Lucky

This week's blog is a revision of last week's post. Enjoy!

Whoa.

That's the first word that popped into my head when I opened up the email from Nan Gregory, the author of the picture book Pink. She said she read my post from two weeks ago, where I mentioned her name a few times, while digging deeper into the meaning of picture books, especially her Pink. She said she enjoyed my "vote of confidence" and that it was encouraging to read my response.

I've been thinking a lot about authors. Especially since I'm interested in becoming a writer myself. I realize how lucky I am to be in contact with authors, I should feel really grateful to be in this position. I have many people to thank. An example, my father knows Jonathan Safran Foer, who is a member of his synagogue. And an author who lives in Park Slope. I love having so many mentors, it's so interesting, how much you can learn from them. It makes me want to be a mentor for someone else, not just a writing mentor. Any kind of mentor. They are all special in their own way.

I've been wondering, and asking myself, whether or not I'd be the same person I am now, if my dad wasn't in contact with Jonathan or if I simply wasn't so lucky to know authors and have one emailing me. And if not, would I want to be a writer? Would I still have found myself mentors? Would I still have been provoked to take the time to look up a certain picture book, look up the author, and then have that author email me? And then I think a bit more off topic, that what if something in my life didn't exist? Or something extra was in my life? Who would I be? But that's a separate blog entry.

To rap up my entry, I say one thing. Always have a mentor. And one day, it might catch you by surprise, but you find you've been lucky enough to become one for someone else.

Writers

Whoa.

That's the first word that popped into my head when I opened up the email from Nan Gregory, the author of the picture book Pink. She said she read my post from last week, where I mentioned her name a few times, while digging deeper into the meaning of picture books, especially her Pink. She said she enjoyed my "vote of confidence" and that it was "encouraging" to read my response.

I've been thinking about authors, especially ones I'm lucky enough to know and simply be emailing. Especially because I'm very interested in becoming a writer myself. It's great to have so many mentors, and at such a young age too!

I am currently reading the book Saving Juliette by Suzanne Selfors. But with my mother, I am reading Jonathan Safran Foer's book, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. My father knows Jonathan, a member of his synagogue. I mean, think about it. To have an author email me is one thing, one huge thing. And then to actually know, and talk to, and meet an author? That's insane. Amazing. As Ms. Robbins, my 7th grade English teacher, said after we imagined meeting him, "that would be the greatest day of my life."

I believe it's important to indulge in a book that has new topics, new issues, and even just new genres. But it's also very important to indulge in a book that has topics you've had experiences with, both good and bad. It opens your eyes, lets you see your point of view in that time through someone else's perspective. It makes you think more about the topic. Which is why I think the book Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close will be a great book for me. I've had a close experience with 9/11 and I'm looking forward to someone else's story about it.

In conclusion, (of all the different topics I've written about this entry!)
1. Always look for books that give you new thoughts about a topic you know about, and also look for books that give you new thoughts about a new topic all together.
2. Always go for the best. Always hope an author will find your writing and send you an email. Because one day, they probably will.
3. Always have a mentor. May that be an author like Jonathan or Nan, or even your dog. Or your sister. Or your other sister.