Writing Tip on Tales from the Rushmore Kid

Last week Tina Nichols Coury posted a writing tip of mine on her blog, Tales from the Rushmore Kid. The post before mine, she shared an interview with award-winning author Kathi Appelt, my VC advisor for this semester. How serendipitous! Hop on over for a look!

BLACKBERRY BANQUET SAVES THE DAY!

Last week I read a delightful blog post on Family Briefs: A Few Briefs Along the Parenting Journey sharing how the reading of Blackberry Banquet actually saved a blackberry bush from sure death (a near tragedy, for sure).

Apparently, the encroaching bush was merely doing what all blackberry bushes do, taking over everything around it, which included the blogger's family garden. Mom was prepared to get rid of the bush, but through the insistence of her children and their desire to see if Mouse, Bird and the rest of the characters in Blackberry Banquet really were right about the delicious nature of blackberries, the bush was spared (but it doesn't sound like Mom was too thrilled ;-).

In my mind, I envisioned Mom heading towards the bush with an axe, the children at her side, begging her to stop (yes, a bit like Fern trying to save poor Wilbur).

For a sweet chuckle, and the full read, click HERE.

2009 CYBILS Posted!

The 2009 CYBILS Winners are now posted. Click here to see the complete list.

In the upcoming week, I'm going to post a review of each of the Easy Reader Finalists, so stay tuned.

Congratulations to all the winners!

Happy New Year

Happy new year, everyone! While I took a two-week break to spend time with my family for the holidays, some folks stayed busy (and I'm not talking about elves here--well, let's call them cyber-elves). So, here are a couple of things to announce:

First, the finalists for the CYBILS Awards have been posted. Congratulations to all of the authors and illustrators whose books made it to the final phase! Click here to see the complete list (winners will be announced mid-February).

Second, Jill Corcoran has been posting some links to terrific writing tips on her blog. To see Jill's blog, click here.

More good things to come later, but for now, I have GOT to climb out from under the pile of stuff that has accumulated on my desk for the past two weeks...

Cool Blog Happenings

Here are some fun things happening on other blogs right now:

Shrinking Violets Promotions is doing a 12 Days of Christmas-Introvert Style (a little something to do for yourself).

Elizabeth Dulemba is offering holiday-related coloring pages every Tuesday (perfect to print out and have on hand for little ones).

My Readable Feast has a nice list of children’s books on Hanukkah.

Stories for Children has three Christmas-related crafts.

Jill Corcoran Books is having a great discussion on dialogue, for those of us who refuse to give up our writing focus during the holidays.

Season's readings!

Authors & Illustrators for Children

Check out this video from the Authors and Illustrators for Children.

Kid-Friendly Blackberry Recipe

Mmm-mm-mm! Check out Mary Ann Dames's website. Today she's posted a very kid-friendly recipe, Bear's Crunchy Blackberry Treat, to go with Blackberry Banquet!

What a great way to start the summer~ reading and preparing food with kids!

Must Read Blog Post: Orphan Work Act

Please-please-please--go to Tina Nichols Coury's blog and read the interview with illustrator Carol Heyer where she discusses the Orphan Work Act. Carol does an excellent job of explaining the OWA and why it is detrimental to artists and illustrators, and possibly authors in the future (it's not long and has an easy-peasy link for contacting your congressional leaders).

Searching for an Agent?

It’s been said that getting an agent is as hard as getting a manuscript acceptance. I believe it. In fact, I’d say that it’s even harder. I’ve tried off and on for the past four years or so to acquire an agent, but haven’t had any success. I’ve sold many manuscripts though. And my writer colleagues tell me that once you have a few books out, it becomes much easier to acquire an agent. Hmm... Seventeen books later and still no agent. Yep, the agent quest is definitely more difficult for this little writer.

In the recent research of agents (by the way, if you know of any reputable agents who are just dying to acquire a contemporary adventure novel, you can give them my name ;-), I’ve come across a couple of things I’d like to share--in case you too are on the search.

First, is a fabulous article that Harold Underdown recently posted on his website, The Purple Crayon. Harold not only discusses agent basics (what they do for you, why you might need one, how to find one), he also helps writers to understand how to recognize good agents and avoid the “less scrupulous” ones; which is key. He’s even done a comparison on three different agent websites to help folks understand what to look for in researching agents online.

