"Back Home Again in Indiana"

classic Indiana mini barn

I flew to my childhood homeland, Indiana, last week. It was nice to escape the hustle and bustle of Los Angeles for awhile. Driving through the open fields jarred special memories and reminded me of what's great about the Heartland.

Here's what I like most about the Hoosier state:

• mass acreage 
• thunderstorms
• smelly rain
• two-lane country roads
• getting somewhere in 20 minutes when it's 20 miles away
• bonfires
• people "dressing up" in shorts, sandals, and t-shirts
• hometown sports talk radio
• clean streets
• unguarded subdivisions (no guard gates!)
• mom and pop shops
• corn fields
• little league fields next to corn fields
• basketball hoops in driveways
• riding lawn mowers
• saloon doors in restaurants
• screened-in porches
• corn hole
• horseshoe pits

My favorite thing about Indiana is the MINI BARN. Everyone has one. I mean, Everyone!  

On my way out of town, I bought several hats and t-shirts, including HOOSIERS t-shirts for Blondie and LC. They're two sizes too big, so basically I bought them nightgowns.

For the record, Blondie has this book about the Hoosier State. 

State Slogan: Hoosier Daddy????

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You can't talk about Indiana without talking about legendary basketball coach Bobby Knight. During my time at Indiana, I was lucky enough to have a couple encounters with Coach Knight. He cursed in both of them. Here is my favorite Coach Knight video.

Stolen Wildlife

There is a girl from Brazil in my most recent middle grade novel BIRD NERD. Her father (Papa) rehabilitates injured macaws while teaching them to talk for mute people. Papa has two scarlet macaws. Silvio, one of the macaws, doesn't trust Eddie, who is the main character and a serious birder.

Before I wrote the book, I had to prepare. I gathered field guides, studied regional species, and took walks with binoculars slung around my neck. I had to become a bird nerd or suffer the undeniable pain of writing an inconsistent, insincere voice.

While researching, I came across this article from Smithsonian magazine. When I found this article, I was already entrenched in the manuscript and had become close with my characters, including Silvio and his mate. The article is called Wildlife Trafficking. It reveals the sad world of the illicit animal trade, surpassed only by drugs and weapons trafficking. I urge you to at least scroll through the images, because as we all know pictures speak louder than words.    

Facts from the article:

• Stolen animals are a $10 billion business worldwide.
• In parts of Brazil, tamed wild animals are called xerimbabos, which means "something beloved"
• A coveted "blue macaw" from Brazil can ultimately sell for $10,000 or more.
• Perhaps 400,000 to 800,000 parrot chicks are poached from nests every year.
• Of 145 parrot species in the Americas, 46 are at risk of extinction.

The author writes:

"At one market in Ecuador, I was offered a parakeet. I asked the seller how I would get it on an airplane. 'Give it vodka and put it in your pocket.'"

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The World Parrot Trust
Traffic - the wildlife trade monitoring network
Tropical Nature

Dark, Darker, Darkest

Is YA too dark these days?

Sherman Alexie doesn't think so. 

My thoughts:

Literature, TV, Cinema, you name it. They are all full of fads and trends. This is why the best books, television shows, and movies defy their eras and survive the test of time. Most of these timeless movies you can catch on TBS or TNT on Sunday afternoons, unless the NBA Playoffs, which last the better part of a year, are still on.

Dark YA literature has always been around, but perhaps it's more prevalent now. A few years ago, following the success of Sherman Alexie's own The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, there was a run of humorous YA books aimed at boys. Most of them were full of locker room humor. Most of them were not very good. None of them compared to Alexie's book. His story is full of much more than that. But as always, people (writers and publishers) looked to capitalize on Alexie's success.  I don't have sales numbers, so I can't say whether those other books were successful. However, I read several of them and I can say that most were not very good.

Now we're in a dark trend. More accurately, Dystopiamania. We can thank The Hunger Games success for this one. I read all three of Suzanne Collins' dystopia page-turners. They were addictive and really good. Who knows how long Dystopiamania will last, but it is still currently selling to editors. The more engaging questions are, how many of these other books will be any good? how many dystopia books will teens buy before they're over the subject and moving onto something else?  

Time will tell.

Strict, Cool, Money and....

Last day of school is tomorrow. Tis the season of thank yous and notes from students. This morning I received this handwritten message inside a card:

Dearest Mr. Wymer,

1,000 thank yous for an excellent year! I am so privileged to have such an amazing teacher. You are like a father to me. Whether it's letting me watch cool movies (Clash of the Titans) or saying slang my dad would say, you are rockin'. Kids will always say, "Oh, remember Mr. Wymer? Remember how money he was?" I will never forget you, teach future students as you taught me, strict, cool, money, and pimp. 

Sincerely yours,

Take that, you anesthesiologists, actuaries, and sales directors! Bet you've never been called strict, cool, money, and pimp.

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Just so we're all on the same page here. From the urban dictionary:

pimp
	Someone or something with especially flamboyant style. Those sneakers are pimp. Michael Jordan is pimp on the court.