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This is one writer's journey to become a published Children's Author. Join the adventure of writing, editing, rejection and ultimately publication. This blog is written honestly from a daily perspective and is woven into the writer's life with its ups and downs.
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Next conference is on the weekend of April 19-21!
Things I need to get done before that weekend- Get as much of Martin the Mouse reworked as possible.
Life interuptus- I got a job, finally. So now I am going to have to juggle teaching fencing, the new job and writing. I think if I build out a schedule for myself I will be OK with it all.
This is my plan. I will let you know how it works. But, one thing I know- I will not have as much time to blog. I promise to keep up on the blog and I promise to share anything I have learned along the way, but I do not think that I will be blogging every day of the work week, as I have been trying to do.
None the less this new job involves teach kids engineering/physics using Lego's. I have a good feeling that many new fun stories will present themselves in this setting so stay tuned!
Until next time-
Laura
So, the critique was good. I am very happy with 'Sky and Sparrow' now and plan on sending it out this week.
The new tool I discovered- a rhyming dictionary!!! Why didn't I even try to look for this when I was struggling for rhymes??? Well, I am enlightened now. So check it out, so many to choose from!
http://www.rhymezone.com/
http://www.rhymer.com/
http://www.writeexpress.com/online.html
http://www.poetry4kids.com/rhymes
So there you go! Enjoy, that is if you didn't already know about it *grin*
So off I go to try and put a new package together for a publisher!
Until next time-
Laura
And I have one offering and I am uncomfortably nervous about this one. Why? I think because I am done with it and I really don't want to go back and rework and rework and rework it. Time for something new and very much time to go back into 'Martin the Mouse' and rework it so I can walk away from it for a while.
No news from any of my submissions. But I think what I will do with 'Sky and Sparrow' is send it out to one of my 'pass go and collect $200' non slush pile conference submissions. I only have one left for Picture Books from the New York Conference, but I feel pretty good about the story.
Plus, this week is the birthday for two lovely little girls, Sky and Sparrow my little Fairy Goddess Daughters and I intend to "make" them the book as their present.
For this week, finish projects and start new ones. And maybe get some good reading in along the way as I inch closer to the next conference.
Good Luck to you all on your Monday and the rest of your week!
Until later-
Laura
I got to enjoy Shel Silverstein's 'The Missing Piece' this weekend and I have to say, it is so brilliant. So simple, so well done, perfect.
As for the next Lemony Snicket I will try and pick it up later this week.
I think this week I am going to focus on writing, when I can. Going to have my parent's visiting from the middle of the week until Saturday. So, other than today and part of Wednesday I am going to be limited on writing/editing time.
Plus, my editing brain has gone somewhere and hidden itself. I REALLY REALLY want to get Martin the Mouse farther along, but until my brain and creativity are back in full view, there isn't anyway I am going to make progress.
For something fun to read check out this journal from Neil Gaiman-
http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2012/03/some-thoughts-on-writing-and-driving-in.html
Until next time-
Laura
OK, I sat outside (actually in the sun with real warmth) and read a couple of books this morning.
Let me start with the book I finished the morning at 6 am after I woke up but couldn't fall back asleep and it was too cold to actually get out of bed.
It was the first book from the Series of Unfortunate Events "The Bad Beginning" by Lemony Snicket.
First, love the name, all of them.
This was a really fun (well tortured fun) read. The voice is strong, funny, witty in a very nice tongue and cheek manner, and I loved and very much felt for each of the three children as well as despised the Count. I would read this to a child in the Middle Grade years. I love it because there is a nice learning of language in it for example the use in discussion about "literally" and "figuratively", fabulous! The manner in which the author addresses these more adult words is seamless and very smart.
So, yay for getting my hands on this one. I will do my best to extricate another book from the series from my Library, which may figuratively be like pulling teeth. But I will give it my best shot.
Now, for my sunshine reads-
Lafcadio- The lion who shot back by Shel Silverstein. OK, I am sure at some point growing up someone read this book to me, but I didn't remember and as such I rather enjoyed reading it as an adult. Quirky and bright with great dialogue, what fun! Who doesn't like a little Shel Silverstein in their morning?
The last book I started, but could not finish was part of the "Warriors" series.
The book in question was 'Code of the Clans' by Erin Hunter.
I just couldn't get into this one. I didn't love the voice, found that I felt talked down to as I read it and I did not feel any connection to the characters. But, this isn't the first book in the series (I tried to get it at the aforementioned library to no avail) so maybe at some point I should go back and start at the beginning.
