Joyce Ray

Middle Grade Favorites

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At the Bath Book Bash in Bath, Maine, I met some author friends and added a few children’s books to my collection – no surprise.

In author Anna Jordon’s debut middle grade historical novel, SHIRA & ESTHER’S DOUBLE DREAM DEBUT, Shira and Esther don’t know each other. But they soon will, thanks to Benny, the hotel bell hop who discovers that Esther has a twin living in the same town.

Formatted as a stage play with an overture (introduction), three acts (chapters), and a curtain call (glossary of Yiddish words), the book invites the reader into the different worlds of two girls with gumption. Esther longs to study Torah, but her stage star mom urges her to be a performer. Shira dreams of being on the stage, but her father, the Rabbi, urges her to practice for her bat mitzvah. When Benny arranges for the two girls meet, they realize that a little mix up could help them realize their dreams, but can they pull it off? As they get to know each other, and their respective parents, they learn, not only are they each other’s mirror image, they were born in the same hospital on the same night!

A delightful deli man named Morty narrates the story and offers occasional commentary sprinkled with Yiddish, becoming a beloved character himself. Anna Jordan skillfully weaves the girls’ stories together, enabling each one to achieve her dream debut, and sets the reader up for a surprise ending which doubles the satisfaction. A charming read and highly recommended not only by me, but also…

  • Kirkus Reviews Best Middle Grade 2023 (starred review)
  • Publishers Weekly Best Middle Grade 2023 (starred review)
  • Tablet Magazine “The Best Jewish Children’s Books 2023”

 

 

 

Covid-19 Poem Gets Radio Spot on Esoterica

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Covid-19 Poem

Who ever imagines they may hear themselves on the radio someday? I sure didn’t, but I recently heard my Covid-19 poem and a short essay aired on a program called Esoterica. It’s a feature focusing on the written word airing on WERU, Blue Hill, Maine’s community radio station. It happened this way.

During April, New Hampshire’s Poet Laureate, Alexandria Peary, offered an online poetry workshop. We practiced mindful writing with relaxation exercises before beginning writing. We practiced sestinas, villanelles, and new revision techniques.

Alex is an awesome teacher, and each session was focused on writing Covid-19 poems. How could we share our individual experiences of this global pandemic in poetry? Each NH poet was invited to submit three poems to a Covid-19 anthology to be published by Hobblebush Books. Entries would be read blind.

A critique partner joined me in the class. We critiqued each other’s poems and focused on strengthening them. I wrote a villanelle -challenging. I tried a sestina- too challenging for me, but my poet friend succeeded! I wrote a haiku, turned it into a haibun, and that one was accepted for the anthology. Two of my friend’s Covid-19 poems were accepted for a separate anthology. Success!

On a tip from a Maine writer friend, I submitted a piece about the writing influences in my life to  Esoterica, (thank you Wendy Kasten) and sent along one of my Covid poems from the online workshop. Both pieces aired on June 16.

It’s strange to hear my own voice. Of course, I get a preview of it whenever I record a new answering machine message. But hearing my voice speak for almost five minutes without my mouth moving is sort of surreal. I’m out of my own head, just listening, thinking ‘Who is this person? She doesn’t sound like me. Does she?’

There will be rose and rhododendron
(after Edna St. Vincent Millay, “Elegy before Death”)

There will be rose and rhododendron
before you take your leave.
Apple blossoms’ heady scent
will welcome swarms of bees.

In the crotch of Cortland branches,
finches will nest and sing.
Eggs will hatch, young will fledge,
blind to your scourge’s sting.

There will be solitary picnics
beneath gnarled apple trees,
gratitude for setting fruit,
for cool shade of leaves.

Oh, would the plucked fruit of Eve,
her curious mind cursed,
yield knowledge of a longed-for cure
before orchard drops are pressed!

Your demise will leave us reeling.
Our wounds are grave and deep.
Not one of us will mourn your passing;
for you, we will not weep.

               ~Joyce Ray © 2020

Litany for Pines

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This past week we had to do a difficult thing; we cut down 10 pine trees very close to our home.

We have lived with these trees for forty-two years, and they were huge when we arrived. This winter strong winds sheared off a thirty-foot top, which, thankfully, did not land on the roof. So it was time to say goodbye with gratitude. We spoke this litany to the sentinels who stood with us for so long.

 

 

To pines who have sheltered us from wind and snow
whose shade has cooled us
we offer gratitude,
And let you go.

For birds’ nests and sighing branches,
for holding swings, wind chimes and clothes lines
we offer gratitude,
And let you go.

To friends who’ve grown older with us,
given us oxygen to breathe,
we offer gratitude,
And let you go.

May your spirits remain close,
your whispers stay in memory,
your legacy bless what shall come anew.
We let you go.

Egg Poems and Saint Hildegard’s Cosmic Egg

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The old blown egg idea came to me this week, probably in anticipation and hope for spring here in the Northeast. Also because we’ve been enjoying eggs from our daughter’s chickens, and somehow I look at each egg less casually since I know the effort that produced it – both the hen’s and our daughter’s!

