I still can’t believe this happened! I’m such a fan of the Nerdy Book Club. It means so much to me to see Thyme’s story shared with their readers. YAY!
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I’m a worrier. If there is anything happening, I have imagined at least a dozen potential negative outcomes for that situation. It’s a curse and a blessing–after all, my overactive imagination is what inspires my stories and enriches my life, but the worries can take over at times. The main character in my debut, Thyme, is also a worrier. She worries about her brother, and his painful cancer treatments that brought their family to NYC. She worries that their creepy neighbor in their new apartment building has it out for them. She worries that her best friend back home will forget her forever. But Thyme also takes action to feel better, namely by saving time in a jar–time earned for doing chores–time that might be able to solve all of her problems, if she can save enough. For 2016, I’m taking inspiration from Thyme and starting my own jar. I’m not earning time, but rather acknowledging it. I’m starting an achievement jar, a place to capture all of those little moments of joy in 2016. When the worries set in, I’ll revisit those moments paper by paper and remind myself of what is possible. I’m including the doodle I wrote on the front of the jar below in both black and white and color, in case you’d like to print one out to make your own jar. 🙂 Here’s to staying focused on the good stuff in 2016!
A parol is a star-shaped, folded paper lantern from the Philippines. Traditional versions of this paper craft also use bamboo, but the version I’m sharing with you today is made of paper and tape–a simple and gorgeous craft for the holiday season.  (Photo from WikiHow’s how-to crafting page) A traditional parol speaks to hope and good faith in the Filipino community, and the star shape is a literal reference to the light that shone on Three Kings as they walked to Bethlehem. A parol is a symbol of victory, derived from the spanish farol, meaning “lantern.” In Counting Thyme, one of Thyme’s new friends introduces her to this papercraft tradition, and they bond over paper, scissors and tape–just the kind of activity I would have loved at eleven years old, and still love today. A paper parol is made from six flat sheets of paper, which you fold individually into triangles, cut, and tape into place to make six star points. These cut and curled points are then stapled together to make a six-pointed star. One of the coolest things about a parol is how the twisted paper creates elaborate visual patterns from very simple steps. This is a craft you can do with children of any age! For simple step-by-step directions on how to make a parol, click through to WikiHow’s directions. If you’d prefer to watch a video, this WonderHowTo video is a great primer! Happy holidays, everyone. May hope shine bright for you this season! I love fall. I love October. I LOVE HALLOWEEN. (I do not love pumpkin spice, but that’s a whole other discussion!) There’s something about the crisp fall air that makes me feel invigorated. On one level, I’m freezing because my house is a hundred years old and made of holes, but on a more philosophical level fall feels like a season of change to me, more than any other. Yes, you have the leaves changing and kids are going back to school, but there’s also a general gathering of momentum towards next year. This year, I feel it even more so than usual. I’m in the midst of doodle-note-taking for my next middle grade novel (!!!) while preparing for the release of Counting Thyme. As a debut, this impending release can feel super overwhelming at times. There are reviews posting daily, trade reviews looming in the near future, marketing efforts to plan and execute…and all of that paired with an underlying sense of joy: the book belongs to readers now. Wow! What a humbling, terrifying, and exhilarating thought! For now, I return to drafting the next book and preparing a new website (which will launch in November!). Counting Thyme comes out April 12, 2016, but there is a giveaway for Advanced Reader Copies on Goodreads, for any and all who are interested. Happy fall! Goodreads Book Giveaway Counting Thymeby Melanie ConklinGiveaway ends October 08, 2015.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads. I’m shocked, amazed, and proud to share the cover for COUNTING THYME! You work on a book for so long that it doesn’t seem like it will ever become a public thing, and yet here’s my girl Thyme, taking her first big step into the world on School Library Journal’s blog. Click through to see a larger version. So excited for all that will come!  The story in Counting Thyme centers on a family whose youngest child is in the midst of treatment for neuroblastoma. Seeing as today is #WorldCancerDay, I thought I would share some information on what the heck that means, for anyone who is curious. First of all, childhood cancer is far more prevalent than you might think. According to Band of Parents (highly recommended reading!), one in 330 kids will develop cancer by age 20. That number sure shocked me. In the case of neuroblastoma, which is the most common cancer in children under 2 years of age, the numbers are even worse. NB is cancer of the nervous system. It has a five-year survival rate of just 30%. I first learned about NB about eight years ago, when we were living in Brooklyn, NY. There was a family in our Park Slope neighborhood whose son was diagnosed with NB. New to parenthood at that time, I followed their blog closely, crying way more often than not. I had no idea that this was what parents went through for their children. I had no idea that the world could be so cruel. Neuroblastoma is devastating because it is often not found until it is Stage IV, and it has such a high relapse rate that patients often develop secondary cancers and conditions from all of the chemotherapy. The hope for NB patients is that medicine will continue to develop new theraputics, like the immunotherapies currently in trial stages. Unfortunately, the funding landscape doesn’t reflect