So, while the sun is still shining. I think I am going to run back over to the library and see if I can get my hands on the next Lemony Snicket.
Have a wonderful weekend.
Until next time-
Laura
Kicking around new idea's I started thinking about a new novel idea so I decided to play with voice. Here is the first attempt. Not sure what if anything will be done with it but I feel really going about writing it. Enjoy-
"Finding Home"
In dreams, if you head north to Alaska trusting the stars to guide you, you will find a twisting and winding river lost within a forest near the Tanana Valley somewhere between Nenana and just north of Denali. Let your fingers trace the river as it runs looping, curving, twisting back and forth towards itself then back out again into the forest, eventually finding its way through the valley and under the branches of a lovely but forgotten place.
A simple lack of desire, a cold and wet winter extended day and two sleeping cats are my companions for the morning. Seems like most mornings lately. Well, at least the cats like to be close and share their warmth. It’s quiet here, finally a place that is quiet. Seems like the only interruptions these days are the wind and rain against the windows and the wall heater turning itself off and on, a little more often than it did when we first moved in.
“I so need some sunshine.” The words bounce hollowly against the walls and get swallowed up by the lofty ceiling. And the cats, well they as always seem unempathetic or disinterested in anything I say. I mean it’s not like I would take them with me to the beach if it were sunny, so I can’t say I really blame them for their detachment.
I wonder how much is going to change… and when it will change… if it changes. Is it really strange how we came to our current state of being? A simple coin flip and 4 years and a lot of experiences later and we are here; me an unemployed writer with dreams and a Martin an unhappy project manager with an all-encompassing side project that may or may not ever pay off for all of his time and energy.
I love him. I love him down to his annoying need push his emotions away until he can’t deny them anymore, then embraces them with full acceptance. I love him for his unconditionally selfless generous heart. And I love him because he fills in the quiet parts of life with endless odd facts and history.
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Reading kids mid grade books should be way more fun that it actually is. I have been making my way through two of the books I recently picked up at the Library, "Friends- Snake and Lizard" and "Toys Go Out" and I have to say, they seem very choppy. They jump around from the overall plot in a lot of disjointed ways. And the characters just don't seem approachable or real.
So far it feels like reading fleshed out picture books, only most pictures books that I have encountered lately have much stronger characters. I am finding this all very strange. And I hope that as I try the third and fourth book that this current state of dissatisfaction doesn't effect all mid grade novels.
It is a Monday, and other than going back and re editing my 'Sky and Sparrow' story to make the rhyming better, more fluid, I haven't gotten much accomplished.
Tomorrow I have another SCBWI meeting in the evening and by next week I need to have my "First Pages" out in the mail for the April Conference, other than that I feel like I am rudderless and floating here and there. Maybe this means I am about to have one heck of a great new brainstorm. Oh if wishes were horses.
I think I am going to leave Monday like this and hope that my day tomorrow, my wonderful Tuesday will bring me much success.
Until then,
Laura
Ah, the sun was shining. The wind was reminding me that in fact no, Mother Nature was not totally done with winter and there I was, walking to the Library.
On this trip I picked up four new books (new to me). All mid-grade 120-185 pages. Two are from the same author- Carolyn Haywood- 'Two and Two are Four and Here's a Penny. Harcourt Young Classics is the publisher for both.
The third books is called "Friends Snakes and Lizard written and illustrated by Joy Cowley and Gavin Bishop published by Gecko Press.
The fourth and last little book is "Toys Go Out" by Emily Jenkins and illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky and published by Scwartz and Wade Books.
So while I try and write and edit today I think I might grab a warm jumper and my sunglasses and head out to the deck to do some reading (research).
I promise to report back on the books as soon as I have read them.
Until then- over and out.
Laura
I ran across this article yesterday on NPR. I loved it. I thought maybe you would enjoy it as well. Then afterward maybe you would have your own 'inside-out' moment and create something new. Enjoy!
http://www.npr.org/blogs/krulwich/2012/03/02/147825237/inside-out-your-mind?sc=fb&cc=fp
OMG! The sun, she is shining! Amazing. I am sure that that lovely energy will hurdle me forward into major productiveness.
Let's see where the day goes. Enjoy the link.
Cheers,
Laura
I kid you not. Read this (half way down the blog page). It will help you.
