Wednesday Q & J: May 10, 2023

Q: What do you think is the best line you’ve ever written?

J: “Under a shining Owl Moon.”

Follow up Q: How did that line happen?  And, why do you think it works so well?

J: I can’t remember any big struggle with that last line. My big struggle in the book–a 20 year struggle by the way–was finding the voice of the character who is telling the story. The long poem seemed to complete itself as my poems and picture books often do.  Perhaps the pages that are collected at the Kerlan Collection in Minneapolis, where all of my manuscripts go, would tell a different tale of that ending. But honestly, what I remember it now–sixty?  years later, is that the last line  just completed itself perfectly. without any more attention from me.

EVERYTHING LEADS UP TO THE LAST LINE….and sometimes I struggle, (especially with novels..) But this is a picture book, and actually a long poem.

This was a time when the last line just seemed to write itself.

Note: Owl Moon was published in 1988 (not quite 60 years ago, even if it feels that way!)