Medieval Paris: The House of Nicholas Flamel

The house of Nicholas Flamel on a Paris Street.  

Nicholas Flamel's house is
now a charming restaurant,
Auberge Nicholas Flamel.

Nicholas Flamel, the alchemist of Harry Potter fame, was rumored to have turned lead into gold.  Many say that this rumor was a creation of 17th century writers.  What is know for sure, however, is that while grieiving for his wife he set out to use his money for the good of his community.  Perhaps this tale proves what many people have said that giving is the best way to feel truly rich.  He opened his home, at 51 rue de Montmorency, to the homeless and for years provided aid and support to those less fortunate than he. 

The carvings on the front
of Nicholas Flamel's

house.

The house itself stands as a medieval monument on a modernized street.  The house is now a restaurant, Auberge Nicholas Flamel, and close by is a street named for the purported alchemist.  Perhaps that fact that the front of the house was carved with angels and alchemical symbols meant that through the years even the most hardened gentrifier was determined to keep the façade intact. 

Whatever the reason, Nicholas Flamel’s little house is worth a little side trip down the quiet street where it resides.    

Getting Back on Track after Failure

After a wonderful January, in February, I and many other writers on the Ten Minute Novelists and 365 K Facebook list struggled through February.  My guess is that many other people who made New Year’s Resolutions also struggled in February. 

I know I’ve mentioned it before, but I tend to be a little all or nothing in my thinking.  Either I do everything I said I would do or I think I’ve totally failed.  If you look at my earlier posts on challenges and thought I was crazy to commit myself to so much this year, then you’ll probably be shaking your head right now and thinking that that approach might mean that I’ve set myself up for failure. 

But, I’m a recovering perfectionist, so though I struggled with some goals in February, I achieved others.  I didn’t write a poem a day, but I wrote fifteen poems.  I didn’t get my 674 words a day, but I wrote over 5,000 words.  I read many picture books, and I signed up for the ReFoReMo challenge.  I wrote my second picture book draft of the year.  I posted at least weekly in this blog. 

Then March began, and I committed myself to one, just one, of my faltering goals.  In March, I told myself, I would write a poem a day.  Though sometimes I’ve had to write two poems in one day to meet that average, I’m back on track with my poetry in March.   And I’ve already written my picture book draft this month.  And I’m at a total of over 350 picture books read. 

I’d still like to get my daily word count back up, but every time I fail and pick myself back up, I’m learning what it takes for me to be successful.  And I’m retraining my brain.  I don’t have to do everything just right, I just have to keep working even when things get difficult.  As I write this I hear Ellen DeGeneres’s voice in my head, “Just keep swimming.”  And I do, I keep doing the work, I keep moving forward towards my goals. 

I still have work to do this month—I want to catch up on my poetry submissions and I have four picture books ready for queries, so I’d like to get those sent.  But, when I look at the year I’ve had so far, I realize again how responsive I am to assignments (I loved being a student) and how far I’ve come in my recovery as a perfectionist. 

So, if you had some goals that have dropped away in the weirdness of February and the busyness of the new year, don’t be afraid to dust them off and pick them back up.  There are still nine more months in 2016 and so much left to do. 

Wishing you ease, joy, and success!! Lori

Resource Sharing: Romelle Broas on Using Mentor Texts

I've read over 300 books so far in 2016.  These are some of my favorites that have 

become my mentor texts.  

Before I started on my ReFoReMo journey this month, I downloaded Romelle Broas’ carefully critical Mentor Text Worksheet from the ReFoReMo blog.  I didn't print it out, but it was so thoughtfully arranged, I saved it on my desktop and tucked it in my mental file—To Deal With Later.

Then as I read through the mentor texts, I fell in love with a few of them. I read and reread them, trying to figure out why I found them so compelling. They were books I wish I had written, books like the ones I wanted to write. 

So I opened the Broas’ worksheet and looked at it again.  Then, I made a little folder on my desktop, copied the PDF into a Word document that I could easily edit, and began filling in the worksheets for the twenty or so books that I’d already decided I wanted to study from the first week's reading. 

Broas’ talks about how to approach mentor texts (and how to use her worksheet) on a guest post in Carrie Charley Brown’s site, but Broas' blog is also a rich resource.  On Feb. 8, 2016 she posted a wonderful analysis of breaking the fourth wall in picture books.  I signed up for her blog updates.  I can’t wait to see what she’ll do next.

Medieval Paris: A Fortress Uncovered

The remnants of the Medieval Louvre uncovered during a structrual 

excavation.  Now, this section is the start to the "highlights" tour.

I’ve been to the Louvre twice, so I didn’t feel a pressing need to stare with hundreds of people at the admittedly beautiful artwork there.  Still, I went to the Louvre this visit with a very specific task in mind.  In the Sully wing of the Louvre, an exhibit on the history of the museum culminates with displays from the architectural dig that the museum carried out in order to determine how much more support was needed for construction they planned to undertake. (That construction is a ridiculous mall, by the way, but that’s for another post.)