I am going to pour over it more before I send out another submission. Enjoy!!
http://susanhawk.blogspot.com/
Sorry for the short but sweet posting for today. It's Monday, maybe you won't notice.
-Laura
OK So I have found some great resources. Enjoy!
I am going back to writing for the day. But these might be of an interest to you.
The first one is about the 'Middle Grade novel'
http://10blockwalk.blogspot.com/2012/02/lets-talk-about-middle-grade.html
The second is an interview that a Picture Book writer did with a Picture Book agent. It includes some great answers to questions such as:
Why do you choose to represent picture book authors?
What elements do you think a picture book needs to be successful?
What types of stories strike your fancy?
What mistakes do you see in submissions in general, picture book submissions in particular?
There is such a variety picture books, are there certain types you prefer to (or not to) represent?
http://www.linkedin.com/news?viewArticle=&articleID=5580673667437695066&gid=67346&type=member&item=98186735&articleURL=http%3A%2F%2Ffrolickingthroughcyberspace.blogspot.com%2F2012%2F02%2Fagent-susan-hawk-talks-picture-books.html&urlhash=uvyz&goback=.gde_67346_member_98186735
Cheers,
Laura
Find a writing buddy! After doing a load of laundry, the dishes, playing with the cats and cleaning the kitchen my writing buddy arrived. She worked on her stuff and I worked on mine, and at the end of the day I wrote 12 pages, edited 30!
Short and sweet, but a good idea.
Just so you don't feel let down by the little quantity of this post I am including some inspirational and interesting quotes about writing. Enjoy
"Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great."
Mark Twain
"Experience is one thing you can't get for nothing."
Oscar Wilde
"Imagination grows by exercise, and contrary to common belief, is more powerful in the mature than in the young."
W. Somerset Maugham
"There are times when quantity is at least as important as quality in learning an art."
Lawrence Watt-Evans
"Writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can see only as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way."
E.L. Doctorow
"Work is love made visible. And if you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work and sit at the gate of the temple and take alms of those who work with joy."
Kahlil Gibran
"Good writing is supposed to evoke sensation in the reader—not the fact that it is raining, but the feeling of being rained upon."
E.L. Doctorow
"Art is not a handicraft. It is the transmission of a feeling which the artist has experienced."
Leo Tolstoy
"He is able who thinks he is able."
Buddha
"Great ability develops and reveals itself increasingly with every new assignment."
Baltasar Gracian
"Becoming the reader is the essence of becoming a writer."
John O'Hara
I am off to do some more writing today. Until the next time-
Laura
You know, some time last night, not sure when- it was dark after all, I know that much- I had a great idea for my Martin the Mouse story. I have been struggling with it to sharpen parts and BOOM, there it was an idea. Now, most writers keep a notebook or recorder next to their bed for such moments. Me... well I used to and really... I should again. But I don't, not currently. I have devised this silly idea that if I repeat the idea to myself three time before I fall back asleep, and wake up in the morning remembering it, then it was meant to be and go forth and work on the idea.
Crazy I know. I don't recommend it. For me it seems to work, not sure why. Maybe because my unconscious knows it is not written down it works on the idea over the course of the night. Not sure. None the less- yes- last night I had an idea and you know what. I woke up this morning with it still fresh in my mind.
So now, after my yogurt and my cup of tea and OK, one of my recorded TV shows watched, I am going to tackle it with great vigor.
So enough about my strange habits. I posted something yesterday and I am not sure you really looked/read/watched it all. So I am going to paste a portion of the Steinbeck interview for another viewing because I think it is really important. Enjoy and really let it sit with you a while.
1. Abandon the idea that you are ever going to finish. Lose track of the 400 pages and write just one page for each day, it helps. Then when it gets finished, you are always surprised.
2. Write freely and as rapidly as possible and throw the whole thing on paper. Never correct or rewrite until the whole thing is down. Rewrite in process is usually found to be an excuse for not going on. It also interferes with flow and rhythm which can only come from a kind of unconscious association with the material.
3. Forget your generalized audience. In the first place, the nameless, faceless audience will scare you to death and in the second place, unlike the theater, it doesn’t exist. In writing, your audience is one single reader. I have found that sometimes it helps to pick out one person–a real person you know, or an imagined person and write to that one.
4. If a scene or a section gets the better of you and you still think you want it–bypass it and go on. When you have finished the whole you can come back to it and then you may find that the reason it gave trouble is because it didn’t belong there.
