This morning, I visited an English class at Petoskey High School. We talked about how Tolkien pursued his private hobby of invented languages, and how he expressed his creative world in poetry and myth. We looked at his friendship with C. S. Lewis and considered the implications of Tolkien's claim that Lewis is the one who helped him to realize that his creative vision had great value and should be shared with others.

The students confessed that they found The Hobbit a bit too detailed and slow for their taste. So we talked a little bit about subcreation and fantasy, and different approaches to writing a story.

It was a great experience, and I think it was a great addition to the month-long C. S. Lewis Literary Festival here in Michigan. For Festival information, check out their website: http://www.cslewisfestival.org/

October 20, 2010

Author Diana Glyer to Speak at the Wade Center on
“C.S. Lewis’s Fingerprints on the Map of Middle-Earth”

Author Diana Pavlac Glyer, presents a lecture titled “C.S. Lewis’s Fingerprints on the Map of Middle-Earth,” at 4 p.m. Wednesday, October 20. The topic of her talk is based on her study of collaboration among the Inklings, which was completed using resources at the Marion E. Wade Center.

Dr. Glyer is the author of The Company They Keep: C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien as Writers in Community. Her book reveals the behind-the-scenes story of how Lewis, Tolkien, Owen Barfield, Charles Williams, and other Inklings influenced each other’s works and accomplishments. This engaging work was published in 2007 and in the words of Wade Center Associate Director Marjorie Lamp Mead, “deserves a place in the library of all those who value the works of the Inklings.”

Dr. Glyer is a professor of English at Azusa Pacific University and was the winner of the Mythopoeic Scholarship Award for Inklings Studies in 2008. Copies of her book will be available for sale at the event.

This lecture is free and open to the public. It takes place at The Marion E. Wade Center, located at 351 E. Lincoln Avenue in Wheaton (campus map).

The Marion E. Wade Center at Wheaton College is a special library, archives, and museum devoted to the works of seven British authors including C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Charles Williams, Dorothy L. Sayers, G.K. Chesterton, George MacDonald, and Owen Barfield. Wheaton College (Wheaton, Ill.) is a coeducational Christian liberal arts college noted for its rigorous academics, integration of faith and learning, and consistent ranking among the top liberal arts colleges in the country.

Take a look: http://www.aslanscountry.com/2010/09/2010-c-s-lewis-festival/

Sierra lends a hand to Steve Denyes of Hullabaloo.

Better than Barney. More creative than Raffi. As much fun as that Peter, Paul, and Mary’s classic “Peter, Paul, and Mommy.”  Sierra and I just discovered Hullabaloo. http://www.hullabalooband.com/

As part of its summer reading program, the Glendora Public Library sponsored a folk concert during its regularly scheduled story time. I hadn’t heard of the group, but I was intrigued by their description as “farm-fresh free-range organic kid-folk in a genre filled with ding-dongs and twinkies.” We found their website, sampled their videos, and in flash, “Dinosaur in my Backyard,” “Polite Pete the Pirate” and “Blah Blah Blah” became daily fare in the Glyer household.

The concert was even better. It takes a special talent to be cheerful and energetic enough to capture the attention of 5, 6, and 7 year olds for a full 45 minutes. Hullabaloo managed it, with room to spare.

Hey, coffee addicts: don’t miss the instant classic “Grown-up Sippy Cup.” It’s addictive.

Oh, BTW. We had a friend visiting from out of town, a man who reviews classical music concerts for a living. He was tapping his toes and belting out “Run, Bunny, Run” with the best of them.

Last week, I was invited to give a talk in my daugher's a second grade class. The students were doing a unit on careers, and I was invited to talk about  being an author. Here are some of their questions, and my answers:

How do you prepare for your career?

Get a little notebook. Start writing every day: describe the things you see, write down your most interesting conversations, copy down great passages from things that you read or wonderful quotes that you hear. Pay attention: look, listen, slow down. Pay attention to what is going on all around you; pay attention to the dreams that God gives you and the ideas that bubble up in your imagination. Don't go anywhere without your little notebook. Pay attention. Write it down.

Would you recommend your career to others?

Yes, I would. I also would say that being a writer is a great second career. Your daytime job might be being a teacher or a mom or a pilot or a lawyer. But you could still be a person who writes great stories.

What is the best thing about your career?