So I googled blown eggs and set to work with a turkey lacing pin and a lot of hot air! These are the egg poems I wrote.

solitude
embryo sheltering
in place

 

enlightenment
first sunlight streaming
through pecked hole

 

One of my favorite of Saint Hildegard’s visions is “The Cosmic Egg.” Hildegard saw elements of the universe known during the 12th century – fire, earth, water and air, along with the sun, moon, planets and stars. Later in her life, she revised her understanding and saw  the universe as a sphere. But the egg image is distinctly feminine, I think. It implies that we are involved in the creation of our natural world. It operates as a cosmic partnership with everything interrelated, which environmentalists have been trying to tell us for a long time.

 

 

The blowing wind,
the mild, moist air,
the exquisite greening
of trees and grasses –
In their beginning,
in their ending,
they give God their praise.
~ Saint Hildegard

from Meditations With Hildegard of Bingen by Gabrielle Uhlein, OSF

VCFA’s The Launch Pad interviews Joyce Ray about Feathers & Trumpets

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Welcome Joyce Ray, author of Feathers & Trumpets, A Story of Hildegard of Bingen!

Hildegard agonizes over the origin of her visions. Is God speaking to her? Does she dare share her secret? In 12th century Germany, she could be declared heretic and burned at the stake. In a life fraught with challenges, Hildegard emerges as the most dynamic 12th century female voice.

Enduring a beginning unimaginable to today’s teens, Hildegard strains against the ascetic lifestyle of Jutta, her mentor nun. Relationships with Volmar, her monk tutor and Richardis, her daughter nun, bring joy to Hildegard. But does she allow herself to love them too much?

Feathers and Trumpets chronicles the life of the recently named saint and Doctor of the Church against the backdrop of a rich tapestry we know as the Middle Ages.

Joyce Ray’s nonfiction work includes Women of the Pine Tree State: 25 Maine Women You Should Know and other titles in the America’s Notable Women series

What was the most difficult element to cut/change during the revision process and why?

It was difficult for me to cut several chapters from the end of the manuscript. The novel evolved from a biography, and I wanted all the important elements of Hildegard’s life to be included. Striving to achieve that goal blinded me to the real climax of my story, and I resisted eliminating these chapters which were essential to my character’s life but not to the story.

What authors do you love for their sentences? How about plot? Character?

I love Cynthia Rylant and Beth Kephart for language. Two representative titles are: Appalachia, The Voices of Sleeping Birds by Cynthia Rylant, illustrated by Barry Moser (Harcourt Brace, 1991); Small Damages by Beth Kephart (Philomel, 2012)

Deborah Wiles delivers every time with character! I love Each Little Bird That Sings (Harcourt, Inc., 2005)

And Katherine Paterson for everything!

What nugget of craft advice has been especially helpful to you?

I’ll pass on two bits of advice. For the first two semesters I wrote picture books, or what I thought were picture books! I couldn’t even say the word “novel” if it applied to my writing. Then I heard Norma Fox Mazer and other wise mentors say, “Just write down the scenes and fit them together like pieces of a puzzle later.” And it worked!

Eric Kimmel told me to make my mantra “Persistence and volume.” Feathers and Trumpets‘ journey to publication took 13 years. Don’t give up!

Who were your advisors at VCFA?

Marion Dane Bauer, Eric Kimmel, Jane Resh Thomas and Carolyn Coman

How did attending VCFA affect your writing life?

VCFA made me part of a community of writers and elevated my writing to a lifelong adventure. I began to see what made books work. My critical analysis skills developed, and my critiquing skills improved. Most importantly, I learned to write from my heart.

Feathers & Trumpets, A Story of Hildegard of Bingen, (Apprentice Shop Books, LLC, March 16, 2014)

Joyce Ray
www.joyceraybooks.com
www.joyceray.blogspot.com (Musings)            originally posted March 26, 2014

Author Interview at Catholic Fiction.net

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“I strive to write from my heart” – An Interview with Christian Novelist Joyce Ray
“I am a writer with faith. Because I believe my writing ability is one of my gifts from God, I strive to write from my heart to produce literature that means something. What I imagine does not have to be true, but it has to mean something, and hopefully, speak something of value to the reader’s heart. Feathers & Trumpets combines imagination with historical fact to offer a window into the heart and mind of a woman who now holds an elevated position in the Catholic faith.”

Catholic Fiction.net Review

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Reviewer Mary Woods says…

“One of the remarkable things about the book is Joyce Ray’s skill in portraying Hildegard as a character with whom the reader can sympathize.”

“As a young adult novel, it does an excellent job of turning a character who would at first seem foreign into a person whom the young reader can care about. Under Joyce Ray’s pen, the monastic life becomes a drama of love between God the Creator and his created. Feathers and Trumpets is a worthy tribute to this unique and wonderful saint.”