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Fwd: King for a Day
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From: Elsa Marston <elsa.marston_at_gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 24 Aug 2014 23:32:14 -0400
---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Rukhsana Khan <rukhsana_at_rukhsanakhan.com> Date: Sun, Aug 24, 2014 at 6:06 PM Subject: RE: [ccbc-net] King for a Day To: Elsa Marston <elsa.marston_at_gmail.com>
Elsa: “I read the story as a tribute not just to this boy Malik, but to all those who overcome disadvantages by having faith in their ability to compensate in some way, such as developing a special skill--and attitude.
But I wondered about the bully. He appears as just a hint of another problem in Malik's life; but I wanted to know more about him. Rukhsana, did you consider developing that boy a little more, both as a character and for his relationship with Malik? And if so, could you explain why you decided against doing so?”
Ooh, good question Elsa!
Now we’re getting into the realm of creative voice vs author’s intent and a lot of what I’m going to say is hindsight talking.
When I’m writing a story, I don’t think of what themes I’m focusing on at all! I really don’t ‘intend’ for anything to happen. I go along for the ride that the character wants to take me on. Basically I sit shot gun and let him or her drive the situation.
When I’m first writing the story, I only care about the character’s voice, what is HE or SHE into!? In this case, what does Malik want to talk about? Malik didn’t want to talk about the bully, so I didn’t either. When I originally wrote the story King of the Skies, the bully was really in the background, and it **felt** right that he should be so.
By the way, that first publisher that was interested in the book wanted me to develop the bully a bit more, and I thought ‘nope’. It **felt** wrong.
I’ve already dealt with bullies a LOT in other books! *Ruler of the Courtyard* and *Bedtime Ba-a—alk *are both about bullies. I really don’t like to repeat myself. I feel each book of mine should say something unique and different! (That has been both a good and bad thing. It means the tone of each book is completely different and as a result the illustrators the publishers choose for each book is completely different, and as a further result that means there’s no ‘uniform’ look to my books so people can’t ‘recognize’ them. I’m not like a Helen Lester/Lynn Munsinger combination where you can see the book on the shelf and instantly know who wrote it!)
*King for a Day* is not a book about bullying. It is a book about achievement, accomplishment. A kid who can’t walk…but oh can he fly!!!
Yes there’s a bully standing in the way, but he’s going to be vanquished because our protagonist has done his homework, he’s made his preparations, and he is resolute!
This was the personality of Malik that I was sensing when I began writing the story!
I really liked him. I thought, “Good for you! Go for it!”
And he did.
That’s probably also why it never originally occurred to me to have the bully reappear in the original story.
Malik was done with him, or so I thought. Good riddance to bad rubbish.
Also, and here again I’m thinking in hindsight, there’s a history there that I hint at. This is the day that Malik can settle some scores. But again, it’s about so much more than that!
It’s about shining!
Finding something you’re really goshdarnit good at! And letting yourself soar!
And at the end of the day, being satisfied with it.
Coming back down…to normal.
That’s what the story is really about.
At least as far as me and Malik are concerned.
But of course once you write a story and send it out into the world, you lose control of its interpretation and it’s okay for the reader to wonder more about that darn bully. It even makes the story richer.
Think of stories like *Gone with the Wind*, where you’re left wondering…yearning to find out what will happen. Will Scarlett ever get Rhett back?
With *King for a Day* I bet the reader wonders, what did the bully really do to Malik? What’s going to happen the next time they meet?
And yet it doesn’t matter. It’s enough that you know the bully did something significant, and you can sense that this comeuppance that Malik delivers is well deserved.
All the best,
*Rukhsana Khan*
*Award-winning author and storyteller*
*www.rukhsanakhan.com <http://www.rukhsanakhan.com> *
*http://www.youtube.com/user/MsRukhsanaKhan
<http://www.youtube.com/user/MsRukhsanaKhan>*
*From:* Elsa Marston [mailto:elsa.marston_at_gmail.com]
*Sent:* Sunday, August 24, 2014 3:38 PM
*To:* ccbc-net,Subscribers of
*Subject:* [ccbc-net] King for a Day
Hello, CCBC-friends and especially Rukhsana--
I love the story of Rukhsana and Helen Frost meeting on that perilous bus ride in Alaska! Many a writer has to take serious risks when researching for a difficult topic, but you'd think a children's author could go to speak to school children without danger!
(Although I recall a time when Elaine Alphin's health was severely damaged by too damanding a series of school visits. Elaine's long illness, constantly cared for by her husband Art, and her passing a few days ago, are cause for both grief and contemplation. She gave so much.)
Back to the King for a Day. Thanks for your response, Rukhsana, and the additional leads to ways the story can be discussed and appreciated.
I read the story as a tribute not just to this boy Malik, but to all those who overcome disadvantages by having faith in their ability to compensate in some way, such as developing a special skill--and attitude. But I wondered about the bully. He appears as just a hint of another problem in Malik's life; but I wanted to know more about him. Rukhsana, did you consider developing that boy a little more, both as a character and for his relationship with Malik? And if so, could you explain why you decided against doing so?
You've also raised a critical question for this whole month's focus on Islam and Muslims. Can list-members, especially those who are teachers and librarians, say something about Rukhsana's question "Are you worried?"
What about the possibility that teachers may be afraid to use books about Islam and Muslims because of potential objection from parents and other members of a community?
