Children's Writers Workshop Chat Log 6-26-01

Children's Writers Workshop Chat Log 6-26-01

Guest: Anne LeMieux, author and former CWC chat host

Discussion Topic: "Life as Inspiration"

<HTML>Children's Writers Workshop Chat Log 6-26-01 
Guest: Anne LeMieux, author and former CWC chat host 
Discussion Topic: "Life as Inspiration" 
 
WriterBabe: We'll be in modified protocol. That means when it's time for 
audience participation, 
WriterBabe: type ? for a question. 
WriterBabe: If you have a comment on the ongoing chat, you may make that at 
any time in brackets. 
WriterBabe: Type GA for Go Ahead when you've finished speaking. 
WriterBabe: Tonight we have an old friend as guest host--chat founder, Anne 
LeMieux. 
WriterBabe: Anne, take it away! 
Swan522: :) 
Swan522: Well, I thought I'd start with a metaquote - 
Swan522: a quote of me quoting someone else, from a speech I gave a few 
years ago 
Swan522: (Ahem) "One of the questions I'm often asked by kids is `Do you 
write about people you 
Swan522: know?' Yes, I tell them, though I don't always realize it until 
someone `recognizes' him or 
Swan522: herself in soemthing I've written and points out the purloined 
personality parts to me. But 
Swan522: I also tell them that each one of my characters contains part of 
me, too. F. Scott Fitzg- 
Swan522: gerald once said, `Writers aren't exactly people..They're a whole 
lot of people trying 
Swan522: to be one person.' That pretty much describes us." 
Swan522: That's with regard to fiction 
Swan522: But for the past year and a half I've been working on a personal 
story, non-fiction about my 
Swan522: son Brendan... 
Swan522: it's very different in some ways. GA 
Swan522: [I started out as a non-fiction journalist - so I guess it was 
inevitable that when I began 
Swan522: to write fiction, reality would ooze in.] 
Swan522: GA 
WriterBabe: Anne, tell us a bit more about how you've used life as 
inspiration in fiction. 
WriterBabe: And how your non-fiction skills have fed into fiction. GA 
Swan522: Well, my kids, especially my daughter, would be the first to rat me 
out for stealing 
Swan522: material (or inspiration) from their lives. I know when I'm 
working on characters - 
Swan522: I've always done little bios when starting a new book - 
Swan522: I grab pretty freely and mix and match characteristics from people 
i know. 
Swan522: And lines and phrases, styles of dialogue, attitudes. 
Swan522: GA 
Swan522: I think that starting out in non-fiction cultivated 
Swan522: the habit of paying close attention to details and nuances. 
Swan522: Also, it trained me to keep notebooks, write a lot down for 
journalistic accuracy 
Swan522: Probably another thing it did was give me a sense of trying to 
write "real" 
Swan522: GA 
WriterBabe: You're working on a book about your son. Tell us a bit about 
it. 
Swan522: As I metioned in the bio blurb, my son (almost fourteen now) was 
diagnosed with a very rare 
Swan522: genetic disorder called Williams syndrome a year and a half ago. 
It wasn't for lack of 
Swan522: eminent doctors or specialists - he almost died from a heart 
problem when he 
Swan522: was 3 days old - but each of the doctors we saw for different 
things only saw his own tree - 
Swan522: it took a special ed teacher to pick up on the forest. 
Swan522: The book I'm working on now is a kind of combination 
mother/writer's memoir of this medical 
Swan522: mystery/history - 
Swan522: There's so little information about Williams (or was until some 
websites developed) 
Swan522: and no family stories at all. It's a unique disorder, because of 
areas of extreme 
Swan522: impairment, but also areas of giftedness, with language, music - so 
a lot 
Swan522: of research is being devoted to it right now. 
Swan522: I'm doing more research for this book than for anything I've ever 
written. 
Swan522: G 
Swan522: GA 
MudderGG: [But I'm sure it has been a labor of love.] 
WriterBabe: How likely is it that you will base a children's book on your 
research or your experiences? 
Swan522: I expect that I will... 
Swan522: I'm thinking about it now - because one of the unusual features 
WriterBabe: I expect you will, too! 
Swan522: of Williams is very expressive language, an ability to articulate 
what it's like 
Swan522: to be mentally retarded - 
Swan522: ... the world's a different place for me now than 
Swan522: it was before the diagnosis - 
Swan522: I've gotten very involved, obviously, in special needs - 
