Works in Progress

Picture book

Ludwig Bemelmans

Do you remember the Madeline books? There are five books that were published before Ludwig Bemelmans' death in 1962, and one more published after his death. I have written a picture book about Ludwig’s interesting and quirky life. He had a both happy and sad childhood, was sent to America at age 16, and published his first Madeline book in 1939. Instead of studying in school, he drew pictures. Rather than work at a job as expected, he drew pictures. He later said pictures were the best way to tell a story, because it took too many words when one picture would be enough. Madeline’s life reflects what he heard his mother say about her childhood, his wife’s name—Madeleine—spelled differently to rhyme with vines and lines—and his daughter Barbara, who inspired him to be like a child himself. A grandson, John Bemelmans Marciano continues to write Madeline books today.

Picture book

Message for Penny

When I was five years old, my little, tiny hometown—Morganville, Kansas—adopted a small town in France—Feves—to help them recover from World War II damage. My community put on a fund-raising pageant of dancers, singers, side shows, and lots of food, to represent Morganville’s history and heritage. I was in the pageant and remember snippets of color and activity. I have written a picture book about a six-year-old girl named Penny who wants to make her own unique contribution to Feves. She finds something, sends it with Morganville’s shipment, and in a near-miracle (to her) she receives a return message. I love this story. Check my blogs for more information.

Picture book

Cubbies

This is a story based on a Christmas Day house fire that destroyed my upstairs bedroom when I was six years old. While living at a Different House with a bigger bedroom for me, I asked for more space in our Real House’s renovation. “No,” from both Mom and Dad didn’t stop me from looking for options. Our carpenter, my Uncle Art, and I came up with a very neat solution—push my bed into a cubby in the wall. Do the same with dresser drawers on the other side of the room. Uncle Art asked for my help on his next building project!

Nonfiction/poetry

The Grit and Grace of Gordon Parks

My perennial love affair with Gordon Parks continues. He was born in 1912 and is as alive as when he walked around with us. From a recent exhibit—The New Tide: Early Work 1940-1950, from late 2018 to early 2019— at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. to David Parks’s visit to the Gordon Parks Elementary School October 2019, Gordon’s creative and loving spirit hangs around just as he predicted. I am submitting a prose poetry narrative nonfiction biography of Gordon now, believing that a publisher will join me in wanting to keep the story of his childhood years through his death in 2006 in front of young and old alike. It was Gordon who said, “I want young black boys to know my story so they will believe obstacles can be overcome with grit and grace.” Many thanks for Dr. Carmaletta Williams, Executive Director of The Black Archives of Mid-America, who contributed a moving forward message for the manuscript.

Skeeter and Minnie

This story is about Skeeter (a young child) and his cat, Minnie, who interrupts Skeeter’s attempts to paint a birthday portrait for his nana. They settle on a collaborative picture which includes Minnie’s messy pawprints along with Skeeter’s painting. I conclude the story with back matter about famous artist collaborations, such as Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Olympic Rings.

Finding Family

My yoga trainer was adopted by an American military family from a South Korean orphanage at age six. This story shares her perception of the orphanage, her attempts to run away and find her family of origin, and her hesitation to be adopted.

Poetry

Coronavirus

The presence and influence of coronavirus caused me to wake up with phrases about people’s reaction to the pandemic racing through my mind. I grabbed my journal and made notes.

Here’s one:

The Curtain

The curtain will be pulled back sooner or later—

most likely later—

when we will be flung into our inner resources.

When a ludicrous rationale for the craziness

that stopped the world-as-we-know-it

shows its full face again

and we know it was insane then

and likely worse if repeated.

We’ll try to recoup the old stuff for a while,

tasting life with the former break-neck speed,

re-creating a world crammed with artificially-imposed deadlines,

times and places,

while new discernments worm their way into our consciousness.

Entertain then, humor them,

then transform them

into newly-exposed glimpses of your own evolution.

Pull the curtain all the way back.

Notice what awaits.