5. Beware of a scene that becomes too dear to you, dearer than the rest. It will usually be found that it is out of drawing.
6. If you are using dialogue–say it aloud as you write it. Only then will it have the sound of speech.
Until Next time,
Laura
I treat! I gift to you, as it was gifted to me by a good friend Rachel. Enjoy.
http://www.openculture.com/2012/02/john_steinbecks_nobel_prize_speech_and_his_six_tips_for_the_aspiring_writer.html
Again- “As you write,” Steinbeck says, “trust the disconnections and the gaps. If you have written what your eye first saw and you are stopped, see again. See something else. Take a leap to another image. Don’t require of yourself that you understand the connection. Some of the most brilliant things that happen in fiction occur when the writer allows what seems to be a disconnected image to lead him or her away from the line that was being taken.”
Until next time-
Laura
But that is no excuse to forgo the blog. But, I am going to cheat a little. My friend Russ shared this on Facebook this morning. I am going to pass it along to you.
So back I go into the kitchen. Hopefully I will get back to editing later today.
-Laura
It has been a very busy week trying to get a manuscript prepped for the next conference. I just returned from the Post Office so there, it is out of my hands. You should know that I ended up choosing 'The Adventure's of Martin the Mouse' for my one on one consultation.
Now I have until Friday to get the first 5 chapters off to HarperCollins for a non slushpile submission. Again it will be Martin as that editor didn't not want any picture books.
But, again I will soon have another deadline for the SCBWI Northwest conference breathing down my neck. Luckily because it took me so long to decide which piece would be submitted for the one on one, they are both ready to go out. I just need to print them and mail them. I will do that next week.
Man, it feels good to send out a manuscript. And I feel really good sending out the one I did. I guess I should start working on cleaning up some of my other pieces next. Get them ready for the next critique session and see how many more things I can get out for submission.
I want to Thank ALL of my readers/editors for their help these last couple of weeks. There is no way I would have sent out as good of a piece without you.
So, until next time-
Laura
This has a lot more to do with illustrating a character, but I think you can still apply some of the information to the process of writing a good character.
Enjoy! From John Lechner
http://kidlitart.blogspot.com/2012/02/guest-post-john-lechner-on-character.html
Just finished up with my first local critique session. It was good. But they didn't help me pick which piece to push through to the one on one manuscript session for the April conference.
None the less, I am about to start editing again. The 24th deadline Looms above my head like an anvil so I guess I better get done and done, quickly.
Until later,
Laura
She is posting some great stuff and I just have to share. Talk about being in the right place at the right time.
http://publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-book-news/article/50654-want-to-get-published-take-the-f-train.html
It's Friday. My brain is no where near feeling creative and I am recovering from a friendly rake over the hot coals of editing on my Moose Story, so honestly. I don't think I am going to make any progress today.
As a writer, today I am giving myself permission to not write, to not edit and maybe to just clean the house and go for a walk. May, though the light is not good, I will take my camera and do some photography instead.
I think I need to sit with the edits a bit. I very much mourn the loss of some great lines and some beautiful images before I can move forward.
I am supposed to have my first critique meeting with my very own group on Monday. Just in time to send in my stuff for review for the April conference here in the Greater Seattle area. There, that's it.
Have a great weekend. I hope your way more creative than I feel today.
Until next time,
Laura
I sure hope Hazel doesn't mind. But her blog today was great so I thought I would pass it on to you.
http://networkedblogs.com/u30ok
Enjoy.
Cheers,
Laura
It is all very boring today in the land of Laura, all editing and some sunshine (well that isn't boring).
So I thought I would cheat and send you to a friends blog for the day. Enjoy! He is an awesome illustrator and a funny guy. Yay for Russ Cox and his group from Pixel Shavings.
http://pixelshavings.blogspot.com/2012/02/gladys-and-her-cat-by-russ-cox.html
Cheers,
Laura
Well, they should be duct taped upside down on a wall and tickled, mercilessly.
Today I am struggling with age appropriate level of detail and wording. What a pain!
It is all about simple. Simple. Simple.
And like my master's thesis, I thought I started out simple, but darn if I didn't find myself 350 pages of complicated at the end.
Time to get back to the drawing board and pull the concept bare.
Until next time.
-Laura
I am sitting at my dinning table. The sun, an anemic version of it's self illuminating the windows, and even though it is kind of chilly it feels warm to me. Why? It's the Complete and Unabridged version of Kenneth Grahme's 'Wind in the Willows', open to the first pencil drawing by Michael Foreman.
