From Fear to Freedom
April 2025: Revision Reflections
On a cold Sunday night in late January, I received a call from an unidentified number.
“Is this Lesa Cline-Ransome?” the voice on the other end asked.
I was sitting in a parking lot—a very dark parking lot—waiting for a takeout order while calculating on my phone the measurements for wallpaper. Yes, wallpaper. I was three weeks into a kitchen and bathroom renovation, and well… wallpaper calculations can be tricky. So, as I added the wall dimensions again and again to determine how much would be needed for a tiny bathroom, I was also calculating the cost of wallpaper for a tiny bathroom. Why does the cost of wallpaper equal the cost of a monthly mortgage payment? I wondered.
What I wasn’t doing was expecting a call.
“This is Lesa,” I replied suspiciously.
“I am calling from the John Newbery Award committee to congratulate you on winning…”
Math has never been my strong suit, but this definitely did not add up.
“Is this real?” I asked the caller. The caller assured me that it was indeed real. I heard a group of people cheering in the background.
“Congratulations!” they shouted.
My breathing stopped. I began sweating. I felt dizzy. I know all of the things I should have said, was supposed to say, but instead I replied, “I think I might be having a stroke.”
It was late. I was in a parking lot. This was not how a call telling me I’d won a big award was supposed to happen.
What made this call so shocking was that earlier in the day I’d received another call. Well, it was actually several calls from the Coretta Scott King committee. Did I know that my phone settings were on Do Not Disturb? Nope. And so as they repeatedly tried to reach me on my cell that was across the room, silenced, they received my voicemail instead.
I finally noticed the missed calls and a text message that read “The Coretta Scott King Book Awards Jury has some exciting news to share with you. We will try to reach out again…”
Instead of answering a call from the committee, I had to make a call to the committee to receive the news that my first novel in verse, One Big Open Sky had won a Coretta Scott King Author Honor. I believed then that the day could not get any better. Until it did.
I have loved verse novels ever since reading Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse decades ago. The way the novel addressed themes of nature and survival, community and hardship and the enduring power of forgiveness in spare, free verse poetry changed the way I viewed poetry as a narrative form. Years later it was Sharon Creech’s Love that Dog that taught me how poetry can so perfectly capture the vulnerability and tenderness of young characters. And, of course, it was also a book about the love of a DOG. Any title that is centered on the best species on the planet is a win for me. If you don’t agree, go kick rocks.
Alan Wolf took a slice from a tragic story in history and transformed it into moments of beauty and grace in his free verse novel The Snow Fell Three Graves Deep: Voices from the Donner Party. And in Jeannine Atkins’ Borrowed Names: Poems about Laura Ingalls Wilder, Madam C. J. Walker, Marie Curie and Their Daughters, I discovered the power and complexity of interwoven family stories.
With these verse novels and so many others under my literary belt, I began my journey into writing verse, diving deep into the history of Black Pioneers, Exodusters they were called, and the stories of women traveling overland in the 1870’s.
Thousands of Black people emigrated West along the Santa Fe, California and Oregon trails with the hope of land ownership on the tribal lands stolen from Native Americans. The Homestead Act of 1862 offered 160 acres of this “free” land for any citizen willing to cultivate, plant and build a structure within five years.
All black people have ever known was hard work, and this land represented the chance to escape the sharecropping system, build a better life for their families and create a safe community thousands of miles from the Jim Crow South. From fear to freedom they made their way West, battling discrimination, nature, and limited supplies. But it was the stories of the women, powerless in the decision to stay or leave, whose voices came to me in verse. Their stories were ones of remembrance, longing for the past, fear, and perseverance. Many were pregnant along the journey, many lost young children to accidents, husbands, fathers and brothers to shooting accidents and drowning, and so they only had each other to rely upon. Sisterhood is what saw them through.
…I asked Lettie to take the boys berry hunting Wasn’t so much needing berries as much as I was needing time with Dottie and Clara to make some part of me whole again Every day we travel the hurt of leaving Olivia and my brothers felt like leaving pieces of me along the trail I worry by the time we reach Nebraska There won’t be much left Sylvia, Missouri June 1879 (Excerpt from One Big Open Sky)
Poetry provides an access point in revealing both the hard truths of this country and how we emerged with our hearts and souls intact.
