Welcome to the web page of Cecilia Galante, author of The Patron Saint of Butterflies and Hershey Herself. The Patron Saint of Butterflies has been awarded as a Book Sense Pick for 2008, been named Young-Adult Book of the Year by the Northeast Independent Booksellers Association, and is a Recommended Read for Teens on Oprah's website.
Sorry I’ve been AWOL these past weeks, but I have been writing frantically on the new book. Things have been moving along - I am about 140 pages in - but it still just the first draft, so I feel a little uneasy about it. My writing process has become something like this:
1. GET THROUGH a first draft. All the way to the end. Even if I think it is total and complete garbage.
2. Set first draft aside for one week so that it can stew, marinate, and I can get a little distance from it.
3. Take it back out, reread it ALL THE WAY THROUGH, and note all the inconsistencies, holes, loose ends, and bad writing.
4. Cry, scream, stalk around the house. Pull at hair. Rant and rave.
5. Start second draft.
6. Repeat #3.
7. Write third, fourth, and fifth draft.
Usually by the fifth draft, I am ready to show it to my editor, who of course will then send it back with her own comments and questions and “what the heck is this?” and will lead to a sixth, possibly even a seventh draft.
Right now, I am only on #1 of this process. And not even all the way through. But we are leaving this morning for a week-long vacation in Vermont, and I am going to have to trust that the story will wait patiently for me until I return. I am going to be bringing my notebook, of course, and hope that on some of my long morning runs, a few of the nagging kinks that I haven’t yet been able to work out in the story will somehow unkink themselves.
While I’m in Poultney, I am also going to be giving a reading/presentation/talk about The Patron Saint of Butterflies at the Poultney Library. I am so thrilled that I was asked to do this, and am really looking forward to it.
I’m also going to try to keep what my oldest daughter, Sarah, said to me last night: “Don’t forget to be on vacation, Mom.”
Sounds right.
See you in a week!
CG
The graduation ceremonies at the high school where I teach are taking place today at 11:00 a.m. That means at approximately 12:20 p.m., the school year will be officially over. Aside from all the students I get to meet during the year, having the summers off is definitely one of the biggest perks of being a teacher. And as much as I love my job, it will be nice to have a little bit of a break.
That being said, this is also the first summer that I am under contract to write/produce a book for my publisher, Simon & Schuster. When they bought Willowood early in 2009, they offered me a 2-book deal, which meant that while they were happy with Willowood, they also wanted another book. At the time, I whooped it up when I heard the news, terribly excited about the prospect of having been taken seriously enough at this point to sign a deal for a book I had not even written yet.
WELL.
The time has now come to start writing. And let’s just say I am not whooping anything up right about now, except maybe my nerves, which are worn thin. I have until October to produce this new book, but I don’t like having to write under a deadline. It adds another layer of stress that I don’t need.
However, I have a very specific personality trait - or maybe it is a quirk -that I have come to refer to as my “Little Engine Gene.” You know the story of the Little Engine - climbing the hill a puff at a time, absolutely convinced that he is not going to make it, but chanting IthinkIcanIthinkIcanIthinkIcan all the way to the top. That’s sort of what I do. Half of me is sure I can’t do it, but the other Little Engine gene sits me down (or pushes me up, perhaps) chanting IthinkIcanIthinkIcan all the way through. It’s a strange process, but it gets it done.
And the best part about it is the ride back down, when I get to chant IthoughtIcouldIthoughtIcould all the way back to the publishers.
Until next time!
HAPPY SUMMER!!
The Sweetness of Salt is starting off well, already getting a blurb in Publishers Weekly…Check it out here: http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6660293.html?q=%22Jessica+Re
It’ll be awhile until it’s actually out there to read - Fall of 2011, to be exact, but that gives me the time I need to whip it into even better shape, come up with a gorgeous cover, and hopefully, have another book waiting in the wings!
Until next time…
CG
I hate not winning.
Yesterday I found out that the PEN Working Writer’s Fellowship Award - which I applied for way back in February - was given to someone else.
For about ten minutes, I was very calm. I acted rationally and maturely, sending heartfelt congratulations to the winner (which I really did mean), and informing my editor and my agent - both of whom had nominated me for the award - that I would apply again next year.
