Here’s a good post from “Two Writing Teachers” on what we can learn from Mo Willems’s Knuffle Bunny Trilogy, one of my absolute favorites…

“There are quite a few things we can teach students about the qualities of good writing from Knuffle Bunny Free.  Three things I’ve identified are:”

via Winding Down the Knuffle Bunny Trilogy « TWO WRITING TEACHERS.

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I found out about this fabulous contest via Kangaroobee’s Blog. Thanks for posting the link! Details…

“A chance to win a SIGNED copy of Safe Haven

annnddd paperback (one of each – unsigned- but still fabulous) copies of Dear John and The Last Song

Wha-at? Seriously?! What do I have to do?

CONTEST RULES:

1) Comment below and tell me your fav Nicholas Sparks book ever—just one, people—make The Choice

2) Make sure you leave your full name (I have a lot of friends named Michelle!)

See—easy peasy.

And if you have any questions, email me at [email protected]

And for extra entries…

+1 if you become a new follower of my blog

+2 if you already are a loyal follower of my blog

+1 new followers on Twitter

+2 if you already follow me on Twitter

+1 linking to my contest on your blog, Twitter (provide a link please)

+3 for posting about my contest on your blog (a link for that too)

+2 if you add me to your blog roll

And bonus for my loyal Facebook friends

+2 for sharing my link on your wall

If you have any extra entries, tally them (I know I’m a math teacher – but your tally would be a gigundo time-saver) and post that in your comment. Winners will be selected at random and the contest will end Tuesday September 28 at 11:59 EST.

On September 29, I’ll post the winners as well as a review of his new book. The winners can email me their addresses so I can mail off prizes!”

via Mind Rants of a Totally Crazed Super Mom: Mr. Fabulous and Me – and a Contest for YOU!.

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From time to time I’m going to post my early writing attempts, and fruits of currrent writing practice sessions that I don’t plan to pursue and polish to submit for publication. (But hey, if anyone ever wants me to clean something up and submit it, please let me know!)

Here’s one my my very first attempts at writing for kids. I’m learning where I went wrong, thank goodness, but regardless it still gives me a chuckle. Hope you chuckle too – either at me or with me!

P.S. To the agent I sent this off to (yes, I sent this off to an agent): I’m sorry! I don’t know what I was thinking! *sticks fork in eye*

 

BUNNYBOY VS. THE BIG BAD BUNNY

 

Bunnyboy Bunny’s a very good bunny,

but he does some bad things cause he thinks he is funny.

 

He promised his Mama he’d try to act good.

He doesn’t really want to, but he knows that he should.

 

He was bathing and having a boring ol’ morning,

when Mayor Bunny showed up at the door with a warning.

 

Big Bad Bunny’s in town doing really bad stuff.

He’s Big and he’s Bad and enough is enough!

 

He came through the forest and frightened the bucks,

Then passed by the lake and scared all the ducks!

 

He went to the farm and ate all the carrots,

then hopped to the pet store and released all the parrots!

 

He went to the market and locked all the doors,

then stuck out his tongue and licked all the floors!

 

He promised us all he was going to come out,

then tossed out a pile of two-day-old trout!

 

Bunnyboy came from the bath with his towel

and said, “Mayor Bunny, that really sounds foul!

 

I’d sure like to help, tell me what I can do.

I know how he works. I’m a bad bunny too.”

 

Mama Bunny cried, “You know that’s not true!

You’re a good Bunnyboy! It’s bad things that you do.”

 

Bunnyboy left Mama with a hug and a kiss,

then scooted to the market, cause he couldn’t resist!

 

He hopped on the roof, and wriggled in the vent.

He crawled ‘til he saw where the Bad Bunny went.

 

He found him in Produce eating all the Spring Mix,

so Bunnyboy decided to have some kicks!

 

“Hey, Big Bad Bunny! I’m coming for you!”

“Oh yeah?” said Bad Bunny. “Just what can you do!”

 

Bunnyboy leapt down to a stack of potatoes,

and Bad Bunny pelted him with Roma tomatoes.

 

Bunnyboy said, “Is that all you’ve got?

Hope you

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Although my focus is on learning the craft of picture book writing, I occasionally genre-hop during writing practice/brain dump sessions. It seems my brain has ideas of its own.

The other day I was brain dumping, and the following character plopped out: (excerpt)

Diary Entry – Date and time

…They say it was a miracle I survived. I say it was a miracle I was ever born, that God saw fit to reward Peter Pony (real name Jango Lipschitz – yes, that’s right, my real last name is Lipschitz) and supermodel Mette Svingerviposidedeneyen with a child. Or maybe it wasn’t meant to be a reward. Maybe I was meant to make their lives unpleasant. I think perhaps it’s the latter. Neither Mom, when she was alive, nor Dad have ever been able to look me in the eye. Not since I was a toddler, anyway. I think my eyes are the only mirror they ever encountered through which they weren’t catapulted into narcissistic Valhalla by means of their own reflection.

Bitsy, aka Grandma, Dad’s Mom, says I haven’t been right or “raht” as she would say it, since the accident. It was for that reason she suggested I stay with her and her “inmates” as Dad calls them, at Bedford House, instead of accompanying Dad and Nanny Naughty Nurse on the Pulsating Pony Absolute Final (For real this time!) World Tour.

Diary Entry – Date and time

It has been decided. I will be allowed to stay at Bedford House for a period of 6 months. If all goes well, I will be able to continue the school year (REAL school!), but if I blow chunks and frick up the whole deal, I will be expected to return to Beverly Thrills, under the tutelage of my long-time nanny turned Stepmom, Nanny Naughty Nurse.