I get to use my imagination, and I get to read and write all day. [Looks around at all the little kids in the class]  I also get to travel a lot and talk to interesting people.

Wow, did you ever get to talk to Eric Carle?

No.

Did you ever get to talk to the President of the United States?

No.

Did you ever get to talk to Oprah?

No. But I published something in her magazine.

At this point, the teacher jumped up to take a picture of me holding a copy of O Magazine,

and absolute mayhem ensued.

*SIGH*

a glorious time in a glorious space

I also presented a paper to the Oxford C. S. Lewis Society. Officers Brendan Wolfe and Judith Tonning offered a warm welcome.  It was really a lovely evening, and I was both enlightened and encouraged by this remarkable group.

I used the occasion to offer my first formal presentation of some new research on Warren Hamilton Lewis. Warnie stands in his brother's shadow, and his legacy has been marred by his well-known struggles with alcohol. But there is so much more to know about this man: a fine writer, a gracious friend, a key member of the Inklings. I have been studying his letters and look forward to writing more about him.

If you are interested in C. S. Lewis, I urge you to support the work of this Society: http://lewisinoxford.googlepages.com/

Andrew Lazo talks; Will Vaus and Diana Glyer listen

Josh Long, Mike Glyer, Lions, Tigers, and other notables crowded into the bookshop.

Back in October, Will Vaus and I were featured speakers at a book signing at the Mystery and Imagination Bookshop in Glendale, California. Local signings can be particularly energetic, and this event was no exception.

Josh Long, a Tolkien scholar and teacher at a near-by high school, had invited his class to attend the event, and he sweetened the deal by offering extra credit to his students if they came in Narnia costume. There is nothing quite like talking about C. S. Lewis with Prince Caspian, a White Witch, and a few assorted LIONS in the room!

Other not-so-fictional notables included Stan Mattson of the C. S. Lewis Foundation; Inklings scholar Andrew Lazo; authors Joseph Bentz and Tom Allbaugh; Hugo winner Mike Glyer; and musician Lynn Maudlin. (Lynn took all of the pictures featured in this post).

Will talked about The Professor of Narnia, I talked about The Company They Keep, and then we answered questions from the audience. Our hosts, Malcolm and Christine Bell, were an absolute pleasure to work with. They were well prepared, they communicated freely and frequently, they publicized well, and they provided a bright and spacious venue for a truly great evening. Kudos all around.

Takeaway: Local, special-interest bookshops provide an extremely important service when they connect readers with writers. It's a great deal of fun, and everybody wins. Ask your local bookshop to provide time and space for authors and fans to connect face to face.

One of the most important comments was the simple affirmation that everyone, and that means everyone, has a hard time committing to seat time, to actually getting into the chair and staying there long enough to actually produce text. The best advice? The last thing you do every writing day is to make sure that it is super easy to get started the next day.

One way to do that is to set it up so that you are twitchy to get back at it. Stop in the middle of a sentence. Deliberately typo a few words in the paragraph. Sketch out the scene in a quick draft so that all you are doing first thing next morning is siting down and filling in details.

For me, the key is to leave specific instructions for myself on a sticky note ("START HERE!"). To make sure that the first task of the day is small and easy. And to make sure that all of the materials I need (books, papers, calculator, sharp pencil, whatever) are set out at the writing desk.

When you know what the next task is, sliding into the writing day is like sliding into your comfy slippers. When all your materials are assembled, you are less likely to shatter the flow by rumaging around for some piece that you need.

Another good point that came out of the panel is that fiddling around (aka procrastination) can sometimes be good for a project. Instead of banging your head against the keyboard, it might be more productive to go for a walk, work in the garden, run an errand. The key seems to be to keep it short and also to avoid words: walking is good, tv is not; pulling weeds or taking a shower or organizing a closet is good; reading a magazine is not. Set it up so that the word-making part of your brain is still simmering on the project while your physical attention is turned to something else for a bit.

Just be sure that you are really clear about the difference between incubating an idea and avoiding one.

I told David how much I enjoyed Martian Child, a novel that tells the story of how he adopted his son. As is so often the case, the recent movie version does not do justice to David's book. I told him that I admired his writing because it is so powerful and effective. "I labor over every sentence to get it just right," he said.

Craftsmanship. Relentless attention to craftsmanship. That's what makes David Gerrold a great writer.