Whitey, the proverbial elephant in the living room, shows up where you least expect him

I’m pleased to announce a new project I’m working on with Tim Elhajj, all-around awesome guy and my hubby of close to 15 years. We’re launching an online literary magazine, Junk, that focuses on addiction. Check out our press release, look for us on Facebook, and consider submitting your work to us. Your story can be written, photographed, drawn, or sung. You don’t have to be an addict to submit to us, but you must have a story of addiction, yours or someone else’s. And your story must be a true story, well told.

Some of you might be surprised to hear that I’m working on something that is not children’s literature.  I don’t write memoir and I’m not an addict, at least not to liquor or other drugs. So why Junk? For the same reason I write children’s literature, because stories have saved me more than once, and I’m looking for ways to give back.

My own childhood was backlit by booze. I hid out in my bedroom with the door closed, reading piles of books. I read to escape, and those stories nurtured me through some pretty hard times. I am grateful to the writers of those books. I know from personal experience that there can’t be too many good books to feed kids who hunger to read. I intend to write a few.

Junk was born from a similar inspiration. At the bleakest time of my adult life, I stayed sane by going to meetings and listening to other people’s stories about the effects of addiction. I hid out in those rooms with the doors closed and heard stories that saved me yet again. Eventually, I learned to open up to the strangers in the room and share my own story.

Truth telling about addiction is a powerful process that doesn’t require a literary magazine to deliver, but Tim and I think the literary community will be a little livelier with a bit of Junk. We’re excited to showcase your best work. For our inaugural issue, we’ve published a lovely piece by Elizabeth Westmark, Detritus.

Please join us in celebrating Junk: a literary fix.

I am no illustrator but I do enjoy writing picture books, which is probably why I like this book so much. Adam Rex is blessed with a talent for story-telling using both written word and illustrations—his story is original, imaginative, and often hilarious. The format of this book harkens back to children’s novels of the 60s and 70s, peppered with black and white sketches and illustration notes, but it functions more like a modern children’s picture book, with cartoon strips and ‘photographs’ supplementing the plot rather than reflecting it. Don’t skip over the images—though you may be tempted because the book is a real page turner—you’ll miss important story details if you do.

The main reason I keep coming back to this book is because the plot is smart and the dialog funny. The story line posits a pair of unlikely heroes who run away from—and later defeat—colonizing aliens. The narrator, Gratuity Tucci (Tip for short), and her alien sidekick, J. Lo, are so good together that this daring duo are high on my list of all-time favorite odd-couples.

Art, voice, and a kickass sense of humor blend to make this one of my favorite reads, and a source of inspiration anytime I think that the plot of my own middle grade novel might be too bizarre. I remind myself that there’s always room for original stories, like The True Meaning of Shrekday, that take the mainstream and tweak it until we can’t stop grinning.

At ten years old, Kennedy embodies the creative process. As soon as she was old enough to handle pencil, scissors, tape, paint, and glue, she started creating things, and she hasn’t stopped.

The day before Thanksgiving, she sat down (when she was supposed to be doing something “responsible” that mom wanted her to do), pulled out some computer paper, sketched some quick shapes, grabbed the scissors and tape, and started to build something. At first, the something was incomprehensible. But after a few minutes of focused, studied work, she made an announcement.

“Look, Mom, I made a paper thanksgiving for dad.”

Her 3-D paper sculpture sat on the table in front of me. My jaw dropped.

Kennedy doesn’t create to impress. She creates because she can. Because she wants to. Because she has a vision and an impulse to bring it to life. Sometimes she gets mad at herself because she can’t realize her vision. Other times, like this time, she is proud of herself. No amount of praise can take the place of the happiness she feels when she’s created something she likes.

That feeling will take her everywhere.

Nutritional info for JUST ONE puny Krispy Kreme Original Donut (who can eat just one? I dare you to prove it):

200 calories, 12 gr fat, 6 gr sat fat, 5 chol

Barack Obama shone a powerful light on gays and lesbians when he said those words in his acceptance speech last night. I woke up last night and had to pinch myself to remind myself that it was true that we elected Obama as President. I was too giddy to sleep.

Then I heard the news that California’s Proposition 8–the repeal of legal gay marraige–passed, and the joy I felt last night–which I knew couldn’t last for long–is today mixed with hurt and sadness and anger.

To be claimed as part of the fabric of America one moment and the next moment torn out of that same fabric–this is the painful schizophrenia of being gay in America.

Well, I’ve got a lot more to lose now that I’m raising a family. And on this election day, I understand that it’s not just the person holding the office whose choices make a difference in my life, it’s all the people who surround the president–people appointed by the president or friends of the president or people who have got the president’s ear. Those are the people who have made decisions over the past eight years that have affected my family, and although the faces will change, it will be the same group of people who will make decisions that affect my family for the next four years. Those are the people I’m not voting for and whose influence worries me. Those are the people who I will have a hard time pointing a finger at when things go wrong.

So, even though I’m as excited as anyone about this presidential election, and I’m pretty sure that my pick will prevail, I must admit, I’m anxious about the next four years no matter who is in office.

But that was a while back and I’ve gotten married and had kids since then. I never hear it anymore from family or friends and I guess I’d hoped that this particularly hurtful expression had disappeared. But I just must be travelling in different social circles, because I’ve had to have this conversation, almost word-for-word with my son. In fact, I’ve had this conversation with my son’s friends. It’s pretty funny, because the open-mouthed goldfish reaction was identical to that shown in this public service announcement.

I think this expression is a social virus for a myriad of reasons. Each of us need to give this short and sweet speech to everyone infected.

One year later, we are still listening to audiobooks in the car, which is a great goodness, because—sad to say—I’m not sure how much reading either of them would be doing otherwise.

My son isn’t reading much because he is a “reluctant reader.” Given a choice between reading or doing anything physical with his body, he will always choose the physical activity. In the car, however, when he’s a captive audience, so to speak, he enjoys listening to a variety of audiobooks. He definitely prefers The Lightening Thief or Peter and the Starcatchers, but even action-boy can find himself being drawn into the magical story line of A Single Shard.

My daughter isn’t reading much because the rigors of 5th grade have sucked up much of her free time. She is normally a voracious reader, but these before she can crack a book, she must go to school, do her homework, practice cello; then comes sports and girl scouts; and finally—the activity that trumps all other activities—playdates. But when we listen to an audiobook in the car, she and her brother become so engrossed that they sit in the car listening long after I’ve parked the car and gone into the house.

There are many forces that keep children from turning into bookworms. These days, videogames and television are given much of the blame for both low literacy and childhood obesity. Recent trends to keep kids active encourage parents to sign up kids in multiple sports instead of hanging out together in the library and curling up on the couch together with a good book. Active lifestyles and bookworms aren’t ready bedfellows, it seems.

But listening to audiobooks in the car can help to combat low literacy and childhood obesity in one stroke! Exposure to literature expands children’s minds whether they are reading the book or listening to the story. Even though kids are signed up for two or three sports, they still need to find time to get lost in a good book!

So next time you are driving your kid to school, soccer, ballet, chess club, swim team, tae kwan do, whatever! turn on an audiobook instead of a DVD. Go to the library, pick out a blockbuster and get started. Audiobooks are great entertainment, and they promote literacy while you all stay active!