In One Big Open Sky, 11-year-old Lettie is the peacekeeper who is straddling the expanse between the sadness of her mother Sylvia and the dreams of her father Thomas.
Throughout the writing of this novel, I often felt much like the pioneers had, lost and fatigued, unsure if I should keep going or turn back. I questioned nearly every writing decision I made, every line break. I wondered daily, “Can I do this?”
I imagined those brave women pioneers and my characters Lettie, Sylvia, and Philomena, unsure of the road ahead.
The wonderful calls I received at the end of January felt like a guidepost, telling me to keep going. Keep trying new ways of storytelling.
Since that cold day in January, I have replayed those awards calls numerous times. Sometimes I still wonder if they happened at all. It is hard to believe that a story, my story, about Black pioneers was recognized in this way. Especially with all of my fears and doubts and all of the incredible books that came into the world in 2024.
But in June, I will head to the American Library Association conference in Philadelphia, and if this all isn’t a horrible practical joke, I will return back home to a renovated kitchen, a gorgeously wallpapered bathroom, and two very real awards telling the story of two difficult journeys.
In community,
Lesa
Announcements:
*REGISTRATION DEADLINE: MAY 1st*
The R(ev)ise and Shine! Residency 2025
Following on our hugely successful inaugural residency at the Highlights Foundation in 2024, we are delighted to offer a bigger, longer, more exciting and enriching experience for 2025!
The residency is scheduled for five days and four nights, October 15-19th, in Vermont's beautiful Green Mountains during peak foliage season at Potash Hill.
The cost of this residency is $1995.
This price includes: Private dorm room (with shared, dorm-style bathroom), delicious meals prepared by the Brattleboro Food Co-op, mentor feedback on 20 pages of your manuscript, and a full schedule of programming.
To Register:
Register now through May 1, 2025 (or until full) with a $500 non-refundable deposit on our Eventbrite page.
Balance of tuition due by July 1, 2025.
The number of participants for this retreat is limited to 20, providing a low attendee-mentor ratio.
Consider adding an additional day of retreat time to your stay for only $150 all-inclusive!
We are also once again offering a $500 scholarship to a Black or Indigenous writer.
Our website offers loads more details, including a full FAQ and additional information about Potash Hill. We’ll also be posting updates as they become available.
"No matter where you are in the drafting, editing, or even brainstorming portion of your work in progress, it's worth it to R(ev)ise and Shine! After a weekend of encouraging community and unmatched inspiration, I have never felt more confident moving forward with a project before!"
—Brittany Drehobl
Have questions? Let us know in the comments or drop us a line.
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There’s Still Time:
Tarot for Writers: Character Magic with S Maxfield
Are you struggling with a clear arc for your main character? Have you written a side character that feels too one-dimensional? Are you looking for more depth and texture for a character you know well? All of these writerly challenges and more can be transformed through Tarot! In this 90-minute Zoomie, Tarot reader and writer S Maxfield will introduce the Tarot as a tool for unlocking our intuitive senses, leading to freer creativity and a fresh approach when feeling stuck. Participants are encouraged to join the session with a particular character in mind, as we will use some of them as samples for the workshop. You will leave this workshop with a “spread” (format for placing the cards), insight on using the Tarot for writing, and recommendations for free tools to learn more. Let’s make some magic!
*Check out this fabulous interview with S. Maxfield as they preview this workshop!*
When: Wednesday, April 16, 2025 from 7:00 to 8:30 pm ET
Where: Online
Cost: $30*
*For those who can’t attend live, a recording of each session will be made available for 30 days after the event for all ticket holders.
Click the image below to find out more and sign up:
S Maxfield is a genderqueer, bi+, and disabled writer, with roots in dance and theater. S/he is on the faculty of Chris Tebbetts’s Theater Camp for Writers and has a short story featured in the anthology WE MOSTLY COME OUT AT NIGHT (Running Press 2024). Maxfield’s flash fiction has been published by Black Fox Literary Magazine, Open OK State, Voyage YA/Uncharted, and WinC Magazine, and their debut comics collection ASSORTED SWEETS sold out at the legendary NYC comic shop Forbidden Planet, after successfully funding through Kickstarter. S grew up in a log cabin, but has spent the past two decades in NYC (Lenapehoking), where s/he currently reads Tarot—and far too many books for the tiny apartment they share with an equally bibliophilic family. Find out more about S here!
