Official SweetSmoke Blog

Testing the waters…

actual admin — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 21:17:31 +0000

testing the posting waters…

New Blog Spot

David Fuller — Sat, 21 May 2011 05:57:09 +0000

http://www.royaltyfreefictionary.blogspot.com/

My favorite essay (written by Dave) about SWEETSMOKE is now available for all to see at Royalty Free Fiction. Granted, royalty-free sounds like you ain’ t gettin’ paid for your work, but it actually means stories that include no kings, queens, or other royalty of any kind. The common folk in historical fiction, in other words. Please, go visit.

First Meeting

David Fuller — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 13:38:38 +0000

I can’t begin to tell you how much I enjoyed meeting the Onyx Core 8th Graders last week. Ms. Stivers’ classroom was filled, Ms. Stivers set everything up perfectly, she asked wonderful questions to get the conversation rolling, Mr. Greenfield was there as well, and his questions about the historical roots of writing the novel sent me off on tangents from which I still have not returned. I had a great time. And Glenn? After getting sidetracked, I’m guessing that I still haven’t answered your questions. Ask again, I’ll try to get to them sometime this century. We can start with the visit to Antietam.

Character grid

David Fuller — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 01:40:46 +0000

8th graders at Lincoln are now reading SWEETSMOKE. Apparently, 35 8th graders. I understand how it can be difficult to deal with the number characters, and I made a character grid to help guide them between Scylla and Charybdis. It is important to understand that, if you are telling the story of the whole of a plantation, there are going to be a fair number of people involved. The other danger of making a grid is the spoiler alert factor. I have probably given away too much in terms of what happens to individual characters. I have also given away the key to Ellen Howard’s character. I have been at many book groups where readers have said that they struggle to identify with Ellen Howard. I have what is perhaps a surprising affection for her, as well as feeling a great sadness on her behalf, and her journey is one of the most unusual in the book. There is a key to understanding her, and when I mention it in book groups, the readers all get that sparkle in their eye and say “Ohhh, that makes sense.”

8th grade

David Fuller — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 23:02:52 +0000

Welcome Lincoln readers. It seems that I will need to reread my own book, as I am deep in the process of writing the next one, and a lot of the details of the old book, which was written four years ago, are drifting away from me. Hopefully, when we all meet, you’ll help remind me of what I did. I hope you are enjoying the work so far.

Lincoln Middle School

David Fuller — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 22:10:28 +0000

Welcome to the 8th Grade students from Lincoln Middle School visiting the site. You’ll find all sorts of information here, and some of it may actually be interesting to you. I look forward to meeting you in a few weeks after you’ve started reading the book. My thanks go to Ms. Stivers and Mr. Greenfield for putting this group together.

CBDA

David Fuller — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 05:33:20 +0000

My boys and the other wonderfully talented All Star Honor Band musicians practiced for 14 hours over a couple of days, then performed a one hour concert for a giant audience. Every year I see this kind of thing, I am amazed. That the kids are so talented, that they can step up and deliver gorgeous music in such a short period of time, and that they can tie their own ties.
We returned home with no weather problems at all, making splendid time through the Grapevine. In fact, the only terrible weather we had (and that anyone had) was that Friday night rain that we endured trying to circumvent the forecasted snow for Saturday afternoon in the mountains. Naturally, none of the other parents had any difficulty getting there. Deep sigh.

Snow in the Grapevine

David Fuller — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 17:49:22 +0000

Heading to Fresno early, because snow is forecast for the Grapevine during the very hours we were planning to drive on through there tomorrow. So it looks like we’ll go tonight and spend the night in Bakersfield. Once we’re on … Continue reading →

Fresno

David Fuller — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 21:16:02 +0000

I just put two young musicians into a white stretch Hummer limousine with 16 (count ‘em) other young musicians. They are headed to Fresno for the big CBDA concert this weekend. They will be practicing day and night and give their performance Saturday at 8 pm at the Saroyan Center. Imagine, if you will, all that young energy crammed into that vehicle with their suitcases and their instruments. Something else.

Joan, my reader

David Fuller — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 06:27:43 +0000

Joan, I think you’re the only one reading my blog. I think I had better start writing just for you. Mark tells me that you knew all about his broken bat and Tom’s mitt.
Thanks for being here.