Culture at Home

I was talking with my mother the other day and made a reference to my being southern. She asked me how could I be southern when I wasn't born anywhere near the south and hadn't grown up there? Culture isn't so much the place you've grown up in, but more the environment.

I'm talking about the atmosphere my parents created in our home. Both of my parents are from the south and everything in our home reflected that. From the way they raised us to the food we ate down to the expectations they had for us.

All of my life I heard things that would make no sense to a child from another culture. Sometimes what they said didn't make sense to us either. Like the time I was in the backyard bouncing the ball off of the side of the garage. This was a problem because there was a huge window with lots of glass.

My father yelled (hollered) out the back door, "Stephanie, quit chunkin' that ball upside that wall." Now I grew up with the man and I was about nine at the time, but I had no idea what he was talking about. My only acceptable response was, "Yes, Sir." And because I had no idea what he was talking about, I promptly went back to what I was doing.

You've got to know that it wasn't that long before he was back at the door hollering, "I said, quit chunkin' that ball." To which I responded, "Yes, Sir." But I still didn't know what he meant and kept throwing the ball against the wall.

Then I hear the backdoor open and my older sister comes running out screaming at me in a stage whisper, "Are you crazy? You're going to get it if you don't stop. Daddy's talking about coming out here." Okay, I'm a little slow because I still was clueless. I guess the look on my face said it all because she said, "You know he's talking about throwing that ball. You'd better stop it."

Of course I stopped it even though I was still not clear what chunkin' was, but I knew if my father had come out there I was getting a wuppin' for  sure. That's spanking for those who aren't familiar with that word.

So you ask, what has this got to do with writing? I'm sure everyone has something from their history that is culture specific, make sure your characters share it with your readers.

Life is Good and People are Great

This weekend I attended a writing retreat sponsored by SCBWI-LA. It was awesome. I learned so much thanks to Martha Mahalik,  Associate Editor of Greenwillow Books and Arthur A. Levine, Vice President at Scholastic, Inc.

These two awesome editors were kind enough to facilitate critique groups. Yeah, I know, what an incredible opportunity. Their help and direction were priceless and their manner was most gracious. I was also impressed by the manner in which they treated the works that contained cultural repesentation other than their own.

Their comments were respectful and encouraging. It gives me such hope and joy knowing that there are editors willing to stretch themselves and reach beyond the boundaries of their own culture.

This weekend gave me two things; opportunities to improve my work and encouragement that the world has room for everyone.

What a great weekend!