Swan522: so I think, when I've absorbed more, I would like to 
Swan522: explore that expereince from a kid's point of view. 
Swan522: GA 
Doropatent: [I think there was a segment about Williams on one of the TV 
news magazines] 
Swan522: (Yes - labor of love:)) 
WriterBabe: Because the obvious--intense work as a parent and as a 
researcher and time constraints--how 
Swan522: Hi Dorothy 
WriterBabe: has this development affected your writing? GA 
Swan522: Yes, 60 minutes, PBS - Oliver Sacks did a special 
Doropatent: [Hi to all] 
Swan522: Inside Edition, Chronicle in Boston 
Swan522: It's getting a lot of attention because of the research in genetics 
Swan522: and linking genes to brains and behavior and cognitive neuroscience 
Swan522: GA 
WriterBabe: Sorry, Anne. Did you see my last question? 
Swan522: oops - let me scroll 
Swan522: Good question!!!!! 
Swan522: Well, I'm finding myself more of a juggler than a balancer - 
Swan522: Because a lot of health issues and educational ones are starting to 
demand more attention 
Swan522: than they did when Bren was younger, I kind of have to be ready to 
Swan522: drop whatever I'm doing at a moment's notice, and run over to 
school, or 
Swan522: deal with a medical mini-crisis 
Swan522: And then I get home, having learned something new, or figured 
something out and I 
Swan522: have to write about it - 
Swan522: The book is actually taking the form of being embedded in my 
journal entries 
Swan522: for Brendan's year in seventh grade 
Swan522: I've written the last chapter, because I ahd to stop somewhere 
Swan522: But the story's not over, so it's strange 
Swan522: I have my days when my mind is burnt out from life, so then I just 
bury myself 
Swan522: in research - take notes, autopilot. 
Swan522: When I'm physically tired from running all over hell and high water 
to music lessons, or 
Swan522: phsyical therpay or whatever, then I lie down and read and 
underline and scribble in my 
Swan522: margins. Then, on a good calm day, I'll organize, synthesize, put 
things 
Swan522: together - those are the days when I see forward progress. 
Swan522: I used to be pretty organized about my writing, if not the rest of 
my life. 
Swan522: I guess I'd say... 
Swan522: My process has become more organically rooted in my life - 
Swan522: which is not a bad thing. 
Swan522: GA 
WriterBabe: Thanks, Anne. 
WriterBabe: Let's open this up for quesitons. 
DebsWrite2: ? 
WriterBabe: Questions, even. 
Melduvall: ? 
WriterBabe: Debs, go ahead. 
DebsWrite2: Do you find it difficult to write about your son? 
DebsWrite2: My son also has a rare disorder 
Swan522: Yes, sometimes, very difficult - then I write about the difficulty 
DebsWrite2: and I've attempted to write about it, but am too close to 
it....I get bogged down... 
Swan522: Does he? I'm so sorry for whatever he has to go through - 
Swan522: (Feel free to email me Deb) 
DebsWrite2: The syndromes sound very similar GA 
DebsWrite2: Thank you 
Swan522: I have trouble maintaining enough distance sometimes 
Swan522: (Please emial me then:)) 
WriterBabe: Mel, go ahead. 
Swan522: and I read something I've written, and it's saturated with emotion 
Melduvall: objectivity can be a problem. Do you have enough distance do it? 
how? 
BOEDEN: ? 
Swan522: and ( just where I was going, Mel:)) 
Swan522: It's so personal it makes me cringe! 
Swan522: Then I guess years of training in terms of revision kick in 
Swan522: I don't want to embarrass a reader by sobbing all over their pages 
Swan522: But - there's a humerous side to things 
Swan522: and I'm afraid, being a born wise-acre, I can't escape that point 
of view 
Swan522: That's one thing I've really gotten out of getting to know other 
parents 
Swan522: who have kids with Williams - sometimes you have a choice 
Swan522: laugh or cry - 
Swan522: and sometimes laughing is the right thing to do. 
Swan522: I also tend to get clinical, delve into real scientific research 
when the 
Swan522: emotional side of things gets too sad to deal with. 
Swan522: GA 
PBRwriter: ? 
RoxyanneY: ? 
WriterBabe: Sue, go ahead. 
BOEDEN: About your story regarding the mystery/history of Brendon. Is it for 
adults, 
BOEDEN: children or both? The basic theme puts you in a unique position to 
BOEDEN: educate many about Williams? Also, humor can see you through. Keep 
BOEDEN: using it. ga 
Swan522: Thanks, Sue:) Yes, definitely, this book is for adults. 
Swan522: But - I think once Brendan is beyond adolescence, I may have enough 
 
