Thurber House: Day Twenty-One (Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen)

And so we come to the end.

Today was my last full day at Thurber House, the culmination of my month-long stint as their 2016 Children's Writer-in-Residence. Tomorrow, I get up at 5am and catch an early flight back to home and family.

I celebrated today by taking the last of my long walks around the city. I hit the historical town, Topiary Park, downtown, and then went to Wolf's Ridge Brewing for my last taste of Duck Confit Tacos, Habanero Cheesecake, and their amazing Dire Wolf stout (though they were out of the habanero spiced variety). My farewell meal from my favorite Columbus restaurant.

Then in the afternoon, I signed copies of my books for the last batch of campers. Afterwards, I got a lift to The Book Loft of German Village for another signing.

Then it was back here for dinner and packing.

I accomplished a lot done here in Columbus. I finished the second draft of a book I'd been working on since January. I did an enormous amount of research for my next project, part of which involved world-building two fantasy cities. I wrote a stand-alone short story. And I knocked out the first 10,645 words of the new book. And they're good words. (I have the best words!)

But equally or maybe more importantly was the time I've spent teaching children, from the six sessions of camp at the Thurber Center that I taught, to the workshop at Worthington Park Library, to a High School writing group, to trips to the Homeless Families Foundation's Dowd Education Center, the Gladden Community House (a United Way affiliated non-profit agency), and the John Burroughs Elementary School summer school camp (a grant-funded program to provide food and activities to students in a low-income area). All the kids were wonderful, and I've learned so much. Mostly I've learned that children, whatever their backgrounds or opportunities, are bright and polite and positive and hopeful and imaginative and fun-loving and kind. Some of the kids I spoke to have a leg-up on life. And some of the kids I spoke to are starting out several rungs down the ladder from the rest of us. And they were all the same kids. Everyone of them, as capable of anything as anyone of us. Anything that can be done to lift these kids up and let the seeds I saw in them flower is the lord's work, whatever lord you believe in (except maybe Lord Voldemort). I'm really grateful to have met them all in ways I'll never fully express.

And speaking of grateful....

I’m eternally grateful to Thurber House for this amazing opportunity. I’ve loved living in my words and worlds. The people who run Thurber House and make it work are marvelous, and I hope I stay in touch with them and they with me. More than just a place I visited or a vacation I took—I’ve been alone in the house, I’ve received mail to the house, I’ve had guests visit me in the house,  I’ve done multiple loads of laundry and cleaned the kitchen countless times, I’ve even answered the doorbell. And I’ve walked all over Columbus, taking 1.5 to 2 hour walks nearly every day I've been here. This isn’t a place I visited. In a subjective, but very real, sense, Columbus is a place I’ve lived, joining the other cities around the world that I count as places that made me who I am and form a part of my personal narrative. Am I sad to be leaving? I love my family, and miss them, so sad isn't the right word, but this feels like a move does. You know, when you leave a place that you really lived and you know you'll only ever come back as a tourist. Thurber House and Columbus will always be a part of me, and I’ll always be a part of it (unless they paint over my fat signature in the closet and they better not!) Thank you all very, very much! I'm outta here!
               
                                      — Lou Anders, 2016 Children’s Writer in Residence.

Thurber House: Day Fifteen (4th of July Walkabout)

Happy 4th of July to those that celebrate it!

Today, I decided to mark the occasion by taking a super long walk around Columbus.

I walked from Thurber House to downtown with the intention of doing "the Scioto Mile" when I got there, and I did start down the path that parallels the river, but then the rain started in earnest. I walked in the rain for a bit, but decided that if it starting lightening (as predicted by my weather app) that being next to buildings one could duck into might be good.

So I came back from the river, where I paused to take a picture with a deer that was enjoying the view from a bridge.

Then I found some kids in bathing suits playing in a fountain in the rain!

I walked to Columbus' brewery district, though everything was closed.

And then I went to German Village, where I was delighted to see that the books I signed for The Book Loft are already selling down.

I found a tiny home belonging to a very patriotic fairy.

And had lunch at the original Max & Erma's.

Finally, I treated myself to a frappuccino at Starbucks and then I walked back to Thurber House.

All told, I was out and about for three hours, most of it moving.

Not a productive day, but a fun one. And I think that's okay! I'm going to spend the evening in, alternating between working and watching television. Hope you are all having a pleasant Independence Day!

Thurber House Interlude: Upcoming Events

In Columbus, Ohio? Well, come see me then.
On the last night of my residency, I'll be doing a casual meet & greet and signing of Frostborn and Nightborn at The Book Loft of German Village.

This is an amazing independent bookstore with no less than 32 rooms of books! I've been inside several times now since first arriving at Thurber House, and it's a maze of goodness with endless shelves across multiple stories. It's exactly what a bookstore should be.

So check it out and come see me on:

Friday, July 15th, 2016 at 6 PM
The Book Loft of German Village 
631 South Third Street
Columbus, Ohio, 43206
(614) 464-1774

Thurber House: Day Eight (Sometimes the Bear Gets You)

I finished a manuscript last night, and today was the first day of working exclusively on something brand new. Or should have been. I spent some of the morning sending the previous book out to beta readers for feedback. (Very important.) And a lot of the day banging my head. (Necessary evil.) And some of it watching TV. (Refilling the well?)

I do have names for several key characters now and that's a big deal, because with the name comes the first suggestions of personality. The name makes them real. And I've got some idea of my starting location. It's a new city, and when I visit a location I tend to build it from the ground up first. So I've been working on its key features and peoples. Things are shaping up. But I need to know more about its history and how the MacGuffin connects to same.

And I should say a thank you to Pathfinder Tales author Dave Gross for pointing out how I name I almost went with could be misconstrued. Now that I know Dave has such a dirty mind I'll run more things by him for a vetting.

But other aspects of this tale haven't given up their secrets yet. I teach that the bad guy and the antagonist aren't necessarily the same thing, and that's the case with this story. So I've got my antagonist--and boy is she--but I'm still fleshing out my bad guy and what they're up to.

I took an hour and forty minute walk today hoping to clear my head. It didn't. What I did manage to do is to surreptitiously insert two Thrones & Bones trading cards into a copy of Frostborn at The Book Loft of German Village.  What I didn't managed to do is crack wide open the nut of inspiration and gulp down its wisdom. Still working on that.

But it's 10pm and I'm still staring at the screen, doing that which you do before the words flow.

Meanwhile, here's a unicorn munching on some roses, in the park across from Thurber House. It sprang from his mind and the story it comes from is on a plaque on the ground. The rest of the park is well-manicured but the unicorn gets a sort of flowery grove to himself.

More, I hope, tomorrow!