writing

Wordful Wednesday: assorted musings

/ Tracy Abell / 14 Comments

For years and years, I exercised my writing muscle as I wrote novels for young readers in hopes of publication and did so almost every day until my literary agent dropped me while we were on submission to editors in August of 2024. That split was a deeply traumatizing gut-punch and I immediately stopped writing the second draft of my work-in-progress. Unfortunately, I’d suffered a series of such gut-punches and couldn’t put myself through that process ever again, so I quit. The thought of getting my hopes up again only to be cast aside without thought by someone I’d considered my advocate was too much to bear. It was painful not having my creative outlet but it seemed best for my well-being to stay out of that arena.

Eventually, I couldn’t ignore the creative itch or GRAPPLE which was the manuscript that’d been on submission. I reread then revised it, cutting over 10,000 words in the process, and was so happy being in that mode again! I truly do love me some revision. I’m so freaking proud of that very timely story (friendship story set against the backdrop of a small town divided over the presence of a private prison and proposed expansion of a detention center) and submitted the manuscript to one publisher that accepts unagented submissions. Now I’ve started thinking about another project I started and abandoned years ago. It’s unlike anything I’ve written and I’m kinda-sorta considering revisiting it. I do so love writing middle grade novels. At the same time, I’m also very tired of writing books that are never read by my intended audience. Anyway, I’ll sort through all the feelings and do whatever’s best for me.

Why am I sharing this now? Because earlier this week I struggled big-time to write a 3-minute comment I’d planned to present to city council last night. And that struggle was probably due to the fact that my writing muscle had gotten rusty. Writing for young readers had been such a huge part of my daily life and now I wasn’t doing it. How could I keep in shape?

*smacks forehead*

Hello, maybe you could fully utilize that blog  you call “Another Day On the Planet”?

So here I am, publicly recommitting myself to this space and my writing. As mentioned before, I love reading old posts about stuff I’d completely forgotten. And in that spirit, I’m going to document a few things now before they also slip my mind.

  • I did successfully complete my public comment regarding the unhoused, our shared humanity, my opposition to criminalizing homelessness and forced treatment for substance use, and read it at last night’s city council meeting in a voice that shook because (1) public speaking is hard for me (2) I was flustered from accidentally showing up late and (3) my turn came after two speakers who shared their views in loud and aggressive tones–views that did not match mine–and I was convinced the room was filled with their supporter so it was like being in enemy territory, and for context I’ll add that one comment can be paraphrased as “I was in a basement jail cell during 9/11, one block away from Ground Zero and that’s how I got clean because you have to hit rock bottom to get better and my rock bottom was a block away from Ground Zero and everyone’s recovery has to look exactly like mine!”
  • On Saturday morning I ran 1.75 miles on the Olympic Discovery Trail next to the water, the farthest I’ve run in months (YAY!) as I rehab my right heel, and when I slowed to a walk and looked over at the water I saw a brown furry head looking my way and then it was gone and even though I watched the surface for another minute I didn’t see it again but maybe it was one of the Otterly Magical gang?
  • A few minutes ago I took advantage of the break in rain and walked Emma Jean-Jean around the neighborhood where she enjoyed all the aromas while I enjoyed the rain-scrubbed air and rescued four earthworms from the streets.
  • Right after that last worm rescue we saw two dapper crows walking and poking around a neighbor’s yard and I wondered if crows eat worms, and after a brief search of the interwebs upon our return I can confirm that YES, crows do eat earthworms.

One last thing to share: hellebore plants in the front yard. The photo on the left was taken after today’s walk and the other from a couple weeks ago is the more common representation of these plants which like to hide their faces which mean’s today’s sighting is a gift, and that visibility is due to the fence’s support. All hail the hog wire!

             

 

Friday Haiku

/ Tracy Abell / 1 Comment

look closely
who-who do you see
one great horned owl

Bear Creek Greenbelt Park. February 28, 2025

Thank you, Amy Law, for showing me the owl nest. While we didn’t see American Dippers, it was still a lovely walk and talk.