The other site I like is Chuck Sambuchino’s blog. Chuck is the editor for The Guide to Literary Agents (published by Writer’s Digest). His website is great, but I really like the blog too. He gives a lot of sound advice and interesting posts about this crazy business in which we work.

Happy searching~ may we all eventually find our perfect agent!

Holy Fairy GodSisters!!!

Well, I am simply flabbergasted! I was just reading some of my favorite blogs, when I got to the Shrinking Violets Promotions, and saw THIS.

Wow! Holy fairy godmother--I mean, godsisters! I'm never ceased to be amazed at the generosity of children's writers--particularly those who are in my SCBWI region (that would be the Ventura/Santa Barbara region).

Go on, check it out. I'll be here when you get back...

Fun Stuff!

Okay, for a hilarious example of perfect wordplay, go to Mary Hershey’s blog. I never knew the Pillsbury Doughboy could be so funny, and leave it to Mary to show us just how much there is to poke fun at!

And for the second time in my blogging life, I’ve been tagged by a fellow writer, Patty Palmer. We bloggers are a playful bunch, aren’t we? And since my hubbie is teaching class right now and my cats are sleeping, I’ve got a few minutes to play along. So, here goes:

Rules for the game:
1. Put these rules at the beginning of your post.
2. Then answer each question (see below) in your post.
3. Tag five people at the end, then post a comment on each of their blogs letting them know you've tagged them, and ask them to check your blog for details.

What was I doing 10 years ago?
Ten years ago, I had just received my 1st degree Black Belt in taekwondo so I was in much better physical condition than I am now! Professionally, I was in my 21st year of teaching at the Montessori pre-primary level and my first thoughts of writing for children were surfacing in my mind. Personally, my son was finishing with middle school so I was very involved with his life.

Five Snacks I Enjoy:
1. Fresh blackberries.
2. Freshly picked cherries from Hood River, Oregon.
3. Movie popcorn (which I only eat about once a year because it’s got like a bazillion calories and way too many grams of fat and salt).
4. Edamame beans.
5. Oatmeal chocolate-chip FiberOne bars.

Five things I would do if I were a billionaire:
Well, if you’re going to fantasize, go big!
1. I’d buy a summer vacation home in Hood River, Oregon where I could eat fresh cherries every summer until my stomach would feel ready to explode.
2. I’d buy a winter condo in Mammoth so my hubbie could snowboard and not have to make the long day drive to do it.
3. I’d donate a large part of it to D & S Animal Rescue Center (in Ridgecrest) so they could build a full-service facility to house and adopt out the hundreds of animals that they save annually.
4. I’d surprise my husband with a trip to Palau so we could scuba dive and swim in Jellyfish Lake.
5. I’d hire Stacy and Clinton from TLC’s “What Not to Wear” to find me a pair of jeans that actually fit. Of course, that might take all of the money because it wouldn’t’ be an easy task for them and I’m sure they’re expensive.

Five jobs that I have had:
1. Counter girl at Jack in the Box.
2. Temp-clerk.
3. Substitute teacher (all grades).
4. College teacher.
5. Montessori pre-primary teacher.

Three of my habits:
1. Checking my email way too often—I’m obsessed, what can I say?
2. On-demand petting and playing with my two cats (and my cats are very demanding but since they’re the world’s cutest and sweetest cats they deserve it).
3. Writing with my blue Hello Kitty pencil. I’m a fanatic about it. Any writing I’ve done for younger children has always started out with this pencil and a notepad. I won’t write with anything else, unless I’m away from home and caught without it—and then my creativity is less than stellar. Hello Kitty really motivates me, I suppose.

Five places I have lived:
Just five??? Here are the main ones:
Fort Worth, Texas.
Rochester, New York.
Mercer Island, Washington
Manhattan Beach, California.
Ridgecrest, California.

Five people I want to get to know better (i.e) TAG!
Catherine Ipcizade at Fresh from the Oven (Catherine is a fellow Sylvan Dell author)
Barbara Bietz at Jewish Books for Children with Author Barbara Bietz (Barbara is from my SCBWI region and one of the sweetest people I’ve ever met).
Greg Pincus at Gottabook (Greg is a poet who invented a unique poetry form called, “The Fib.”)
Tina Nichols Coury at Tales from The Rushmore Kid (Tina is from my SCBWI region and has her first book coming out soon).
Greg Trine at Melvin Beederman Superhero (Greg is a softspoken superwriter with a sharp wit).

