Tag Archives: magical realism

Hi Writers,

Since my middle-grade children’s book, WITCHY MAGIC AND ME, MAGGIE, was launched in November, 2019 I have seen it in the hands of many 8 to 10 year olds. This dream is more deeply gratifying than I ever imagined. The children seem to be responding to the magical realism, the friendship and family issues and to Maggie’s journey.  “I guess I’m really shy,” in the beginning evolves into, “Now I know I’m gutsy inside and out!”) at the end. 

Marketing is challenging. Sometimes my head is spinning with libraries, schools, bookstores, social media, and non-pushy conversations. How excited beyond all excitement I am to learn that Maggie will be among the treasures selected by the Pound Ridge Historical Society for a time capsule to be buried in front of the Town Hall and to be opened in——-one hundred years!  2120.

Here’s a little story from my imagination and some reading about the future.

***

     The two girls teleported to their meeting spot under the ancient oak tree on the village green. Banana, aged nine, folded her new yellow-flowered wings behind her and waited for her best friend, Heavenly, to join her here on earth. Heavenly was ten and lived on the moon.

Banana’s inner messenger told her that Heavenly would be landing in ten seconds.

Whoosh! Heavenly popped down on the grass. She folded her wings in the shape of a moonbeam behind her.

“Hi!”

“Hey back!”

They hugged and half talked out loud and half talked by word-beaming. Word-beaming was silent and they liked it better. They liked feeling each other’s thoughts.

“This is sooooo exciting,” Banana beamed. Here it is!!! She produced a book, a real book from out of the air. They read the title out loud, “Witchy Magic and Me, Maggie,” by Cynthia Magriel Wetzler.

“Written in 2020! One hundred years ago!” Heavenly danced pirouettes among the oak leaves.

“I’ve never touched a book before and I’ve only ever seen one behind glass in the floating museum.” Banana beamed her thoughts to Heavenly, as she touched the book cover lightly.

“Let’s read it!” Heavenly and Banana held the book between their two foreheads and held hands.

“Let’s talk out loud now,” Banana said, so we don’t interrupt the flow of the book. They closed their eyes and listened.

“Oh, Maggie wants to be an artist like you, Heavenly!”

“Isn’t it funny that Maggie calls Grammy Apple magical? I mean, she’s does what we do—normal. What is magic anyway?”

“Oh, her Dad teases her. That feels familiar,” Heavenly said.

“Wow, and Maggie is mean to her best friend, sometimes.” Banana squinted and looked into Heavenly’s eyes. “Tasha was so hurt, but now they made up—like us.”

They hugged again and the book almost slipped from between their foreheads.

“Listen! Maggie’s heart starts beating a little faster when she talks to her brother’s best friend, Ben. Oh! Maggie says she has a crush on Ben. What’s a crush?”

“I guess we can figure that one out.” Heavenly giggled.

“Maybe hearts and feelings don’t change over one hundred years,” Banana said.

And then! The girls looked up. One hundred little songbirds swooped into the ancient oak tree and started singing a sweet song. “Hearts and feelings doooooo not change,” they warbled.

***

Happy Writing everyone! What do you think it will be like in one hundred years?!!

WRITERS AND BOOK PUBLISHING

We can all commiserate about our book publishing journeys. The exhilarating moment when the actual book is in our hands is a feeling like no other. But oh, unless one is very lucky and/or persistent, the torture of submitting to agents and publishers can be discouraging . So many “almosts.” So many rejections. The writer’s mantra, “Rejection is part of the writing process,” doesn’t always make us feel any better when the form letter appears.

I began to realize that unless I decided to publish independently, I would have very little to say about the design of the book, the illustrations and the cover. And I had a very strong vision of how I wanted my book to turn out.

I slid into an easy decision to publish independently. And now it’s happening. With the help of a production company I am making decisions and bringing my ideas to all aspects of the book, beyond the writing. I will have my children’s book ready to market to middle-graders in November, 2019, and I’m calling my publishing company, Saltwater Press.

This path to publishing my book is just right for me and a very doable option for writers with a manuscript and a passion to be published. There are many ways to go about it and much “How To” literature to help.

Nine-year-old Maggie Eva Elizabeth Cottle Greenleaf takes on the threats of a grouchy old Cap’n Hatch on Nantucket, with the magical help of her Grammy Apple.

“Witchy Magic and Me, Maggie” is a story from my heart, written as magical realism. All I want is for fourth and fifth graders to relate to Maggie and feel like they can be strong, especially when they don’t feel strong.

Here’s the Prologue.

Two Maggies

Maggie Greenleaf admired her art teacher beyond imagination. Her teacher sure could draw. Three quick ink strokes on paper, and there was a perfect whale jumping off the page. Every morning so far this summer, Maggie tucked her art pad and pastels in her bike basket and rode extra fast to the harbor for her outdoor art class, her heart going thumpity thumpitywith excitement. What cool things would the class draw today? The white sailboats? The busy sandpipers pecking for food in the sand?

Maggie and her teacher had the same first name, but Maggie Greenleaf called her art teacher, who was nineteen and grown up, Maggie One. She, Maggie Greenleaf, became Maggie Two. Maggie One was big, bulky and comfy looking. She often wore loose, faded, flowered jeans. So artistic. Maggie One was even preparing for her very own art exhibit at her college in Boston where she’d be going back for her sophomore year in September.

Maggie One never said things like, “Don’t make the lighthouse wiggle, Maggie Two. Lighthouses are straight.” Instead she said, “Yes! You’ve put a wiggle in the lighthouse.”

And on top of all this wonderfulness, Maggie One had looked at Maggie’s drawing of a horseshoe crab crawling out of the water and had said to Maggie, “You have a whole bunch of talent. You are a real artist.” These beautiful words landed in Maggie’s imagination, where they lit up her current dream: her dream that must come true, please, please to be accepted into the Nantucket Art Fair for Adults Only.

Much inspiration and smooth sailing if you decide to take this path, writers!! It’s exciting.