Grammar, darn it all.  An evil foe with spiky edges, grammar can trip up even the most schooled among us.  I rather enjoyed this article.  I hope you do as well.

http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2012/09/27/which-language-and-grammar-rules-to-flout/?gwh=A36DA6BE8ABBA32DEB7F4ECAF20F4E17


Until next time.

Laura

Today; yes, it is a Monday, but that has little to do with my resolve for the week, I am starting it like a husky leading her team to the finish, through sleet, snow or ice.  After my less than useful workshop experience at the local SCBWI last week I am fired up to just trudge through this process on my own.  Enough gathering information from others.  It is time to hit Google where it hurts most and really dig for some agents that crave my style of writing in picture books.

All morning this morning I have been compiling a list of the most recommended agents for Picture Books.  Surprisingly, or not, some of the listed one's don't even take Picture Books.  Research.  I am telling you it is all about my new fabulous excel spread sheet, a large cup of English Breakfast tea and a new determination that even a salmon swimming upstream would envy.

So now, I have a list of currently, 33 agents.  I will pair that down a bit I am sure by the end of the day.  I have notes compiled on each, blog links added.  Maybe even today I will start adding some to my twitter account so I can find some morsel of information to add to my query letter that will totally pull them into reading one of my stories.

After getting the list streamlined I am going to hit it hard.  But before I can do that I think I will have to spend a week writing query letters, yes the ugly dreaded query letter.  But it must be done.  I have three really great picture books waiting right now, waiting for the right person to snatch it up. 

Do they need more editing, sure, always will, but enough waiting and editing and editing.  Time for the full court press. 

So, enough.  Back to Google, research and maybe another cup of tea.
Until next time.
Laura

Today when I opened up Facebook this was the first post I saw. From Debbie Ohi

"If you're an aspiring writer or illustrator out there reading some of my posts about I'm Bored & feeling a bit wistful and maybe a tiny bit jealous even though you're try hard not to be: I have so been there, so don't feel bad. My advice: PERSEVERE. Work hard on your craft and continue to support other writers and illustrators. Take a break if you need to, but then come back. Your turn will come.

I've been getting rejection letters since...well, since rejections only came by snailmail. I know there will be more rejections in the future, of course, but I am going to fully enjoy this moment while it lasts.

And this is way too long for a FB status post. :-)"


It was the perfect thing to read today, first thing in the morning.  Not only because I am totally thrilled for her, but also frustrated for me.  And seeing her encouraging words, even though I am still stuck hour later, is helping me being stuck seem less horrific.

The network of people you are linked to is so important and this post is just one reason why.  Keep kicking butt Debbie and maybe, one day I will be right there kicking butt with ya.

And now here I go off to my stuckness trying to find a good way out.
-Laura

As long as life lets me.  I have two workshops scheduled this week.  One for revisions and the other for agents.  To say I am nervous and not feeling ready would be about right.

I think after I get some "work" done today I am going to go through all of my most current, most ready stuff and see where I stand.  Even though I feel uncomfortable and way out of my depth, it is time to jump back in and see what I am made of.

My new projects are just hanging.  I am totally not satisfied where they are going or where they stand as of this moment.  And I think that I really do need to go back and just do some major editing of the older material before I start up again. 

As for fun things:

More great stuff for, 'I'm Bored' by Debbie Ohi.  Be sure to check it out!

http://www.bethstilborn.com/debbie-ohi-guest-post-its-worth-the-wait/

Until next time-

Laura

So, if you have been following my blog at all you will note that I have mentioned my Mom and her amazing talent as an artist.  I just got this sent to me and so I am going to post it here.

Art, whether you are write, paint, act is art and it must be shared and supported.  Enjoy!!

http://www.camaspostrecord.com/news/2012/sep/04/09-04-hometown-art-group/

(Yay! Mom!!)

Until next time.

Laura

Yes, I am being lazy.  I am including a post from Debbie Ohi.  Read it. It is important.
http://kidlitartists.blogspot.ca/2010/09/how-rejection-got-me-book-deal-my.html

As for why I am being lazy... I am about to tackle totally rewriting my Middle Grade novel today.  All eyes forward and lets see where this ride takes me.

Until next time,
Laura

Check it out!!!!

http://debbieohi.com/boredbook

I am getting back into the groove and I am going to start with a post from a writer friend, Sigal Wilnai Tzoore.
LOL, it is an interview with me.  But, you should check it out and continue to follow her as you might just find something that will help you on your very own quest in publishing/writing.

https://www.facebook.com/sigal.tzoore/posts/347032165379648

Up next, interviews with illustrators.  Awesome illustrators I should say.  Stay tuned.!