Included at the end of the exhibit are items that were found

during the excavation.  

The Louvre was important in King Charles time because even when he moved to St. Pol, he kept his library and his treasure at the Louvre in the old Falconry.  King Charles’ library housed over 971 volumes at his death, many of those volumes finely illuminated manuscripts and translations of Greek and Roman philosophers and thinkers.

When the Louvre opened as a museum in 1793, it was not Charles Louvre, but the lavish 15^th century building built by Francis I on the destroyed foundation of the Medieval palace.

The current exhibit highlights the Medieval Louvre, uncovering its secrets and providing a glimpse into the king’s fortress.  To make it more appealing a contemporary installation of neon words projected onto the ancient walls breaks up the looming walls and towers.  But the neon wasn’t necessary for me.  I found walking by the towers that Christine walked past inspiration enough.  Here’s the beginning of a poem, “Coming Home,” that I wrote after my visit.

Coming Home

Tourists bustle by. Children sit

impatiently before their teachers.

One asks if there were alligators in the moat.

Around me, a dozen languages

hurry through this dull start

to their highlights’ tour. They’ll rush

from here to the Mona Lisa,

the Vitruvian man,

the winged victory of Salamachus.

I’ll stay here and walk the ramparts,

immersed in (her)story.

The exhibit was crowded with children when I was there. Yes, one really

did ask if there were alligators in the moat.

Resource Sharing: Antioch Writer’s Workshop

Nikki Giovanni soaks in the appreciation of her audience at AWW in 2016.

I’d heard about the legendary Antioch Writer’s Workshop since my MFA days at University of Texas at El Paso, so I was thrilled to move to Yellow Springs, Ohio and find that my new hometown was also home to this legendary conference.  But I never had the money or the time to attend the conference, and I worried that the workshops wouldn’t help me grow as a writer since many of them seemed geared to writers earlier in their growth.

Last year, though, at the urging of two of my writer friends (one the President of the board), I applied for a scholarship.  I won second place and earned half the tuition for the conference, so I was in. 

And I’m so glad I went.  I expanded my writer community, I met Nikki Giovanni, I worked with a wonderful group of poets and the legendary Herbert Martin, and I learned some essential lessons that have been instrumental in helping me advance my career this year. 

No matter where you are in your writer’s path, AWW will help you grow a little more.  I’ll be there again this year (just in the morning and weekend sessions) as will  a number of other writers including Roxanne Gay, Shane McRae, John Drury, Kristina McBride, and Lee Martin.  I’m looking forward to connecting with more writers, learning more about craft and platform, and soaking in the inspiration and joy of being surrounded by people who feel as passionate about words as I do. 

I hope you’ll join me.

Hero moment.  I got to meet a huge influence-Nikki Giovanni--at AWW in 2016. 

Medieval France: Homage to Christine de Pizan in Poissy

The walled monastery at Poissy. This has been there since Christine spent the
last years of he life here. 

Early in my journey in France, I was staying with friends in Le Vesinet, a wealthy northern suburb of Paris.  Since Poissy, where Christine spent the end of her life, was close, I decided to spend a day visiting the town, where the abbey enclosure walls are still visible and where a library is named for her.

An exploding house, just right for the budding

arsonist.

Dropping her name at the tourist office and with locals I met did no good, however, as the only response I ever got was “Ah, la Mediatheque.”  No one knew who she was.  So I walked the walls of the Poissy Abbey where she lived at the end of her life, paid attention to the old houses, and fell in love with a tiny wood and plaster house not far from the old Abbey. 

I went to the charming Toy Museum, more to see the building that it was housed in than to see the toys.  If you’ll excuse an aside, the most interesting toy I found there was an exploding house from the late 19^th, early 20^th century.  As far as I could tell with my faulty French, children could create a combustible chemical cocktail, pour it into a container in the middle of the house, and then ignite it and the house would explode.  Just the toy for your budding arsonist.  Anyway, it was a lovely visit, but I didn’t find much of Christine. 

I continued to wander, searching for medieval construction, visiting the church, etc. I came across a park with gold painted cinder blocks glinting in the sun. 

The City of Ladies art installation in Poissy, France. 

I walked into the park and read the plaque attached to the side.  I found Christine. 

The blocks are a monument to Christine’s most famous work The City of Ladies.  The artist created a charming representation of the blocks that Christine uses as her metaphor as she and Dame Reason build the city of ladies, with women of learning and virtue making up each of the blocks in the building. 

It was a gift, and a justification for my instinct to wander, or as the French call it, flaner, through a town once I’ve finished my more  formal research. 

Thank you, Poissy.  I forgive you the fact that no one in town seems to know Christine beyond the fact that she has given her name to the local technology library.  Of course, I can't tell you how to get to this sculpture since it isn't listed on the city website.  Wander around.  Perhaps you'll find it.