Then the 37-year old woman in me bolted out the back door. For the next hour (okay, maybe two hours), I felt as if I was back in seventh grade, scuffing the toe of my sneaker on the gym floor, trying desperately not to show how mortified I was that no one wanted me on their dodge-ball team. For some reason back then, I was always, always picked last for dodge ball. (It may have had something to do with the fact that I was just the tiniest bit afraid of the ball, and that instead of dodging it, I would run screaming in the opposite direction, hiding behind other students who would try to swat me off them like some enormous, annoying mosquito.) The embarrassment I felt back then at not being picked first - hell, not being picked really at all, except by default, is something that has stayed with me. And yesterday, it all came flooding back.
I suck.
I’m not good enough.
I’ve had a modicum of success as a writer, but not really. Not enough to be noticed. Not enough to stand out. Not enough to WIN anything.
It went on and on - until, eventually, even I got sick of it.
Moping and self-flagellating only takes you so far. Besides being incredibly boring (not to mention ungrateful and downright annoying, since I have already been given so much) - it also freezes you in your tracks. Back in my dodge-ball days, I really believed that I couldn’t play the game. My fear of the ball was intensified by the fact that my teammates knew this. They used my fear to their advantage. If I was the last one picked, I was always the first one out. My cowering and whimpering made me an easy target: my complete lack of faith in myself set me up for failure.
But this aint dodgeball anymore. As my best girlfriend said to me (after listening patiently to my whining for much too long): “Use the losing as motivation. Get back out there and let this shitty feeling propel you forward to make something even better. Something even bigger.”
It’s something that I am striving to do. It’s not easy. Wallowing in self-pity is much, much easier. But it’s not as much fun. Challenging myself is fun. Pushing myself to stay in the game and get better is fun.
I still hate losing.
But maybe in a different kind of way - in a awkward, anti-dodgeball kind of way - this realization today means that I’ve already kind of won.
Until next time - CG
It never really sinks in all the way that I’ve actually completed a book until it comes time to write the dedication and acknowledgement pages. It’s one of the most enjoyable stages of the process - for the most part.
The dedication - aside from its obvious personal significance - is encouraged to be short, thoughtful, even pithy. You want to say something incredibly meaningful in as few words as possible. This wasn’t necessarily a problem for my first two books. I knew who I was going to dedicate The Patron Saint of Butterflies to before I even started writing the book. Dedicating Hershey Herself to my daughter Sarah was another no-brainer, and the small, hopefully meaningful phrases that went with them came easily.
This was not the case, however, with Willowood. Deciding who I wanted to dedicate this book was not difficult, but for some reason, coming up with the tagline was like wading through mud. It took me weeks to find the right words, the appropriate phrasing, whittling it down and building it back up and then slashing it apart again, until, finally - hopefully - it reads as it should.
The acknowledgement page is another small task that only SEEMS small. Invariably, after I’ve listed all the people in my life who have helped me along this particular process, there is always someone - somewhere - that I forget. I remember rereading the acknowledgement page in the back of Hershey Herself and realizing that I had forgotten to include a particular woman who had spent hours with me, teaching me all the necessary information I needed to know about the piano. I almost had a heart attack. The worst part of it, though, was realizing that there was nothing I could do, no way I could go back and reinsert her name. I don’t ever want that to happen again.
To that end, I send my acknowledgement page to numerous people along the way - my agent, my editor, my best girlfriends, even my father - so that an extra set of eyes can possibly spot another lapse in judgement I may have made. To date, I have already been informed by three separate people that I inadvertently left out several more.
Still, I’m not actually complaining. I mean, my god, I’m talking about writing the acknowledgement page for my third novel. I’ll have to do it again for The Sweetness of Salt, and then hopefully, many more times after that. And as hard as it is sometimes to find the words, to remember the names, to stitch it all together, it’s still writing, which, even on my worst day, still makes it the best day in the world.
