Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul - and sings the tunes without the words - and never stops at all. -Emily Dickinson
Dear Writers,
Mark your calendars for next year. The Chappaqua Lit Festival was the single most amazing event I have ever attended.
There were 160 writers and illustrators.
There were THOUSANDS of people. And they all LOVE books!
I also got to see lots and lots of friends!!!!! THANK YOU!!!!!! You all made my day.
The best part of the festival is getting to see this amazing community. There were babies reading books. And kids reading books. There were parents asking questions about books—because they were excited and interested—not scared. We talked about what books can do. This community is clearly committed to literacy and it showed, because there were boys reading books about girls, people looking for windows and mirrors. And almost everyone knew who Bella Abzug was!
Thank you to EVERYONE involved in creating this amazing event. I LOVED every second.
When I envision the world I want to live in, I envision people like the people I met. People who want to expand their knowledge, their empathy, their ideas about humanity. People who talk about advocacy and making the world better. They are people that don’t lean on stereotypes. They see the potential in people. They were curious. Creative. Hilarious. And we ate a lot of M and M’s!
Books can heal the world.
They can make us stronger. They can make us care more. They can push us to lead active lives.
Funny story: Last week, the mother of a reader emailed me about my novel, Beyond Lucky. She was worried how her son would respond to the boys’ early and lousy attitude about playing soccer with a girl. I reminded her that the best characters overcome adversity. That Parker would not be the character she is if those boys had rolled out the red carpet. That books are about change, and that one of the greatest challenges of being a writer is to get into the heads of people you don’t always respect.
I can’t wait to hear from her when they get to the end!
Are you ready to stretch?
What’s YOUR favorite book? Ask the main character of that book to give the main character of YOUR book some advice! Will your character listen? That is up to you!
Have a great writing week!
xo Sarah
I love that advice for writing: "have your favorite MC give advice to YOUR main character." I wonder if my editors will let Lyra reach out to my male 13-year-old. I can see her talking to Brian! Enjoyed hearing about the book festival plus the pictures on FB! Always want to attend.
Our local Gaithersburg Book Festival in MD has the same vibe: all ages who attend are drawn to the books and fabulous authors!