Why is My First Book Named "Sea Cutter"?

Why is my first book in The Chronicles of Nathaniel Childe named Sea Cutter? On the surface, the book seems to be named after Wayland's sloop, Sea Cutter. But on a deeper level Nat himself is the sea cutter. He must learn how to cut his way through the sea of life: "I began to think how much I was like a small boat on a storm-tossed ocean. How should I stay afloat? You stay afloat by facing right into the waves, I thought. Maybe that was like always facing right into the truth—telling the truth straight on. You didn’t know where telling the truth would take you, by you trusted that it would be the right place because it was the only way to keep your boat afloat."

Hiding in a Tree

One morning when I was ten, I climbed to the top branches of a large elm in our front yard. Lunchtime rolled around, but I decided to see what would happen if I stayed in the tree. My mom came out and called for me first. Then my dad. I watched, with a strange feeling of power. Then my folks got the neighbors looking for me. I was delighted. An hour later, the police arrived. They scribbled some notes, barked on their radio, and left. Fascinating. But by this time my scheme was starting to backfire—hunger. When my mom and dad went to search the woods by the creek, I slipped down the tree and raided the fridge. When my parents returned, they found me sleeping (fake) in my bed, terribly ill (fake). But the ruse didn’t work, and my dad told me that I could just stay in bed until breakfast! A little bit of this incident found its way into Red Stone.

Good Luck to Those in the Path of Irene

Here's to safety for friends and readers in the path of Irene!

My Writing Team

Let me introduce my writing team. Lily, brown tabby, naughty. Jacques, black and white long hair, mellow alpha cat. Russell, 17 lb orange tabby, a good boy. Daisy, 4 lb orange tabby--we took her in from the street and are keeping her alive and happy as long as we can. Teddy, 12 lb Papillon mix, always be a puppy in his little head. Bertilak, Carolina box turtle with an attitude. Bertilak doesn't really help much with the writing, but the cats enter suggestions by walking back and forth on my keyboard and sjx8j qdk. 

Writing is Re-Re-Re-Writing.

When I  finished Perlas Grandes, I had the entire book memorized. That's because I rewrote Perlas Grandes five times. I wanted to make sure that there were no place where a child reader could get the least confused and miss the suspense. Then, when I turned Perlas Grandes into Sea Cutter: Book I in the Chronicles of Nathaniel Childe, I rewrote the book three times. Sometimes, I would spend hours contemplating the way I wanted two sentences to work together. But I was having fun! I could imagine a child not wanting to put the book down, with no place to trip him or her up even for a second. So, aspiring authors--rewrite! Not as a chore, but as a delight. And kids, I hope you have as much fun reading Sea Cutter as I had writing it.

A Whale Follows Us Home

My wife and I were eating macaroni sandwiches on the beach yesterday, when a whale wiggled his way up and begged for some. He ate two sandwiches, a pack of Sun Chips, and our Snickers bar. We patted him the meanwhile. But then, when we walked home, he followed us! We didn't want to hurt his feelings, so we invited him in. Ever try to make polite conversation with a whale? At bedtime, he insisted on sleeping with us, which made the bed kinda crowded. This morning we are trying to think of tactful ways to suggest that he go back to the sea. Or, anyone want a whale?

Being a Children's Story Teller - Part 1

In my first year of college, I took a "what should you do as a career" test. The answer came back that I was best equipped to tell stories to children! And that's what I love to do. But writing for children requires special skills, or you may lose your reader.  For example, I must make sure that each sentence follows logically from the previous sentence, so I don't lose a slower reader, while keeping the writing style up to a level that will satisfy smart readers. It's a tricky game, but I always imagine a kid who is reading the book under his or her covers at night, and this inspires me to keep the writing level and suspense up.