CG
Well, the stars have aligned themselves once again. Yesterday, I got a call from my agent who told me that Bloomsbury had made an offer on The Sweetness of Salt. To say I am happy right now would be the biggest understatement of the year. I am over the moon, delirious, in a please-pinch-me-one-more-time state of mind. Mostly, though, I am stunned. I had been so SURE that they were going to turn it down. Mind you, Bloomsbury is the publishing house that took on The Patron Saint of Butterflies and made it soar, and for some reason, I just had myself completely convinced that The Sweetness of Salt was not going to be as “worthy” of a predecessor. That might sound dorky, but sometimes the second novel you create for a publishing house turns out to be loaded with more pressure and expectation than the first.
ANYWAY.
They read it. They loved it. They bought it. Now, sometime in 2010, I will be releasing my second Bloomsbury novel. Oddly enough, I will also be releasing my second novel with Simon & Schuster at around the same time.
I did say those stars had a funny way of aligning themselves, didn’t I?
Talk soon!
CG
I think I mentioned in one of my earlier posts that after much head-scratching and thinking, the good people at Simon & Schuster and I conceded (rather grudgingly, I’m afraid,) to stick with the original title for my third book. That is, we were going to leave it as Lily Sinclair. I was fine with it - not thrilled, but definitely not upset - and thought that was the end of the matter.
It was not.
Yesterday, I got a call from the woman who is in charge of international book rights at my agency. She told me that she will be taking Lily Sinclair over to the London Book Fair this fall to try to sell the rights and that the title, as is, was just “not working for her.” She said she was really looking for something that would ”jump out at buyers, something that would attract their attention quickly.”
What ensued next was a rapid-fire brainstorming session with this woman, my agent, and my editor at Simon & Schuster. Perhaps it was the whole “meeting of the minds,” aspect of things, but after talking about the story aloud and discussing certain parts of it, we stumbled upon the title which, I feel now, should have absolutely been the title from the very beginning.
Therefore…..drumroll please…the new, revised, and FINAL title for my third book will be WILLOWOOD.
Willowood is actually a secret hiding place that Lily finds at one point in the story - and then finds again, later, in a completely different place. Without giving away too much, the word Willowood encompasses this story perfectly. And I love it. I think it lends a mysteriousness, an edginess, and a definite pull towards the story that Lily Sinclair would not have been able to do.
That done, I then also got to be part of the model selection for the book cover. My editor sent me several photographs of really beautiful 10-year old girls - but it was not until I saw one - short brown hair, fist propped under her chin, with huge, mischievious blue eyes - that I knew I was looking at Lily. It’s funny how that works - how, when you’re writing, you have a mental image in your head of what your character looks like and then, if you get really, really lucky, someone, somewhere finds that image for you - for real.
Anyway, after all of this work, I think Willowood is going to be the most beautiful cover ever! I am so excited to see the end result - and as soon as I get it, I will post it here!
Talk soon…CG
Yesterday, I finished the final edits on The Sweetness of Salt and sent it off to my agent.
It is an unbelievable feeling to finish a novel. Seriously, the only thing I can compare it to is coming to the end of a nine-month pregnancy term. After all the months of waiting - and working - the end is actually in sight. The finish line is finally a tangible thing, instead of some foggy, hazy handkerchief waving in the distance. Surreal.
Now comes another hard part.
Waiting.
Just because I have written and published three books at this point in my career, my publisher does not have to snap up anything I write and send it to the presses. It helps that I’ve been published, it’s a definite plus that I’ve been able to sell what I’ve written, but it still isn’t a guarantee. This story has to stand on its own. It has to be good enough to get out there on the shelves with all the other hundreds of books that will be published next year and not wither in their shadows.
So we’ll see. My agent says that it will be about two weeks before my editor gets back to me on The Sweetness of Salt. Until then, I am going to relish the Easter break, eat lots of Chunky Monkey, catch up on some sleep, celebrate an enormous accomplishment with my girl friends, and make lots of pasta dinners for my wonderful husband, who sent me on my way, weekend after weekend, to finish the book. Honestly, I couldn’t do any of this without him.
See you soon!
CG
I’ve been terribly lax about keeping up with my blog - but I have a great excuse. I am in the throes of rewriting the last third of my new novel (which I am tentatively calling Salt) and am galloping to the end. This is the most exciting part about writing - when the months of mining through the ‘what if’s’ and ‘how about that’ finally start to come together, congealing themselves into the story that wanted to be told in the first place.