Swan522: persepctive to write a book to and for and about kids with this 
Swan522: kind of disorder, which is bascially a pervasive developmental 
disorder of genetic 
Swan522: origin. 
Swan522: GA 
BOEDEN: Thanks and all the best. ga 
Swan522: Thanks:) 
WriterBabe: Pam, your turn. 
PBRwriter: But what about borrowing someone else's life and integrating it 
into our fiction. Do we 
PBRwriter: worry if we make our subjects cringe? <g> 
PBRwriter: Does your son know you are writing about him? 
Swan522: I've given a lot of thought to that, PBR 
PBRwriter: Thanks and all my best-- Pamela 
PBRwriter: GA 
Swan522: And one of the opening chapters discusses that 
Swan522: issue, in depth. I'm trying to write the kind of 
Swan522: book I wish I could have found on the shelf when Brendan was 
Swan522: diagnosed - but nothing's been written. 
Swan522: I've also talked to him, and perhaps more importantly, to my 22 
year old daughter 
Swan522: who will be his guardian. She goes over everything 
Swan522: I read, and doesn't hesitate to be a razor sharp 
Swan522: editor. 
Neely f: <><><><> 15 MINUTE WARNING <><><><> 
Swan522: Here's the thing... 
Swan522: Brendan's life is not going to be "normal" - we know that now, and 
are seeing it 
Swan522: more each year, because Williams is progressive. 
Swan522: I don't know how long I'll live - 
Swan522: in one way, I see it as a measure of protection for him, a kind of 
Swan522: manual/insurance policy that might help his life if /when/whatever 
such time 
Swan522: comes that I can't be there to provide the protection myeslf - 
Swan522: Does that sound very weird? 
Swan522: GA 
BOEDEN: (Not at all) 
PBRwriter: NO. Your love will live on-- in your book. {} 
Swan522: Thank you:) 
WriterBabe: Roxy, you're next. 
RoxyanneY: Speaking of the clinical side, how are you dealing with getting 
medical professionals to 
RoxyanneY: contribute to your book, or are you? And if so, 
RoxyanneY: are you concerned at all about the medical research becoming 
RoxyanneY: outdated before your personal story is, which 
RoxyanneY: might limit the scope and reach of the book? 
RoxyanneY: Thanks, Anne, and much positive energy headed your way. GA 
WriterBabe: (Interesting question) 
Swan522: Wow! That's a question to sink my teeth into 
RoxyanneY: (and does anyone else need a Kleenex?) 
BOEDEN: (Me, two) 
Swan522: Well, I have contacts with a number of doctors and Williams 
syndrome clinics - because they 
Ekbruno: <yes> 
Swan522: are all concerned with getting published in med journals (to get 
funding for further 
Swan522: research) the ones I've contacted so far have been amenable to 
reading the chapters 
Swan522: pertinnent to their specialty - 
Swan522: One of the things about Williams is that it's a multisystem 
disorder 
Neely f: {}{}{}{} 10 MINUTE WARNING {}{}{}{} 
Swan522: there are about 12 clinics across the country, each of them 
Swan522: dealing with a different aspect of it - cardiac is in Philly, 
cognitive studies in San Diego 
Swan522: They get together every other year and share research. But in the 
interim, Brendan 
Swan522: is participating in a number or research studies - this way he gets 
 
