The dream of someone who writes children's books: to be mentored by a Newbery Award winner.

A Victorian mansion sheltered our "slumber party," the lanai overlooking Waikiki and the Pacific, the rooms furnished with period treasures. But the greatest treasure was our two-day workshop leader, Richard Peck. Richard has won gobs of awards for his folksy-funny stories of kids, mostly in the Midwest. Ten of us were privileged to share our writing, our dreams, and our friendship. About half of us are published; all of us persist. Richard offered suggestions to improve our writing, and everyone voiced opinions. Since we were yearning to improve our writing, we welcomed the comments.

Our five-page offerings were as varied as our backgrounds. We had a boy-and-his-dog story, several high-school-girl protagonists: one was concerned with her flat chest, another concerned with her ballet/hula future. Another was a biography of a world public figure, still another a coming-of-age story in a fantasy kingdom.

Richard had us introduce our readings with four questions:
1. Who is the intended reader?
2. What successful book can I compare it to?
3. What is the page one grabber?
4. What's going to keep this story from sinking in the middle?

Mine? Well, I introduced mine as a Nancy Drew for the twenty-first century, a spy story in Curacao. Readers could be anyone from girls through old women--we all have our fantasies and love a mystery. Richard says since my protagonist is college age, I should submit it to the adult departments of publishers. I'll probably do that as well as submitting it to the YA departments.

But first, I need to find my "voice"--that special singing quality, that turn of speech, that brings a story to life. Then, all I have to do is totally rewrite the story in that voice, cut every unnecessary scene, sentence, and word, and tighten, tighten, tighten. Or is that one too many tightens? Have to learn to write lean!

Anyway, it was a weekend to remember. May you also be blessed with such an experience.

Aloha!