Where the Wild Things Are

I guess this is the season for state fairs, county fairs, and on the island of Martha's Vineyard, the annual Ag(ricultural) Fair. Every year the farmers on our road pack up their animals for a 4 day stay at the Fair. One of their pigs, Hilda (which was my mother-in-law's name so I'm very fond of her) gets trucked up to the Fair in her own pickup. That's how big she is! She is one impressive pig. One year the pigs got loose and came to our place for a visit. Have you ever seen pigs root? Have you ever seen the damage they can do to a lawn in a couple of minutes? Sometimes the cows get loose and come to visit, too. And this year 5 horses dropped by. They all leave something behind. (Though when you have 20 wild turkeys hanging out morning and evening, you get used to piles of poop.)

But George's favorite year was the year of the duck. Don't know why these two white ducks (with fancy names) decided to cross the road and summer at our place, but they did. George found an egg one of them had laid (no nest, just dropped in the grass). As it turned out that wasn't the only egg -- but it's the only one George decided to eat. I tried to dissuade him but he cooked it anyway. He described it as very rich but delicious. These are the perks of living across a narrow dirt road from a farm. But, don't get me wrong -- we love it!

So when my daughter, Randy, came up for the weekend I convinced her to go to the Ag Fair with me. I used to take my grandson every year but he's not here this weekend and anyway, at 16, he's not going to hang with me or his mom -- how embarrassing would that be!

Since I'm writing a story about Jake and Abigail (the Pain and the Great One) at the Fair, I needed a couple of details -- how much were they charging per ride this year (an unbelievable $5 worth of tickets!) Was the Gravitron still there (No). Were they using Porta-Potties (Yes, but there was also a rest room inside the Ag Hall.) At the "water gun" game -- you know the one -- where you compete with others, shooting a stream of water at a target and whoever's marker makes it to the top first, wins a prize -- I convinced Randy to play (that game may be in my story). And much to her surprise and embarrassment, Randy won! (Randy is a grown-up.) She got a blue and white stuffed pony as her prize.

"What am I going to do with this?" she kept asking. "I have to find a little girl who'd like it." So she waited until the next game, and when a little girl, maybe 6 or 7 didn't win, Randy offered her the pony. The little girl couldn't believe it. You should have seen her face as she looked to her mom, then her dad, then back to her mom -- and when they said, Yes, she could have the pony, she was thrilled! We had a camera along for just such a moment but neither of us remembered to use it. Oh well. So now I have all the answers to my questions about the Fair and can finish my story (except, of course, I'm writing in my blog instead! I suppose I'll get the hang of this and only blog after my work day).

This morning, right outside my writing cabin was this yellow bird. I'm going right up to my bird book to find out what he is.

Hope you're having a wild August, too.
Love,
Judy

PS The little yellow bird is an American Goldfinch. And the funny thing is, when I found his entry in the birdbook, there was a handwritten note --summer of 2002. So I'd looked him up five years ago! So much for my bird memory.

Master of My Blog

This is what George (husband, electronic guru, webmaster) tells me I am. Sounds impressive. We'll see. Can't believe I actually have a blog but here I am. I've promised I'll keep my readers more up-to-date (last letter from me on this website was January '07. This is bad, or sad, or something).

I'd hoped to launch my new, redesigned, everything-you-ever-wanted-to-know website on August 28, pub date for Soupy Saturdays with the Pain&the Great One -- even though Mark, the talented designer, says my site is like an onion, a big onion, and since he and the programmer have full time jobs and Mark also has a two year old -- well, it's taking longer than expected. But it will be done, and soon! As for the blog -- I've been inspired by my friends, like Meg Cabot, who have blogs on their sites. I have good intentions this time. So stay tuned.

I'm really excited about Soupy Saturdays. As I wrote on the New York Times Papercuts blog: I've never done four books in a row about the same characters. I've never done four books in a row for the same age group. I like the challenge of writing about forty year olds, then writing about four year olds (not as different as you'd think). This summer I'm working on the 3rd book in the series (the 2nd, Cool Zone, is finished and will be out next May). I have a Labor Day deadline but I'm still on the first draft. First drafts are pure torture for me. I dread first drafts. So I think this baby is going to be late. More at Papercuts (scroll down for my entry)

This month I've been dropping in to BN.com to join the bookclub discussing Everything I Needed to Know About Being a Girl I Learned From Judy Blume. I have to say, when I first learned of this book I wasn't happy. I mean -- I'm still alive and well and writing and it struck me (and George who put it best) Aren't you supposed to be dead before they publish a tribute to you and your work? Anyway, I had nothing to do with the book. The publisher never even let me know about it (which was especially unsettling since the same publisher has published many of my books over the years). But then I read the essays and well -- how can you be anything but appreciative about so many moving, generous, and even funny stories about your own books? I've been dropping in to answer questions and chat.

Now that August is more than halfway over, I'm finally in the groove -- the writing groove, that is. So I'm lamenting the short time left. Because if I could stick with my schedule and focus on the stories I'm writing... But we have to leave the Vineyard the day after Labor Day to gear up for the coming book tour. I've posted the tour schedule on the Soupy Saturdays page. I hope to see some of you at my signings. And your kids, too. Or your parents -- whichever fits.

More soon. And since this is my first entry I just have to say thanks to all of you for reading my books, caring about my characters, and being so supportive over the years. It means everything!
Love,
Judy