Until next time,
Laura

I saw this post today on Hazel Mitchell's FB page and just had to sent it out to you.  Enjoy
http://www.writersdigest.com/whats-new/5-ways-to-balance-writing-and-life

Nothing new for me other than writing some fun new stuff and trying to stay above water while working/teaching kids all summer.  I am looking forward to the fall (only for the extra time to write, not the weather).  Until then- Laura

Not sure where they are all coming from, but last night as I was just nicely drifting off to sleep I got one whole new idea for a Picture Book as well as a fabulous new start for my Mid-Grade Novel. 
So I guess, even though the sun is shinning here in Seattle (which really let's be honest doesn't happen very often) I will be spending my time inside, writing.

Not complaining.  I am very jazzed about the new concept.  And I am also really jazzed about good news from my friend and awesome illustrator Russ Cox.  He just got some great news from an small publisher and is on his way to getting his fabulous book published.  I can't wait to see it all done up and on the shelves.  Maybe he will come on out to Seattle to do a book tour and we can all hang out and have a grand time.

So, on that note... I am off to work on the new concept.

Until next time-
Laura

Life has gotten really busy here in Seattle, WA.  With my new job, I find myself teaching 9 hours a day and after 50 kids a day, when I get home I do not have the energy to do anything other than eat and go to bed.  So, how can I still feed my creativity?  How can I possibly get anywhere with my writing.

Here is my plan of action.  I am going to use my "twilight" (no not the vampire books) state of mind to work through some new ideas.  Instead of writing and rewriting to find the right place for these ideas I am going to let my unconscious mind work with my conscious mind.  How you might ask.  I would love to say that I keep a journal.  But I don't.  I do have an app on my phone where I keep random thoughts.  I revisit these from time to time.  And I find that the idea's that are the strongest tend to stick around.  I also find that I can do a guided meditation into sleep and begin the night working on a story idea, let my dreaming take over and when I wake in the morning have a new perspective on the project.

I am currently working on a new idea.  I am letting the characters spend some time with my unconscious before I start really pinning them down to paper.  And this is really exciting.  The character is growing beautifully, humor and sensitivities all bundled up nicely.

So now that I have time this week, I can start working him into an actual story.  I am excited.

This week is also a time I plan to send out some more submissions to agencies.  Fingers crossed something finds a home and I can really get to work on one or two little projects.

So on that note.  Off I go.  First to clean my space, then to get down to business.  Ever thankful that I am getting this week to write.  What a gift.

Until next time,
Laura

I really hope that at some point I look back on all of these rejection letters and a sense of humor and humility, for now, they just hurt.  At least this most recent one that arrived at 8:30 am on a Monday morning was a personal email reply.  I guess that is progress.  Doesn't really feel like it.

My poor little characters, they so want to go out and make friends.  They want an artist to make them dance and pull them off the page.  They want little kids to giggle and daydream about them, and the stories, they just want to be read over and over and over again.

I have to keep in mind that some day, some day these things may happen.  But for now, the characters are known by only a precious few and the stories have only been read a couple of time by someone other than me.

So I started out my day, two sips into my lovely English Breakfast cup of tea by reading:

So, May has been full of so much other than writing, yet... I am still moving ahead and have just sent two submissions out in the last two weeks.  There have been some major frustrations.
The first being at my last critique group meeting we went over one of my new stories.  And the retired librarian informed me that I might have a problem.  Not with the story, she loved that, with the fact that it reminded her of an old children's book she used to read.

I was crushed.  I went on-line and looked up the book.  There are some similar parts, but the characters and the story arch's are different.  So now what?  Well I have gone back and changed some major things, but I still fear that the cute little story might have to sit on the shelf for a while.  I need to figure out how to rework the manuscript to make it outshine any possibility of impropriety.  

It was interesting looking at the older story.  Very much shaped by it's time.  I was really interested in how serious the story was, wrapped in a softness. 

So for now, work towards some new material and let the unconscious deal with the other story.

Until next time-
Laura

I woke this morning to a barrage of posts on Facebook and found that while I was dreaming, warm and safely tucked under covers and curled up cats a great man left this world.  I am of course sad that he will not be creating more for us, but I am beyond grateful and as always inspired by his perspective, his joy and more than anything his unique imagination unfettered by social norms or unwritten guidelines. 

Maurice Sendak dies...

It is a sad day indeed.  And as I read the article in the Seattle Time, front page and with great pictures- I was struck by something he said- 

(Sendak's brother joined the military, relatives overseas were captured and killed. Storytelling, after the Holocaust, became something more than play.)
"It forced me to take children to a level that I thought was more honest than most people did," he says. "Because if life is so critical, if Anne Frank could die, if my friend could die, children were as vulnerable as adults, and that gave me a secret purpose to my work, to make them live. Because I wanted to live. I wanted to grow up."

We all have such power in our hearts and heads.  And all of us in one way or another carry an immeasurable about of creativity.  So lets share it.  Let's dance with our inner Monsters, let's hop in a boat to untold adventures.  Let's celebrate the energy that joy and living life feeds to us.