Swan522: cutting edge evaluation and treatment in each area - plus it's free 
Swan522: insurance won't pay for much of this 
WriterBabe: [The queue's empty, folks] 
Swan522: Re the medical research becoming obsolete - 
Swan522: good foundations for a basic understanding are laid, and that's the 
level 
Swan522: I'm approaching the clincial stuff with - 
Swan522: I don't want it to read like a science text - 
Swan522: I'm more interested in 
Doropatent: ! 
Swan522: finding our common human ground 
Swan522: GA 
WriterBabe: Doro, comment. 
Doropatent: I took part in a play writing workshop with Marsh Norman 
recently, and she asked everyone to 
Doropatent: tell what they 'know a lot about.' That's what we all need to 
write about, even if it's har 
Doropatent: hard--GA 
Swan522: Right:) 
Swan522: That's the lastthing - 
Swan522: It's the only book i can write at this point in my life 
Swan522: GA 
WriterBabe: Other questions for Anne? 
DebsWrite2: So, it does permeate every moment of your life... 
Swan522: Pretty much:) 
RoxyanneY: ? 
HJL114: ! 
WriterBabe: Roxy, last question. 
RoxyanneY: That's the thing, isn't it? About writing at all. This is the 
only book you can write right 
RoxyanneY: now, and it's the toughest, most personal book of your life 
because this is the 
Neely f: ++_+_++ 3 MINUTE WARNING ++_+_++ 
RoxyanneY: toughest, most personal event of your life, and the fact that 
you're choosing to 
RoxyanneY: share it with others shows that you are incredibly brave in 
dealing 
RoxyanneY: with it. 
Swan522: Thanks Roxy:) 
RoxyanneY: This is how you will leave your mark, not only on your readers, 
but on your son and 
RoxyanneY: daughter. 
RoxyanneY: Bravo. 
WriterBabe: A good comment, Roxy. 
RoxyanneY: GA 
Swan522: (Aw shucks) 
WriterBabe: Final comment, HJL. 
HJL114: I have written a series for children about a crippled worm. It 
stresses that there is a spec 
LYPHIS: Roxy, A great comment! 
HJL114: place for each of us. Remember that always. He is a blessing. 
Swan522: Oh, he is most definitely a blessing:) 
Swan522: As a number of parents with kids with Williams have said 
Swan522: If a cure were found - we wouldn't want to cure all of it - 
Swan522: He wakes up singing, he loves the world 
Swan522: he doesn't know how to be mean 
Swan522: or to look at another person and see anything but a potential 
friend 
Swan522: I just want to the world to be as nice to him as he is to it (us) 
Swan522: GA 
WriterBabe: He's a lovely, adorable person, Anne. Truly. 
RoxyanneY: As a relatively new parent, I'm just sitting here in awe of you. 
Great workshop. Thank you. 
WriterBabe: And on that note, we must end the chat. 
BOEDEN: Thank you for sharing Anne. Your good attitude is contagious. I 
will keep 
WriterBabe: Thank you so much, Anne, for sharing your story with us. 
BOEDEN: you and yours in the light. Happy writing and be sure to care for 
you also. 
Swan522: Thanks Marilyn:) And you should hear him wail on the drums these 
days 
LYPHIS: [Very grateful to you Anne, on lots of levels here!] 
Tem292: Thanks! 
Doropatent: Thanks, Anne; lots to think about. 
Swan522: Thank you, Marilyn for inviting me, everyone for caring - I miss 
all you guys - 
DebsWrite2: Thank you so much 
Swan522: {{{{{{{{{Room hugs}}}}}}}}}}} 
Neely f: ":":":":":The bell tolls 10pm":":":":":" 
PBRwriter: I needed that. 
RoxyanneY: We miss you, too, Anne. It's been a long time. 
WriterBabe: Come hang out with us, Anne. 
Swan522: Good night all! I'll try to be here more often 
BOEDEN: Thanks Marilyn, Donna and Joan. Happiness everyone. T©©DLES until 
next week. 
Neely f: -----CLAPPING for ANNE----- 
Swan522: Will do. Night everyone. 
BOEDEN: [[[[[ HUGS]]]]] 
WriterBabe: Applause, folks! 
BOEDEN: Nighty night. 
BrendaHB: Welcome, Novel Workshoppers! :) 
WriterBabe: Next week, Open Chat. I won't be here, but Chuck and Donna 
will--I hope. Hey, you guys, 
WriterBabe: will you? 
CGaley: Thanks, Anne. 
Khusoch: Good evening, Novelists. 
CGaley: Donna will... 
WriterBabe: And Sue? 
Neely f: Chuck will. 
PBRwriter: (Will be here Donna and Chuck-- See you then) 
Neely f: lol 
WriterBabe: LOL 
Neely f: Of course I will be here. :) 
WriterBabe: I'll be back in two weeks and we'll discuss "Visionary 
Revisions." 
WriterBabe: Happy Independence Day and good night! 
PBRwriter: Good night Marilyn 
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Children's Writers Workshop Chat Log 6-26-01

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