This over-sized book, it's playful illustrations scattered here and there and characters filling each page makes any place warmer. And I can't wait to turn the next page.
There, deeper into the book is color. Simple robins flying upward towards the right top corner of the page, then... The Table of Contents in large type, illustrations leading you from one chapter to the next.
This books is fantastic, it has that imagination of innocence that starts out simple and then blossoms with color and life. And part of me wants to tell Mom that I am sick today so that I can sit on the couch under a fuzzy blanket with a hot chocolate and maybe some chicken soup and while away the day reading.
Well, I am old enough that I don't need to play the sick card. Even so, as I sit in a quiet house master of my own day, it feels indulgently forbidden to pour another cup of tea, grab that fuzzy blanket and turn another page.
How wonderful! How amazing that a book can evoke such a response. A timeless response full of joy and adventure and pureness.
This, this feeling. This timelessness of joy, of story and character, of color, humor and adventure, this is what I am striving for for Martin the Mouse. And, I am thrilled I got the chance to transport myself back to this place.
So, yes... Read lots when you are a writer. It helps you get out of your own head. It helps you understand in a way that wasn't even in your consciousness. And above all it brings you hope. Sure, there are many stories, books (the other mouse story I read last week being one of them) that fall flat. But, there are always a few that will take you where you need to go.
So, with that I will struggle today in my adult state of responsibility- to read or to work and write.
I will let you know who won out tomorrow.
Until then,
Laura
It is a strange thing to work from home every day. Well, and when I say work, I mean work but for no money. I mean work by way of pouring one's heart and soul out for no one but a few readers. I mean work by keeping all of the other bits of your life, your house and another other loose ends that need care, cared for so that to anyone outside of the house it is all seamless.
Being a writer is hard. It has hard for a lot of reasons- I mean writing is hard, creating is fun, but editing is tough, on the heart the mind and the soul. Being a writer is hard because you have to ignore everything else and focus. Never mind the cat box. Never mind the dirty dishes in the sink or and the laundry. Let's not go anywhere near the laundry. Being a writer is even harder when you aren't published, when you don't have an agent. Why? Because really other than files on files in your computer, edits on edits marked out on pages, we have nothing to show for our work. No validation.
Going to a social function is the worst.
"So what do you do???"
Boy do I hate that question. "Oh, I write children's stories."
"Really?!! Have you been published? Have I read any of them?"
"No, but the piece I am working on right now is a hoot!"
Uggg, the worst.
Lately I have been laughing all of that off. I thinking about Harry Chapin and his line at the end of the song '30 thousand pounds of banana's'. He talks about how his brother hates the ending, so he goes back to his lonely writers garret to rewrite.
Here if you don't know it- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODMye94wMfk&feature=related
Thinking about that, always makes me feel less like a looser. And thinking about that, one can't help but run through the song and laugh. Because, well it is a sad but funny song.
I am not sure why today I needed to write all of this out. Maybe because after a week of being alone all day every day, stuck in a house with two crazy cats, I needed to vent. Or maybe because I needed to self medicate with words and realize that even though I am not published, I am still being productive. Whatever the reason, there it is, its done.
So, here I go, off to do some more writing and doing my best to ignore the cats.
Until next time-
Laura
But... I don't mind. Making progress is a good thing.
I have picked up a couple of books for the Library.
'Christopher Mouse The tale of a small traveler' by William Wise -Bloomsbury
'Lucia and the Light' by Phyllis Root - Candlewick Press
'My friend Rabbit' by Eric Rohmann a Caldecott winner- Roaring Book Press
'Doomwyte' by Brian Jaques (of Redwall fame)- Philomel Books a devision of Penguin
An a classic 'Wind in the Willows' by Kenneth Grahame- Harcourt Inc.
I can totally get through the picture books quickly, Wind in the Willows and Doomwyte may take me a little while.
I plan to set aside at least two hours of reading a day. It is time that I caught up with the reading that I need to do to become a better writer.
Now all of that business aside. You should know that I have gotten more editing notes back. This time it was for the Zoo bowling piece. The editor really likes the concept and the flow of the story. I am about to dive into her comments but before all of that inspiration hit me last night, during of all things my 4 mile workout. So I feel compelled to see that through before I get all nitty and gritty with editing mind.
That's all for today. More later.
-Laura
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