, if you haven't seen the interview with Jan Thomas over at 7 Impossible Things Before Breakfast, you must. Where else can you learn of a career option like this one?
7-Imp: What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
Jan: I’d probably like to be a musician, an animator, or the smiling, waving person standing in the caboose of a train.
Yeah, that smiling, waving person bit is perfect.
ReplyDeleteDo you know that I keep looking for Marcelo at the library, and they still don't have it? I'm going to have to hit the bookstore. Not only do I trust your recommendations, but it just flat-out sounds fabulous anyway.
And thanks for the Esme link! That sounds great.