Friday Haiku + notes: on Nazism

/ Tracy Abell / 9 Comments

new administration
billionaire’s Nazi salute
believe what you see

NOTES:
1) The above shows Elon Musk at Trump’s inaugural parade on January 20, 2025. (Photo by ANGELA WEISS / AFP)
2) The American Defamation League (ADL) which supposedly exists to combat antisemitism, responded to Musk’s Nazi salute with this [emphasis mine]:
“This is a delicate moment. It’s a new day and yet so many are on edge. Our politics are inflamed, and social media only adds to the anxiety,” the ADL wrote in a Monday post on Musk’s social platform X. “It seems that @elonmusk made an awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm, not a Nazi salute, but again, we appreciate that people are on edge.”
In case you’ve forgotten, last year the ADL decried the “antisemitism” of college students (many of them Jewish) who protested their tuition and taxes being used to fund the genocide in Palestine. Notably, the ADL url for their “Campus Crisis Daily” contains the words “no tolerance for antisemitism.”  Apparently, ADL can tolerate Nazi salutes from white supremacist billionaires, but draws the line at Jewish students speaking out against genocide.
3) It’s not only the ADL tripping over themselves to excuse a Nazi salute, a TV weather forecaster from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, was fired after calling out Musk’s Nazi salute on social media.
4)  NBC News edited their footage to remove the Nazi salute while the Washington Post referred to Musk’s appearance as “exuberant.”
5) Religion Dispatches breaks down the media coverage in the U.S. and around the world: While Global Media Are Clear on Musk’s Nazi Salute US Media Engage in ‘Nazi-Washing’ 
6) This is a very good time to remember George Orwell’s book 1984:

For above graphic: h/t to @thelazycanuck.bsky.social

Take them at their words and actions. Believe what you see. Reject the gaslighting.

Coming in for a landing

/ Tracy Abell / 8 Comments

I’ve been losing myself in revisions of my middle grade novel–grateful for the distraction from this brutal reality–and am close to being finished.

Sandhill Crane at Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuge. March 12, 2024

While I’m still a day or two away from being done, I believe in celebrating every step along the way. So, today I celebrate myself and this project as I prepare for the final landing. Yay!

Literary institutions to authors: don’t speak of Gaza

/ Tracy Abell / 8 Comments

Earlier this week, I highlighted how anti-Zionists in the Jewish community are being  targeted by Jewish institutions, schools and synagogues, for expressing solidarity with Palestinians. It’s a heartbreaking situation that has fractured communities and led to feelings of pain and isolation for those bravely speaking out on behalf of our shared humanity. Unfortunately, that’s not the only community being torn apart over Zionism.

Writers are also facing the same kinds of pressure from literary institutions. Yesterday, Truthout published the following from author Lisa Ko: “Literary Institutions Are Pressuring Authors to Remain Silent About Gaza.” The article begins with this (emphasis mine):

When writer and disability justice activist Alice Wong received a MacArthur Fellowship earlier this month, she shared a statement about accepting it “amidst the genocide happening in Gaza.” The backlash was swift, with a deluge of posts on X attacking Wong’s character and accusing her of antisemitism.

This conflation of opposition to Israel’s military action with hatred of Jewish people is only one part of a broader wave of political and social repression that is attempting to silence writers speaking out against the war. In the past month alone, authors who have criticized Israel’s ongoing bombardment of Gaza — which is funded largely by the U.S. — have been labeled extremists, been suspended and fired from faculty jobs, and targets of defamation and harassment.

Ko goes on to detail how she received death and rape threats as a result of her expressing concern for the safety of a Muslim woman scheduled to be on an upcoming  Writers Institute festival panel with Ko. However, Writers Institute isn’t the only institution pressuring writers to remain silent in the face of genocide. PEN America holds this mission statement — “PEN America stands at the intersection of literature and human rights to protect free expression in the United States and worldwide” — and yet feels comfortable pressuring authors to keep their mouths shut in order to be eligible for literary prizes.

