For many years, my vacations were spent on islands surrounded by warm, aqua blue waters and coral reefs. Every night at dinner I’d sport a deep oval-shaped crease on my face–the consequence of wearing a face mask all day, either while snorkeling or scuba diving. Underwater I am always hoping to see something I haven’t seen before–a tiny shelled creature, a cleaner shrimp; even a familiar creature doing something unexpected makes me happy. And I can almost always find it, if I look.

These days I don’t vacation much, and I live in a landlocked state without even a lake to swim in.  My village (and yes, it’s officially a village, not even a town) has a network of irrigation ditches (acequias) crisscrossing through it and, along its eastern edge, the muddy Rio Grande and its accompanying Bosque. Now I land-snorkel and look for new things during my morning walks in the Bosque or, lately, along the ditches.

I’d already lived here ten years before it occurred to me that I should walk every mile of every ditch in the village. This morning I walked my last untraveled stretch of the longest of the north/south ditches. And, as I have done every day since I began these ditch walks, I looked for, and saw, something new–today it was a yellow plastic bear wired and dangling from one of the footbridges that crosses the ditches.

Just this month on my daily ditch walks I have seen a small red fox, a steer with extravagant horns, bagworms dangling from cottonwoods, goats on roofs, Clydesdales, llamas and alpacas, a fence covered in license plates from all over the U.S., comical, cartoon-like mailbox clusters, a toy truck in the bottom of a shallow ditch that, once photographed, looked deceptively real, and I watched a field of corn grow from just a foot high to tall enough for a maze to be cut into it. And now, if I am late to walk, as I was this morning because it’s cold, I hear kids’ voices as they work their way around the maze, trying to get out.

This morning, as I was trying to figure out what I was seeing there, dangling from the bridge, I found something else I’ve been looking for–a character’s name. I’ve been waiting for it a while and have been stuck at a point in a story where she needs to show up, but I haven’t had her name. A writer I know says he has a couple of names he plugs in–the same ones every time–so that he doesn’t get hung up and can keep writing until the right name comes along. I’m not that good. Doesn’t matter, I’ve got it now. And the name is not new or one I haven’t heard before, but it was unexpected. So on a day that is not today, I will open that book again and write the next chapter.

Today, a more typical day for me than a writing day, I had other things to look for and find. After my walk, as I do every day, I made coffee, flicked on the TV to make sure nothing major happened overnight in some place like California where people I love live, and turned on my computer, hoping for no emails to answer (stop laughing). Also hoping and not hoping for work. It’s a schizophrenic thing to work for yourself. When you’re busy, you pray for a day off and when you get it, instead of raking up the knee-high leaves on the patio or de-crumbing the toaster oven, you panic and start looking for work.

So yes, I want there to be work in my inbox (always) but today I also didn’t want it because I had fifty (very short) stories to read and I was itching to get to them. To that end, I ignored my personal email, checked my work email, found a little, did it quick, and dived into the stories. These are submissions for Zizzle, a children’s lit mag dreamed up by a writer/client of mine, now publisher (and friend), Cindy Lam. The first issue just came out this month and I can say, without being immodest because I didn’t have anything to do with the production end of it, that it is gorgeous.

So these stories come in daily and I get them in batches of fifty. You’d think it would be a daunting task, and it is. And sometimes it’s infuriating. Did this writer not read the guidelines? 600-1200 words! Why has he submitted a 2317 word story? Am I obligated to read it? What if I don’t and it’s the gem I’m looking for (and could it be cut down to 1200 words?)? And this next one, it’s erotic. Middle grade fiction, folks!!!! There are librarians and parents out there who would not like that. But then, then there’s that pearl, that just-right story that I read twice to make sure it’s what I think and then I shoot an email to the publisher–“I like this one, do you?” And when she does too, I feel thrilled to know that a writer somewhere is going to get an email saying we’d like to publish her story. It’s so fun.

Issue #2 cover art by Jantina Peperkamp, a Dutch realistic painter

When we started, it took me a week to read 50 stories. Now, if I’m not loaded with pressing work, I can read 50 in a day. Sounds fast, but I do read every word of every one. I love finding something I haven’t seen before, something unexpected.

Not a bad way to spend the day.

~

Written on the Lennon wall in Prague by Cindy Lam, the publisher of Zizzle

NOT THOSE SAME 3 QUESTIONS…

1. What one word best describes your writing life?

• Occasional.