I think it was Kurt Vonnegut who said once that the only thing he tries to do when he writes is “to get the hell out of the way of the story.” This is probably the most difficult thing for me to do - but also the most necessary. As authors, we bring so much of our own stuff - consciously or unconsciously - to our writing. Sometimes, all those extras get in the way of a story that is trying to be told on its own merit. To put my experiences to the side and let the story tell itself - which usually happens during the third or fourth rewrite - is incredibly difficult, but also the most rewarding.
Anyway, that’s where I am right now with Salt. If there is a certain magic to writing, this is the part where it comes for me, when I’ve finally relinquished the reins and stepped the hell out of the way. Now all I have to do is keep listening - and typing!!
Other news:
- After all the tossing back and forth of possible titles for my mid-grade novel coming out in September, the good people at Simon & Schuster seem to think that the very first one I came up with - Lily Sinclair - sounds the best after all. I’m not sure if that means all the other suggestions I threw their way completely sucked, but Lily Sinclair is the way it’s looking right now. I’ve also been told by the art department that the cover for this book -which is going to be a hard back - is going to be a close-up photograph of a young girl with a tiny gecko sitting on her shoulder! As we have no influence whatsoever over the cover design process, I have to say I am completely thrilled with this image idea, and can’t wait to see the finished product! As soon as they send me an image, I’ll post it here.
- I’ve been asked to be on three different author panels this coming fall - one in Harrisburg, another in Scranton, and a third at a young-adult conference in Boston. It’s still such a thrill to be asked to participate in these kinds of things and to realize that people out there really consider me to be somewhat knowledgeable about the whole writing/book process. (Sometimes I have to wonder!)
- That about covers it for now. If you don’t hear from me for awhile, it’s because I am locked away in some room, working feverishly on the end of Salt.
Here’s to spring and all new things!
CG
I am very excited to have been nominated for my first working writer’s award. My agent suggested I look into this a few weeks ago, and when I broached the subject with my publisher, she was so enthusiastic about me doing it that I knew I had to go through with it.
The award is called the Phyllis Naylor Working Writer Fellowship. Here is a description of what it is all about:
The PEN/Phyllis Naylor Working Writer Fellowship of $5,000 is offered annually to an author of children’s or young-adult fiction. The Fellowship has been developed to help writers whose work is of high literary caliber but who have not yet attracted a broad readership. As a result, an author’s books may not have achieved the sales that would allow the writer to support him or herself solely from writing.The Fellowship is designed to assist a writer at a crucial moment in his or her career, when monetary support is particularly needed to complete a book-length work-in-progress.
Now, I am certainly not looking for pennies on the sidewalk yet, but in today’s economy, every little bit helps. Still, when I thought about applying for this award, it wasn’t the monetary part of it that jumped out at me. It was these few lines, written by Phyllis Naylor herself:
On establishing the Fellowship Mrs. Naylor said: “We truly work ‘blind,’ with no assurance whatsoever that anyone will be interested in our final product. It takes enormous stamina and resolve and optimism to live with our characters for a year or more—and it’s my hope that the Working Writer’s Fellowship, modest as it is, will let the author know that an expert panel of PEN judges has faith in the writer, admires his work, and trusts that he will be able to bring to paper what he sees in his head.”
I’ve always suspected that only other writers can sufficiently understand what authors go through, living in the real world, but also in one we’ve created, one that keeps changing and reshaping itself, and Ms. Naylor has confirmed this to the nth degree. I mean, the woman has nailed it. All I know is this: I just want to keep going. I want to keep writing, and putting good stories and books out there for the public to read. And if this is one way of helping me do that, then I say: On your mark, get set, GO!!
To apply for the award, I had to write an essay and an outline about my novel-in-progress, as well as try to convince the panel that I was a viable candidate for such a prestigious honor. After that, my publisher took over, formally nominating me and putting me in the running with God knows how many other authors are out there with the same idea. (I’m sure there are many.)
It’s both exciting and nerve-wracking to do something like this: exciting, because the possibility of winning anything is always thrilling, and because the possibility of having one’s work recognized in such a way would be incredible. Nervewracking, because along with any leap comes the possibility of falling - or at least not making it all the way across.
Still, it’s the leap that counts.
Here’s to all of us who jump - and hope for the best.
CG