A culture that demands certain political allegiances from its writers and artists at the risk of losing career opportunities is one that is antithetical to democratic values, and harkens back to the McCarthy-era Hollywood blacklist that barred writers from employment on suspicions of “subversive” and “un-American” leanings. 

I write for young readers and for many, many years belonged to and volunteered for the largest international organization dedicated to children’s writing and illustration: Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI). I cancelled my membership several years ago because of how SCBWI treated a Palestinian woman who questioned SCBWI’s one-sided support for Israel following an attack on Gaza. I’ve never regretted that move, especially since SCBWI, which exists purely on behalf of creators for children, remains silent in the face of a genocide in which children are being shot in the head by snipers. I now belong to Story Sunbirds: a kidlit collective of authors and illustrators who stand up for children with all our hearts. I feel much more comfortable in that community.

Reading Ko’s article made me incredibly sad. Institutions that supposedly exist to uplift voices and create stronger bonds between humans all around the globe are instead using coercion and threats to keep people from speaking out on behalf of fellow humans. Please take a few minutes to read the article: “Literary Institutions Are Pressuring Authors to Remain Silent About Gaza.”

We can’t stop talking about Palestine.

Friday Haiku: on freedom of the press

/ Tracy Abell / 2 Comments

religious school mob
attacks journalist
supremacist frenzy

Note: this happened on June 5 in occupied Jerusalem during the “Flag March.” Palestinian journalist Saif Al-Qawasmi was attacked, first by students of a religious school and then beaten by Israeli police. Journalist Nir Hasson tried to protect Qawasmi and was also beaten. Hasson, who works for the newspaper Haaretz, took this photo. Other images can be seen here.

Raising a middle finger to A.I.

/ Tracy Abell / 15 Comments
After this morning’s writing session in which I sought refuge from our current reality by working (some more) on chapter 8 of my middle grade novel, I came here to check my WordPress dashboard. In my Contacts spam folder, was the following:
Edited to add this gem from another spammer on 6.5.24:
This state-of-the-art web app allows you to create captivating children’s books using advanced AI technology. It takes care of both the writing and illustration, and all you need to do is input your ideas (or let the app come up with the idea too, LOL). No writing or illustration skills needed!

Drunk on writing

/ Tracy Abell / 6 Comments

On a personal level, 2024 has brought an awful lot of pain and hardship to people I love, making these first five months feel like an entire year has already passed. And when I factor in the horrors of the U.S.–sponsored genocide of Palestinians, the emotional weight of these days is almost more than I can bear. But I’m now finding consistent refuge in my writing because I’ve made it a daily priority.

Rather than trying to cram a writing session into whatever slots I could find in my days and then saying oh-well if it didn’t happen, writing is now (again) part of my morning routine. As a result, I’ve been making slow progress on the second draft of my middle grade novel. I typically work for 60-90 minutes and that’s enough to keep me (mostly) centered for the rest of the day. That routine and commitment to my creativity keep me afloat, although some days I look and feel like this disheveled Northern Shoveler.

Lake Hasty. April 2, 2024

As Ray Bradbury said, You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you.

Palestinian poetry and artwork

/ Tracy Abell / 4 Comments

The following poem by Palestinian-American Fady Joudah and artwork by children’s book illustrator Sohila Khaled come from the recently published Poems for Palestine which was created by Publishers for Palestine. They’ve provided a PDF of the chapbook and we are encouraged to share the work widely. (click to enlarge images)

 

I also wanted to share this TIME article (by Armani Syed)  from early January: How Poetry Became a Tool of Resistance for Palestinians which ends with this from  George Abraham, a Palestinian-American poet: “. . . it’s imperative that poetry is just one tool in the process for Palestinian liberation and resistance against ethnic cleansing. 

“Poetry can’t stop a bullet. Poetry won’t free a prisoner. And that’s why we need to do the political organizing work as well,” they say. “But if we can’t imagine a free liberated world in language, how can we build one?”

Free Palestine!