this need. The National Cancer Institute’s funded research portfolio in 2010 was $3 billion. Of that, breast cancer received 21%, prostate cancer received 10% and ALL 12 major groups of pediatric cancers combined received less than 3%. Less than 3%! To put that in perspective, each child in the U.S. diagnosed with cancer receives approximately one sixth of the federal research support allocated to each patient afflicted with AIDS, even though cancer accounts for the greatest number of deaths of children in the U.S. and kills more children per year than cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy, asthma and AIDS combined. The good news is, funding is something we can CHANGE. The Band of Parents that I mentioned earlier includes the parents I came to know in Brookyln. Their non-profit group accepts donations to support research efforts. Cookies for Kids Cancer is an incredible group that raises funds for NB research. These Good Cookies sprung up right around the time that I became aware of the NB community in Brooklyn. I cherish my memories of baking cookies in a half-broken rented oven off of Flatbush Avenue, and later at the French Culinary Institute. Since 2008, support from Good Cookies like YOU has helped Cookies for Kids’ Cancer fund nearly 6 DOZEN childhood cancer research grants, leading to 11 promising new treatments now in clinical trial, available to children fighting cancer TODAY. There are many great organizations out there raising funds for many worthy causes. These are just two groups that happen to mean a lot to me. Thanks for reading about them! September is Childhood Cancer Awareness month. As some of you know, my forthcoming novel COUNTING THYME centers on a girl named Thyme whose little brother is fighting neuroblastoma. As I work to improve this novel, I often read the blogs of families and children affected by childhood cancer, which is as devastating as it is unfathomable. I owe a debt to their sharing, their kindnesses, and their struggles. I hope to honor their children with Thyme’s story in 2016. Until then, I will continue to support my friend’s amazing organization, Cookies for Kids’ Cancer.  I’m so, so thrilled to announce that Counting Thyme, my middle grade novel about a girl whose family relocates to NYC for her brother’s cancer treatment, has sold to the lovely Stacey Barney at Putnam! Here’s the PW announcement (!!!!!):  For as long as I can remember, books have been a magical part of my life. I can recall reading The Monster at the End of this Book with my mother before bed, and wondering when a furry blue muppet would come to visit me. By third grade, I stayed up late into the night reading classics like Where the Red Fern Grows and Charlotte’s Web by the light of our upstairs hallway, falling prey to the “just one more chapter” syndrome that now rules my life.
I find books miraculous. We have twenty-six letters in the English language, and a limited vocabulary, and yet writers create wonderful, new stories every single day. I’m so proud to become a part of that tradition!
 As fiction writers, we strive to create truth on the page. We invent characters and settings, plot twists and mysteries, all the while hoping that our readers will believe the beautiful lies we have spun–because truth is what touches us. Truth taps into our emotions, allowing us to relate and learn. Truth unites us, readers and authors alike. What’s interesting is that sometimes, the fictions we create are so painfully real that we question the propriety of truth in fiction–we question whether or not Tris should have been sexually assaulted in Divergent. We question Amy’s near-rape in Across the Universe. These moments are hard for readers, but they are hard for authors, too. As authors, we are drawn to the darkest moments of our character’s lives. We want to see and hear and feel what they feel, but we also want to share those experiences with respect. Because the stories we weave are not fiction for everyone. For some readers, what we have written is their truth. I’ve always thought it was appropriate and important to portray dramatic circumstances from real life. I support authors who take on the tough moments and show them with passion and respect. I just didn’t realize that I am one of those authors, not until this week. For those of you who don’t know the story behind my first novel for middle grade, the plot centers around a girl whose little brother is battling cancer–neuroblastoma, to be exact. My life was first touched by NB five years ago in Brooklyn, when a neighbor friend of mine disclosed that her son had the deadly disease. Through their family, I became involved in Cookies for Kid’s Cancer, helping launch the initial year of fundraising (NB occurs in such a low % of the population it is not a lucrative field for pharma and relies on donations). This week I learned that my 4yo’s classmate has been diagnosed with the disease. This is shocking and terrible and heart-breaking news. This child is only three years old. She doesn’t deserve this. And even though I know how random and sudden this disease can be from my book research, I was stunned by the news. At first I felt something like guilt, for having written a novel that portrays this real person’s circumstances. But then I went back and read the book. And I saw that the story I told is true, but it is also kind and respectful and hopeful–and I felt a renewed sense of obligation as a writer to share these stories with the world. Even when it hurts to do so. Neuroblastoma came into my life five years ago, and it has come again, so I am taking the hint from the universe. I remain dedicated to helping discover new and better treatments for NB and childhood cancers. If you want to learn how to help, too, just follow the link. And hug your kids today. Then hug them again.
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 I love to doodle (and I’m a huge Richard Scarry fan), so I’ve hidden doodlebugs throughout this website. Count them and contact me, and I’ll send you a personal doodle! Only count this guy once! |
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