Real Life Experiences Make the Best Stories
When I first landed in the Arctic bush and collided with the Eskimo culture almost twenty years ago, I brought along a lot of the same preconceived ideas and judgmental attitudes as Allison in my story I Am the Ice Worm.
Like Allison, I knew nothing about the Eskimo people, wind chill factor, cabin fever, or light deprivation. Born and raised in Los Angeles, I'd never ventured far from modern conveniences. I didn't own a heavy winter coat and Id certainly never walked on ice or gone without plumbing. For me, landing in the Arctic was a lot like setting foot on the moon. As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but snow and ice.
There were no roads, no malls, no theaters, no parks, no restaurants, no television or radio or phone, no modern conveniences at all.
Hired to teach school in Alaska without ever having been there, I arrived in the Arctic Circle without boots to wear or a pot to cook in. Upon entering a hut that was the Eskimo store, I encountered a moose head being prepared for a meal. A neighboring dwelling was made of sod and completely covered with snow.
Like Allison, I assumed these people lived in utter poverty. Like Allisons mother, I thought I could help.
At times I had to crawl on my hands and knees to get from school to my quarters because of steep snowdrifts. During the winter, I went to school in the dark and came home in the dark. Even if I crawled into bed at three in the afternoon, I still awoke tired. During the spring, it never got dark. Children played outside at midnight under the bright sun as if it were mid-afternoon. No one slept at all.
Having a persistent nature, I returned to teach in three different Arctic villages, and each experience taught me harsh lessons.
The first village was a thousand years old and separated by a river. There was not a single tree. No matter how far I walked, the scenery remained the same. Dry, squeaky snow went on forever. Half the village of three hundred people lived on one side of the river and the other half lived on the school side. Our water came from the river and was the color of weak tea. Eskimos cut holes in the ice to catch fish. They pulled fish out with their bare hands, and the fish froze instantly. Another teacher, eager to come into the country, trapped a wolverine that had eaten its toes in an effort to free itself. And adjoining neighbors quarter caught fire during the night and was quelled with several fire extinguishers since there was no fire department or access to water.
The second village looked like a Christmas card because of the many small trees. Boys hunted caribou and moose. Some men trapped. Women made birch baskets and parkas with wolverine ruffs that wouldnt ice up. I lived in a small corner of the Eskimo store, cooked on an oil stove, and dined upon a cardboard box. My typewriter keys repeatedly froze. I had no computer.
The third and smallest village of less than a hundred people was on the Bering Sea where the wind blew constantly. Ice cut from inland ponds was carted on Eskimo sleds and placed in barrels to melt. I took a bath, shampooed my hair, and washed my clothes in the same bucket of water. When finished, I tossed the water outside onto the snow where it froze instantly. Everything froze when outside - my breath, the tip of my nose, even tears.
Like Allison, I was nearly run down by a rabid fox that veered its course only after being shot at a half-dozen times.
Like Allisons mother, it wasnt long before I realized that I represented a long line of well-meaning but detrimental intruders who altered things by their very presence. I had nothing to offer these self-sufficient people. The Eskimo people taught me far more than I taught them.
The public health dentist came around once a year to pull childrens teeth ruined by chewing tobacco, jawbreakers, and soda pop. Unscheduled bush planes flew in illegal liquor to dry villages. Cemeteries contained early death dates from suicide, alcoholism, and flu epidemics.
Still, I stuck it out, and because I did, I collected experiences that eventually evolved into I Am the Ice Wormand later Dog Woman.
I wrote a number of articles published in newspapers and magazines about my experiences. I also wrote the rough draft for several short stories. One of those short stories gradually led to I Am the ice Worm.I think the reason it took so long for I Am the Ice Wormto evolve into its present form is that I had so much to say and didnt know how to cram it all into a short manuscript. I had kept journals, written articles and short stories, and had a whole lot of memories.
It took time and distance, lots and lots of writing, rewriting, and editing. I think the best stories come from personal experiences, and I am finally satisfied that I Am the Ice Wormsays what I want it to say. Even so, I wanted to offer more to the reader about the Arctic and especially the grueling Iditarod dogsled race and thats why I wrote Dog Woman. It takes place ten years after Allisons adventures in I Am the Ice Wormbut the reader finds out what happens to all the characters in the first book while becoming acquainted with Laurie, another fourteen year old girl from California, who longs for home. When a village outcast everyone refers to as Dog Woman saves her from freezing to death during a whiteout on the river, Laurie is indebted to someone she both respects and fears.
My feelings and attitudes are reflected in both Allison and her mother. I am the mother, but I am Allison, too. They are composites of me - the old me, the young me, and the well-meaning me who remained the object of curiosity in the bush villages. I think mothers and daughters often exchange roles, and in some ways Allison is stronger than her mother in the end. Ive learned a lot from my own two daughters and they, too, are incorporated into the composites of Allison and her mother.
Because of intermarriage, some bush village children were born with birth defects. Although I knew a hearing impaired girl in one village who loved to dance and could feel rhythm through her feet, I met no one like Oolik. With her distorted looks and deafness, she represents the shocking collision of our cultures, exemplifying the Eskimos painful, yet brave, struggle to go forward with one foot in the past and the other in the future.
IAm the Ice Wormis the story of Allisons search for her mother and home, but like all of us, shes really looking for herself. During her journey through difficult hardships in a strange land, she meets Oolik, an embittered girl who is so ostracized by everyone in the village that she, too, is an outsider. When Allison teaches the girl to sign, she finds meaning in her own life and makes an impact on Ooliks entire village.
Like their creator, Allison and her mother came to the Arctic to make a difference. Instead, it is they who are changed. Still, our footsteps made imprints on the snow and there is no way to judge how deeply they go into that fragile tundra.
All my middle grade novels are based on personal experiences.
Belly Upis the story of Rachel and her brother Boo lost at sea after an injured whale attacks their grandfathers boat. The story is based upon my years of living aboard a sailing schooner and fishing commercially for salmon along the California coast.
Looking Out for Lindy is a World War II story. Meg, fourteen, struggles to cope with loss and prejudice after her fathers ship is torpedoed in the Indian Ocean. She carelessly lures her retarded sister into a dangerous Los Angeles sump field filled with oil lakes and German prisoners of war. Only when all seems lost does she realize the importance of family and her place within it.
Fourteen year old Lacey in A Few Screws Loosemust endure her bipolar mothers unpredictable behavior while trying to adjust to a new school, new friends, and an embarrassing secret. During her emotional roller coaster ride, she encounters help from unexpected places and manages to make an extraordinary leap into her own selfhood.
Warriors Daughter deals with a USMC gunnery sergeants daughter who must face hard truths about war after her father is deployed to Iraq.
I am currently working on a sequel to I Am the Ice Worm again featuring Allison and Oolik. It is titled Finding Jade Mountain.
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