Elsa
www.elsamarston.com
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Received on Sun 24 Aug 2014 10:32:48 PM CDT
Date: Sun, 24 Aug 2014 23:32:14 -0400
---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Rukhsana Khan <rukhsana_at_rukhsanakhan.com> Date: Sun, Aug 24, 2014 at 6:06 PM Subject: RE: [ccbc-net] King for a Day To: Elsa Marston <elsa.marston_at_gmail.com>
Elsa: “I read the story as a tribute not just to this boy Malik, but to all those who overcome disadvantages by having faith in their ability to compensate in some way, such as developing a special skill--and attitude.
But I wondered about the bully. He appears as just a hint of another problem in Malik's life; but I wanted to know more about him. Rukhsana, did you consider developing that boy a little more, both as a character and for his relationship with Malik? And if so, could you explain why you decided against doing so?”
Ooh, good question Elsa!
Now we’re getting into the realm of creative voice vs author’s intent and a lot of what I’m going to say is hindsight talking.
When I’m writing a story, I don’t think of what themes I’m focusing on at all! I really don’t ‘intend’ for anything to happen. I go along for the ride that the character wants to take me on. Basically I sit shot gun and let him or her drive the situation.
When I’m first writing the story, I only care about the character’s voice, what is HE or SHE into!? In this case, what does Malik want to talk about? Malik didn’t want to talk about the bully, so I didn’t either. When I originally wrote the story King of the Skies, the bully was really in the background, and it **felt** right that he should be so.
By the way, that first publisher that was interested in the book wanted me to develop the bully a bit more, and I thought ‘nope’. It **felt** wrong.
I’ve already dealt with bullies a LOT in other books! *Ruler of the Courtyard* and *Bedtime Ba-a—alk *are both about bullies. I really don’t like to repeat myself. I feel each book of mine should say something unique and different! (That has been both a good and bad thing. It means the tone of each book is completely different and as a result the illustrators the publishers choose for each book is completely different, and as a further result that means there’s no ‘uniform’ look to my books so people can’t ‘recognize’ them. I’m not like a Helen Lester/Lynn Munsinger combination where you can see the book on the shelf and instantly know who wrote it!)
*King for a Day* is not a book about bullying. It is a book about achievement, accomplishment. A kid who can’t walk…but oh can he fly!!!
Yes there’s a bully standing in the way, but he’s going to be vanquished because our protagonist has done his homework, he’s made his preparations, and he is resolute!
This was the personality of Malik that I was sensing when I began writing the story!
I really liked him. I thought, “Good for you! Go for it!”
And he did.
That’s probably also why it never originally occurred to me to have the bully reappear in the original story.
Malik was done with him, or so I thought. Good riddance to bad rubbish.
Also, and here again I’m thinking in hindsight, there’s a history there that I hint at. This is the day that Malik can settle some scores. But again, it’s about so much more than that!
It’s about shining!
Finding something you’re really goshdarnit good at! And letting yourself soar!
And at the end of the day, being satisfied with it.
Coming back down…to normal.
That’s what the story is really about.
At least as far as me and Malik are concerned.
But of course once you write a story and send it out into the world, you lose control of its interpretation and it’s okay for the reader to wonder more about that darn bully. It even makes the story richer.
Think of stories like *Gone with the Wind*, where you’re left wondering…yearning to find out what will happen. Will Scarlett ever get Rhett back?
With *King for a Day* I bet the reader wonders, what did the bully really do to Malik? What’s going to happen the next time they meet?
And yet it doesn’t matter. It’s enough that you know the bully did something significant, and you can sense that this comeuppance that Malik delivers is well deserved.
All the best,
*Rukhsana Khan*
*Award-winning author and storyteller*
*www.rukhsanakhan.com <http://www.rukhsanakhan.com> *
*http://www.youtube.com/user/MsRukhsanaKhan
<http://www.youtube.com/user/MsRukhsanaKhan>*
*From:* Elsa Marston [mailto:elsa.marston_at_gmail.com]
*Sent:* Sunday, August 24, 2014 3:38 PM
*To:* ccbc-net,Subscribers of
*Subject:* [ccbc-net] King for a Day
Hello, CCBC-friends and especially Rukhsana--
I love the story of Rukhsana and Helen Frost meeting on that perilous bus ride in Alaska! Many a writer has to take serious risks when researching for a difficult topic, but you'd think a children's author could go to speak to school children without danger!
(Although I recall a time when Elaine Alphin's health was severely damaged by too damanding a series of school visits. Elaine's long illness, constantly cared for by her husband Art, and her passing a few days ago, are cause for both grief and contemplation. She gave so much.)
Back to the King for a Day. Thanks for your response, Rukhsana, and the additional leads to ways the story can be discussed and appreciated.
I read the story as a tribute not just to this boy Malik, but to all those who overcome disadvantages by having faith in their ability to compensate in some way, such as developing a special skill--and attitude. But I wondered about the bully. He appears as just a hint of another problem in Malik's life; but I wanted to know more about him. Rukhsana, did you consider developing that boy a little more, both as a character and for his relationship with Malik? And if so, could you explain why you decided against doing so?
You've also raised a critical question for this whole month's focus on Islam and Muslims. Can list-members, especially those who are teachers and librarians, say something about Rukhsana's question "Are you worried?"
What about the possibility that teachers may be afraid to use books about Islam and Muslims because of potential objection from parents and other members of a community?
Elsa
www.elsamarston.com
==== CCBC-Net Use ==== You are currently subscribed to ccbc-net as: rukhsana_at_rukhsanakhan.com.
To post to the list, send message to...
ccbc-net_at_lists.wisc.edu
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http://www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/ccbcnet/archives.asp
To access the archives, go to...
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Received on Sun 24 Aug 2014 10:32:48 PM CDT