2. What book is on your night table now, and why?

• There is a hilariously optimistic stack of 16 books on my night stand. On top: The Tao of Pooh. There can be no “why” for that. I don’t actually read much these days, I listen to about 50 books a year on Audible. I’ve just finished A Gentleman in Moscow (wonderful) and am starting the 4^th book in the Red River Mystery series (can’t resist the characters).

3. If you find yourself with an extra 15 minutes, what do you do?

• Nap or play a few rounds of Words with Friends.

~

By Lesley Dahl

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—Other Writers in the Series—

I have been looking into schedules. Even when we read physics, we inquire of each least particle, What then shall I do this morning? How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives. What we do with this hour, and that one, is what we are doing. A schedule defends from chaos and whim. It is a net for catching days. It is a scaffolding on which a worker can stand and labor with both hands at sections of time.

On the first of each month,
a guest writer
shares
how he or she spends the day.

December 1, 2018: Lesley Dahl

When I joined a writing group back in the fall of 2007, Lesley was already a member and she had already published a book. A few months later, I read The Problem with Paradise.That was over ten years ago, but I still remember how good it was, which is why it’s still on my shelf.

Here’s the opening paragraph. See what you think.

For the first time ever I’m dying for class to start. Not because I’m wild about American government, believe me. The guy who teaches it, Mr. Halverson, should have done us all a patriotic favor and retired about the time the ink was drying on his beloved Constitution. I’m desperate to talk to Jen, my best friend. I have the worst news. I just found out last night, thanks to Mom’s plans for me and my brothers, that my whole summer is ruined. I feel completely helpless, like I have no say whatsoever in how my life gets lived.

Right? That voice–can’t you just see this teenager? And that tone, as if we the reader were the best friend. This makes me want to read the book all over again.

Notice how visual this sentence is. And how many things are happening.

Just as her butt is coming in for a landing, she piles her hair on top of her head, clips it into place and calls out ‘Here’ before old Halverson finishes calling her name.

In this passage, Lesley’s details make the description come alive.

Plus he’s boring. He gives way too much detail when he tells a story–and not the kind that makes a story funny or interesting. For example, if he’s telling Mom something that happened at work, he starts off by telling her the exact time it was, as in ‘at three-oh-eight,’ what tie he was wearing, where he was standing in relationship to, say, the potted plants in his office, and exactly who else was there. Then he tells us every single person’s name, first and last. Like anyone’s going to remember, or care.

On the back flap of The Problem with Paradise, Lesley’s bio ended with this line, “She has always wanted to write books that kids would read, and this is her first one.”

And now, along with Publisher Cindy Lam, Lesley is the Fiction Editor for Zizzle—the new international literary magazine for young minds. The first issue is just out.

On the outside, an adorable hardback square that looks like an instagram photo just jumped out of my phone and became real in front of me. And inside, wonder-full stories, big print, photos of the authors when they were young, a section at the back on the contributor’s Favorite Childhood Books, and for this first issue, stunning art by Andy Waikit. Plus, my personal favorite, a miniature bookmark.

At Zizzle, we believe all young readers can develop a discerning taste for fine fiction. We want to cultivate literature lovers through our dedication to the art of very short fiction.

Another cool thing about Zizzle–this bookazine is not just interested in children’s stories but in children’s stories that we all enjoy reading. You will see what they mean with the opening of “The Border Crossing” by Ryan Thorpe, whose favorite childhood books were the Redwall series by Brian Jacques.

A small paw landed on Frank’s desk and slid a tiny passport forward. Frank glanced up and saw a mouse standing there, trying to look casual, as if it belonged at a border crossing in southern Lutra. He picked up the document and held it under the magnifier to check its validity, but as soon as he looked at the photo, he knew something was wrong.

‘This really you?’ Frank asked as he looked back and forth from the mouse to the photo.

Zizzle–submit a story or send to your favorite little person or school or library or yourself–or all of the above. Let’s support the first and, at the moment, the only international English-language short story magazine dedicated to promoting quality flash fiction that both children and adults will enjoy.

And in case you are looking for editing, Lesley also finds time to work as an independent editor. Email me [catchingdays at gmail.com], and I will be happy to put you in touch.

Come back on DECEMBER 1st to read how LESLEY DAHL spends her days.