In Conversation: AN UGLY WORLD FOR BEAUTIFUL BOYS w/ Jennifer Richard Jacobson & Rob Costello
Join Jennifer Richard Jacobson and Rob Costello as they discuss Rob's debut novel, AN UGLY WORLD FOR BEAUTIFUL BOYS. Bring your own questions and join us for a fun & lively conversation!
“This novel shines in its exploration of the various ways masculinity manifests in the lives of young men, highlighting the damaging effects of toxic masculinity in every scenario. Costello has created multi-dimensional characters who are raw, imperfect, and utterly human. Readers will find themselves swept up in Toby’s joy, only to feel frustration when he makes mistakes… An Ugly World for Beautiful Boys is a deeply moving novel about finding self-acceptance and communal joy amidst life’s messiness.”
-Samantha Hui, Independent Book Review
Click here to find out more and pre-order your copy here!
When: Wednesday, April 30, 2025 from 7:00 to 8:00 pm ET
Where: Online
Cost: FREE
Click the image below to find out more and sign up:
RESCHEDULED: Writing - and Reading - Rural with Nora Shalaway Carpenter
(Or, With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility)
Whether you consider yourself rural or not, chances are you’ll write at least one rural character in your career. While an abundance of media continues to perpetuate rural stereotypes, writers are increasingly aware of the importance of portraying rural characters as nuanced and complex as their real-life counterparts. The how of this, though, continues to trip up even the most well intentioned of writers. This Zoomie offers a practical guide to help you avoid inserting common unconscious biases into your story, whether you are rural or not. To put our topic into context, we’ll begin with a brief overview of what literacy scholar Sara Webb-Sunderhaus calls “tellable” vs “untellable” narratives, focusing on how rural people often code switch depending on their audience and how you can use this knowledge to create fully fleshed out characters. Prompts will help participants construct and/or identify not only their characters’ belief systems, vocabularies, and appearances, but also what those rural characters feel about where they’re from and the people around them. Importantly, we’ll discuss different ways to show (rather than tell) those characteristics. We’ll also address “the dialect dilemma.” Additionally, participants will receive a handout on diverse rural resources and suggested mentor texts. The Zoomie will end with a Q&A.
When: Wednesday, May 28, 2025 from 7:00 to 8:15 pm ET
Where: Online
Cost: $30*
*For those who can’t attend live, a recording of each session will be made available for 30 days after the event for all ticket holders.
Click the image below to find out more and sign up:
Nora Shalaway Carpenter is an award-winning author, writing educator, and audiobook narrator. Her newest novel FAULT LINES won the 2024 Green Earth Book Award for YA, the 2024 Nautilus Book Award Gold Medal for YA, and is a Whippoorwill Book Award long list selection, among other honors. Her books have made numerous prestigious lists, including "Best of the Year" by NPR, Kirkus Reviews, Bank Street Books, the Texas Library Association TAYSHAS state reading list, and the Library of Congress's Discover Great Places Through Reading list. Her works have won accolades including the Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection, the Whippoorwill Award for authentic rural fiction, and the Nautilus Award championing "better books for a better world." She holds an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts and serves as faculty for the Highlights Foundation's Whole Novel Workshop. A neurodivergent author with an invisible disability, she champions busting stereotypes of all kinds. Visit her at noracarpenterwrites.com.
I was so happy when I learned that One Big Open Sky had won a Newbery. Congratulations! And I agree about books in verse-they can be incredibly powerful. Some of my favorites over the years have been "The First Part Last" by Angela Johnson, "The Poet X" by Elizabeth Acevedo, "All the Broken Pieces" by Ann E. Burg, "Mid-Air" by Alicia D. Williams, "And We Stay" by Jenny Hubbard, "The Weight of Water" by Sarah Crossen, "The Opposite of Innocent" by Sonya Sones, and "Shout" by Laurie Halse Anderson.