(for the entire article you can visit- http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/entertainment/2018163076_apusobitmauricesendak.html

I came across this today- an illustrator friend of mine posted this and I had to chuckle a few times, so I thought I would share it with you.  From the brain of Russ Cox- Enjoy

http://smilingotis.blogspot.com/2012/05/interview-with-me.html


-Laura

I am sharing these because they are creative and inspire.  Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSKyHmjyrkA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CufN43By79s

And other than reworking "Blue and Yellow" today and building a miniature golfer out of Legos- that is my day.

Cheers,
Laura

So today I had my meeting with my critique group- there were only two of us today.  But I felt more inspired and charged after this meeting that the SCBWI conference last week.  Not that the conference wasn't good- I learned a lot- but I felt drained and uninspired afterward.
Not so today.  Today I charged ahead.  And I have some good bites into some fun projects and I am excited about where I am.

So Yay!  And I am going to leave it at that.

Now onto the great wisdom from fabulous writers.  Here is an interview with Stephen King done by Neil Gaiman.  Enjoy!  I know I did.

http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2012/04/popular-writers-stephen-king-interview.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Until next time-
Laura

While looking through the Seattle Times yesterday I stumbled upon this little story and had to chuckle.
I am pass it on to you now so you can also chuckle and enjoy.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2018071785_uwsurplus26m.html

On another fun note- Today I was doing my morning Facebook browse when I ran across Hazel Mitchell's post. I feel in love with the art and thought I would share it with you.  I don't know about your, but I feel inspired to write a little something for this image.  There is such really great stuff out there!  Hard not to be inspired.  Enjoy.

http://networkedblogs.com/wUCnz?ref=nf

Until next time-
Laura

While I am percolating on a few new ideas and resetting my mind to go in and really revamp some old pieces I turned to another avenue for creativity.  Photography.  Here are some recent works.

So much to say.  First the fantastic news, not mine personally, but great news none the less.
Across the country some of my friends were attending their very own SCBWI conference and you know what... they totally rocked it out.

Check it out-
http://smilingotis.blogspot.com/2012/04/mother-goose-again.html

and
http://pixelshavings.blogspot.com/

So Yay! Yay! to Russ Cox and Hazel Mitchell

I have to say, it makes my heart stronger to see people with such passion succeed. It gives me hope for my own journey and softens the blows that knocked me off my feet this weekend at my conference.

The Western Washington SCBWI conference was yet another step hopefully in the right direction for me.  I have some great comments to work from even if they keep me up over many sleepless nights as I process them.

I have a greater understanding of what I need to do to accomplish my goals for picture books.  My main goals are to make them less tell, more show.  To get the character our FAST.  To get the story started RIGHT AWAY.  To make everything unique, to LIMIT my dialogue and to keep the work count down to 600 words.

For my Middle Grade Novel I am going to add more depth to the main characters. I am going to do back ground writing for each and work that into the body of the story and I am going to start it in a different place.

There is more, much much more.  But as I said, "I am still processing things."

Some books that were mentioned over and over again:
Ra Ra Radishes
The Lemonade war
LMNO Peas
The Chocolate War
I want my hat back

And there are more, but I am going to leave the list here for now.
OK, onward and upward and more Delete button.

Until next time,
Laura

Sent my way by means of a FB friend.  Enjoy.

http://katiedavis.com/how-to-publish-a-poetry-e-book-in-7-simple-steps/

Cheers,
Laura

This weekend is the SCBWI's Western Washington Writer's Conference.
And I have a one on one consultation with an editor (if you remember, for Martin the Mouse- only the first 5 pages)

So, other than doing my best to learn my new job and be on it for classes on Wednesday and Friday as well as teaching little munchkins how to fence on Tuesday and Thursday- I will be preparing for the conference.

My friend and editor has Martin in her grips right now and promises to get it done by tomorrow, which gives me some time to work on it before Saturday.

Also, I am IN LOVE with a new concept I started writing just last week and I hope to spend some time on in today and maybe even a little tomorrow.  Luckily it is raining out again, so I won't be tempted by the ever elusive sunshine out here in the Pacific Northwest.

So there you have it, the week in a nutshell.

When I have more to report or share I promise to be back.
Until then-
Laura

Check it out-
http://www.right-writing.com/child.html

I found the Middle Grade Novel very insightful.

On the Martin the Mouse front- I did IT!  I managed to get through editing the now 105 pages AND ship it off to some new readers, one of whom has already made some great headway.  She is a skilled reader/editor and has a toddler so is looking for future reading, plus she is in the arts and is very creative.  The other person who offered to read has not gotten back to me yet, but I am sure I will hear something soon.

As for my editor helper she is on it, but hasn't gotten back to me yet.

So, for fun I am going to post the one reply I have received thus far, and it goes as follows-

Enjoy.  I knew Janet way back when her son fenced before they moved to the east coast.  Can't believe he is soon to be graduating... Time sure flies.

http://www.teachingauthors.com/2012/04/interview-with-poet-janet-wong-book.html

-Laura