Nature’s refuge

/ Tracy Abell / 10 Comments

I’m in the final stretch of revisions before sending the middle-grade manuscript back to my agent so the book can go on submission in the new year. The work feels both like a blessing and a curse. I’m grateful to be able to focus on something besides the horrific reality of our government’s complicity in the genocide in Gaza, but also sometimes feel selfish for escaping reality. Deep inside, I know that’s silly, and not only because the story I’m revising focuses on righting societal wrongs.

I also realize it’s silly to begrudge myself my creative outlet because we all need a refuge, whether it’s via the art we create or connection to the natural world.

July 20, 2023

In that spirit, I’m offering this Painted Lady on a sunflower. I photographed this in July and gazing upon their interconnectedness replenished my spirit as soon as I found it in my files. Maybe this image will do the same for you.

“On Why We Still Hold Onto Our Phones and Keep Recording” by Asmaa Abu Mezied

/ Tracy Abell / 3 Comments

This essay is from Light in Gaza: Writings Born of Fire (August 2022) which is available as a free ebook from Haymarket Books. As the U.S. continues to fund and supply bombs for Israel’s genocidal campaign and as the corporate media continues to portray Palestinians as non-persons (even as Israel targets Palestinian journalists for assassination), the images captured by Palestinian civilians often provide the only window into their horrific reality.

Here, though, from Asmaa Abu Mezied, is a powerful explanation for the intent behind those photos and videos.

On Why We Still Hold Onto Our Phones and Keep Recording by Asmaa Abu Mezied

Why would someone running from falling Israeli missiles or huddled together with their family next to the rubble of a neighbor’s destroyed home, surrounded by artillerty shelling, be holding their phones to record the horror around them? (I have often seen these questions on social media, which displays an utter disregard for Palestinian suffering.)

I am writing this for us, not for them.

We hold onto our phones for dear life because we have learned the hard way that documenting what we are going through is very important to ensure that our narrative remains alive and remains ours. Our stories, our struggle and pain, and the atrocities committed against us for more than seven decades are being erased. The Israeli journalist Hagar Shezaf explained how Israeli Defense Ministry teams systematically removed historic documents from Israeli archives, which describe the killing of Palestinians, the demolition of their villages and the expulsion of entire Palestinian communities. (1) This is part of Israel’s attempt to constantly rewrite history in its favor. So, we hold tight to our phones and record.

We record to resist the labeling of our people as unworthy, if not inhuman, by the so-called “objective” Western media, which can barely say our names and tell our stories. We are always portrayed as terrorists, violent people–or as numbers, abstract and formless. We are repeatedly asked to prove our humanity so media channels can give us a few seconds of airtime.

So, we record to document not for their sake but for ours. We have been systematically brainwashed by the media to apologize for demanding justice. There is no gray area in calls for freedom or equality.

We hold onto our phones and leave the camera rolling, recording our tears, our screams at losing our fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, and children, our anguish, our attempts to run for our lives, our crippling fears, our powerlessness to calm our children when our houses shake with the deafening sound of death delivered by F-35 missiles sent with love by the US government.

We hold onto that phone and leave the camera rolling to preserve our tormented calls to our mothers to stay alive under the rubble of our destroyed homes, our voices crying goodbye to our loved ones at their graves, trying to sound strong but failing, betrayed by our trembling lips and tear-filled eyes.

We must record our prayers to survive, our children’s joy when they find their toys intact and their pets alive. We record our strength and our vulnerability, our disappointment in our leadership, and our rage at the silence of the world. We record the smoke, the blood, the lost homes, the olive trees targeted, and livelihoods stolen. We record how much we aged and how much we continue to love life even though life doesn’t love us back.

We record for future generations, to tell them this is what truly happened. That we stood here, demanded our rights, fought for them, and were annihilated. We record not to humanize ourselves for others, but so that future generations will remember who we were and what we did . . . to warn them against all attempts at erasing our existence.

We record our plea for humanity’s help to end this horror, which is more than our cameras can bear.

————————————————–

(1) Hagar Shezaf, “Burying the Nakba: How Israel Systematically Hides Evidence of 1948 Expulsion of Arabs,” Haaretz, July 5, 2019.