Interesting Read at Editorial Anonymous

I was "under the weather" last week so I'm just now getting caught up on reading my favorite blogs and websites. Man, it feels like I've been away for a month! Anyway, I just read a post on Editorial Anonymous that I thought was quite interesting. Her reader posted a question that I've often wondered about, particularly with novel submissions: What happens after you've sent out your full manuscript upon request?

I think writers ponder this often. After all, we don't know what goes on behind closed doors in those white ivory publishing towers. We fantasize that if our novel has been requested, it means an editor is eagerly awaiting its arrival, tapping her toe as she anticipates the mail delivery, then ripping the envelope from the mail carrier's hands leaving him with nothing but paper-cut hands and a quivering bottom lip.

Said editor hangs the "Do not disturb" sign on her office door and locks it tighter than a Brinks armored truck, tears open the package and sits back with the anticipation of reading the next Great American Novel. She cannot put down our masterpiece. She reads through the entire day, gleening the most inner satisfaction that's every been realized since the invention of reading. At 4:59 PM she throws open the door and runs down the hallway yelling, "Stop the presses! We must publish this NOW!" She calls us immediately and gushes endlessly about our brilliance and thanks us for letting HER be the lucky chosen one to first read our story. And she offers us a contract that would make JK Rowling look like the Little Match Girl.

No? Am I off a bit? Hmm... Okay, if you have any doubts, and want a taste of reality, head on over to her blog.

Book Tour: A Cool Site for Published Authors

As you know, I LOVE IT when someone shares a great website or blog that helps authors. Today, Alexis O’Neill shared a cool website on our SCBWI listserve. It’s called Book Tour: Where Authors and Audiences Meet. For published authors, this site serves as another way to get the word out about you, your books and your appearances--and it's free! The site says it’s a Beta version, which means it’s in its trial stages, but it seems like a great idea and quite a few authors have already signed up. Click HERE to check it out! (click on "Kids" on the upper right hand box to see all of the wonderful children's authors listed).

Don't Stop Clapping Yet!

Last night I discovered another terrific blog that I had to share. Author Kim Norman has created a blog that lists author who do school visits by state. It's a one-stop visit for educators who are looking for visiting authors. How cool is that? Check it out, "Author School Visits by State."

Check These Out!

On her blog, “Fresh From the Oven” Catherine Ipcizade shared the ups and downs of her book launch at the Santa Ana Zoo, for her new book, ‘Twas the Day Before Zoo Day. What I really loved about this was that Catherine shared with readers what *didn’t* work, as well as what did. We’ve all had those events where things didn’t go as planned so her experiences were totally relatable!

Another mucho-generoso blog post I read this week came from the website of author Evelyn B. Christensen, where she posted a list of educational publishers and their submission information. This was a lot of research on her part, and to share it as she did deserves a round of applause!

Check Out These Blogs

I wish there was a clever verb to describe reading through blogs. Slogging the blogs? Jogging the blogs? Leap-frogging through the blogs? Anyway...

I really enjoy Anastasia Suen’s blog, Create-Relate. I recently found a post on it referring to literary agent Nathan Branford’s blog, where he interviewed his colleague Ginger Clark of Curtis Brown Ltd. The topic of her interview is what she expects an author to do once she’s made an offer for representation.

If you’re in the market for an agent, I’d recommend you pop on over and give it a read. And give Anastasia’s site a visit too. All great stuff!

Blog-Blog-Blog

Just a quick note about a couple of cool blog sites:

AgentQuery.com has a list of agent and editor blogs. Click here to see them.

And one of my favorite blogs, Editorial Anonymous, has an interesting post ("Busted Again") on royalties and advances.

Happy reading!

Shrinking Violets Promotion

Those introverted ladies at Shrinking Violets Promotions sure know how to recognize a good title when they see one. I just found out that little old me won their most recent contest. Yippee! Oh, the joys of feeling validated! The contest was to use a book or song title and rewrite it from an introvert's perspective. What was my entry? Ahh, you must click here to find out!