Kathleen A. Ernst, Newsletter, Summer 2007

This photo of the CWW award winners in attendance was taken by my friend Kathy Borkowski.

In May I learned that Hearts of Stone won the Arthur Tofte/Betty Ren Wright Children's Literature Award from the Council for Wisconsin Writers. An awards luncheon was held at the lovely Wisconsin Club in Milwaukee. Scott and I made it in time despite massive road construction and endless detours.

As part of the award I received a week-long residency at Edenfred, supported by the Terry Family Foundation. Edenfred provides writers, musicians, and artists with uninterrupted time to work in a peaceful setting. I had an incredibly productive week there, and I'm very grateful!

Edenfred provides lots of great work spaces, inside and out.

My dear friends (and talented writers) Eileen Charbonneau, Juilene Osborne McKnight, and Anita Gordon.

Nancy Castaldo (right) and I presented on a panel called "Young Adult and Children's Historical Fiction, In and Out of the Classroom."

In June I traveled to Albany, New York for the Historical Novel Society Conference. I love this group! Lots of kindred spirits. All of the attendees love to read HF, and many of us write it as well. I got to meet a number of writers I admire, including Guests of Honor Bernard Cornwell and Diana Gabaldon. I also got to spend the weekend with several friends I don't see often enough, catch up with acquaintances I see only at various conferences, and make new connections. Since I'd never been to Albany, I enjoyed learning just a bit about the area's history, too.

The next HNS Conference will be held in 2009. Even if you can't make the conference, I recommend the organization to anyone who wants to keep up with the world of historical fiction. The publications alone are great!

In July I finished the last reviews of my next American Girl book. The Runaway Friend: A Kirsten Mystery is now off to the printer. I loved working on this project because it let me delve into a new chapter of immigration history in the upper Midwest. The Runaway Friend takes place shortly after Kirsten and her family emigrate from Sweden to Minnesota. The book will be available in Spring, 2008, and I'll offer advance copies in my website contest this coming winter. Stay tuned!

In July I also had the chance to meet some American Girl fans at the Barnes & Noble-Bayshore in Glendale, Wisconsin. We had a great time! As you can see in the photo, many brought their favorite dolls.

Otherwise, I spent time this summer working on a variety of other projects: a few poems, an adult novel I've been tinkering with off and on for several years, notes for a new children's novel. I always work on a variety of projects at once. That may seem strange, but publishers all have their own schedules, and over the years I've learned to work my own projects into the gaps between the back-and-forth of books that are under contract.

We had more hot weather this summer than usual, and since I'm a fair-weather gardener, I didn't spend as much time on our native plantings as I usually do. Still, our prairie patches and rain gardens are well enough established now that with minimal attention they bring us lots of happiness all season! And this fall and winter, I'll enjoy watching the birds munch all the seeds and berries left behind.

Even so, my writing time was a little limited this summer. My husband and I try hard to "eat local" by supporting local farms and orchards, visiting farm markets, and raising a few veggies ourselves. I spent a lot of time on food preservation this summer. More time than I expected, actually, but I know we'll enjoy the results well into the winter. We also bought two small solar cookers this year, and I had fun experimenting with them. Fortunately, we have a big deck with a southern exposure.

I always find time to read, though! Some of my favorites of the past few months fall in the adult arena: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, by Barbara Kingsolver; All Mortal Flesh, by Julia Spencer-Fleming; Truck, by Wisconsin writer Michael Perry; The Widow's War, by Sally Gunning. I'm reading The Kite Runner now.

News!

Kathleen Ernst

Summer, 2007