This, of course, is not her real name. Its appearance coincided with her shift from loving nanny and devoted overseer of my health and well-being to Stepmom extraordinaire, complete with new boobs, new lips, perky Brazilian buttocks, and a sudden devotion to three-martini lunches. Naughty nurse, indeed. It was said that nobody goes through that many tennis racket strings without ever setting foot on the court unless a little hanky-panky is involved.

Blech. The thought of her and Dad as a couple still makes my stomach want to crawl down my intestines and hide. Not that Dad’s all that normal himself. He may be a bit of a freak, but he’s my freak and my daddy to boot. Let’s just say that I love him, but I don’t always like him.

I know the writing, organization and grammar are doo-doo, this is just a brain dump. My main concern at this point is VOICE. I wrote over 1,000 words, but I couldn’t bring myself to pursue or revise. I kept wondering: Is this the authentic voice of a 17 year old girl? Is her thinking too negative? Are her words too big? Is it all too heavy? How can I get the feedback I need in order to make an informed decision and grow?

I’m thinking this is one of the many uncertainties of creative writing. You can’t tell, don’t know, and you probably won’t get the feedback you need in a timely fashion without forking out big bucks to an editor or writing mentor. And who wants to do that unless you have a pretty good idea that there’s something “there”?

I was able to procure some indirect help, though. When I was scratching my bum

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If you’re interested in authoring Children’s Picture Books, and chatting with other like-minded folks, I highly recommend that you take advantage of #pblitchat, a weekly chat co-convened by friendly Aussies Karen Collum (@KarenCollum), and Kat Apel (@KatApel).

For details, including chat transcripts, check out:

Picture Books Only: Home of #pblitchat

New home for #pblitchat!

Karen Collum is happy to add you to the #pblitchat news & info mailing list. Just drop her a line: [email protected]

You may also search twitter for #pblitchat, and add it to your saved searches for easy reference.

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I finally bit the bullet! I’m excited to announce that I will be attending Anastasia Suen’s Intensive Picture Book Workshop lessons 1-6 September 1st – October 20th, 2010.

Online Workshops with Anastasia Suen

For those interested in attending, below please find the Q & A Anastasia includes in her welcome email (shared with permission):

Welcome to the Intensive Picture Book Workshop #1-6!

Q. How does this work?

A. On the first Wednesday of each month a new workshop begins. For 6
Wednesdays in a row I will send you a workshop lesson via email. You
have 2 weeks to complete each lesson.

Q. What do the numbers mean?

A. Due to the economy I have split my 12 week workshops into two 6
week workshops. Lessons #1-6 are the first half and Lessons #7-12 are
the second half.

Q. How do I send you my homework?

A. Just click reply to email me your homework. (Please write your
reply *in the body of the message* so we don’t have to worry about
software compatiblity or possible viruses in the attachments.)

I will reply to your email that afternoon or the next day. (I write in
the morning and read the workshops in the afternoon Monday through
Friday.)

Q. How long do I have to complete the workshop?

A. You have 8 weeks to complete the 6 lessons in this workshop.

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Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

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Image via WikipediaOr am I dog-throwing bone? Not sure how that works. All I know is...

And fool.

Will concentrate on the genius part. Couldn't figure out how to export links from Kidlit Writer to new and fabulous Diary of Heather blogspot blog, but then had an idea! Viewed source, then pasted html into shiny new Resources - Writing for Children page. Tweaked a bit and am now in Heaven as was actually considering manually copying and pasting well over 30,000 (plus!) links from said prior blog to said new blog.

Regarding the fool bit, well, that's because this is about the tenth time I've moved my blog. Will be the last! Have said that before, methinks. But sincerely mean to mean it this time.

P.S. As is new DIARY blog, will be posting like this as am not writing blog post, but writing DIARY post.
P.P.S. Don't care if is annoying.
P.P.P.S. Am hungry.

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Image via WikipediaOr am I dog-throwing bone? Not sure how that works. All I know is...

And fool.

Will concentrate on the genius part. Couldn't figure out how to export links from Kidlit Writer to new and fabulous Diary of Heather blogspot blog, but then had an idea! Viewed source, then pasted html into shiny new Resources - Writing for Children page. Tweaked a bit and am now in Heaven as was actually considering manually copying and pasting well over 30,000 (plus!) links from said prior blog to said new blog.

Regarding the fool bit, well, that's because this is about the tenth time I've moved my blog. Will be the last! Have said that before, methinks. But sincerely mean to mean it this time.

P.S. As is new DIARY blog, will be posting like this as am not writing blog post, but writing DIARY post.
P.P.S. Don't care if is annoying.
P.P.P.S. Am hungry.

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I'm thrilled from the tips of my wiry, attitudinal gray hairs to the bottoms of my desperately-in-need-of-a pedi feetsies to have won a copy of Palace Beautiful by Sarah deFord Williams, published by G.P. Putnam.


Thanks to Jennifer Duddy Gill of "From the Mixed-Up Files of Middle-Grade Authors" for drawing my name from that bowl! I can't wait to dive in. Be sure to check out the posts for more information about Palace Beautiful, and an interview with Sarah deFord Williams:

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I'm thrilled from the tips of my wiry, attitudinal gray hairs to the bottoms of my desperately-in-need-of-a pedi feetsies to have won a copy of Palace Beautiful by Sarah deFord Williams, published by G.P. Putnam.


Thanks to Jennifer Duddy Gill of "From the Mixed-Up Files of Middle-Grade Authors" for drawing my name from that bowl! I can't wait to dive in. Be sure to check out the posts for more information about Palace Beautiful, and an interview with Sarah deFord Williams:

Add a Comment