Here are some of my left over drawings from ILL 699 Character Design for Children's Book Class (and scary slasher one from Eli Harris' Clothed Figure Class). They are all about 10 minute poses.
I loved teaching the course, and can't wait till the next term. I'll post up some of the best work from the students on the AAU Children's Book blog soon.
By: Gail Gauthier,
on 5/20/2013
My May Days project involves coming up with an outline for a book I've been thinking about writing for, maybe, ten years. I got started with research and a few notes twice. But with my last few writing projects, I've been trying to get away from the organic writer thing and do more pre-writing plotting. So that's what's happening this month.
Sometime before I wrote my last, for the time being, unpublished book, I invested in a copy of Plot & Structure by James Scott Bell. As a result, I've been very interested in plots starting with a disturbance to the main character's world. I really don't care for the give characters a problem thing that I've heard so much about, but a disturbance to their world makes all the sense in the world to me. In fact, that's how almost all my books began before I'd even heard anything about disturbing a world. Disturbing people may come naturally to me.
Needless to say, that's how my May Days project is starting, with a disturbance.
Looking at my Plot & Structure notes this morning, I saw that Bell talks about plot patterns. I have three significant characters, and I'm going to try to give each one of them a different pattern, which is more or less their goal. For instance, one character's plot pattern/goal is revenge, the second's is a quest, and the third's is what Bell calls "one apart"--a loner who is forced to act.
Now, sometime in the past I found the following story structure at a website called Storyfix:
Think in terms of four-parts to your plot.
Part 1. Set up.
Part 2. Collecting information. Either the author, or the protagonist Some people will talk about complications at this point in a story, but as an organic writer, that leaves me wondering “What complications? Where am I supposed to get those?” Sending my character out to collect more information about what’s happening to her or her world, makes more sense to me and it’s phrased dynamically.
Mid-point—Plot Twist or maybe where Protagonist Changes
Part 3 Protagonist uses information
Part 4 Ending
I like that structure because it is so simple. And it tells me what to do. And it is a structure, not a formula, like the give-your-character-something-to-want-and-then-keep-it-from-her thing that I have also heard a lot of in the past.
So this is what I'm working on this month with my May Days project.
By: Rebecca (Becky) Fjelland Davis,
on 5/21/2013
Internet has been sketchy and none have my posts have worked, but we are inSouth Africa!
This is out breakfast, view in Somerset West.
By: Alan Dapré,
on 5/20/2013
Life is different when you have a child. It means finally growing up and taking responsibility for someone else. Someone who needs love, affection and to be shown the right developmental path. You want a well rounded, caring, thoughtful, enquiring, … Continue reading
As of November 20, 2012 (that is, Midnight Eastern Time tonight) I am closed to queries. I will reopen to queries January 7, 2013.
If I already have your work, you should hear from me by January 7. (That's the point of taking the break, I have to catch up!)
By: Stacey Shubitz,
on 5/20/2013
By: Tara Chang,
on 5/20/2013
By: Tanya,
on 5/21/2013
SIGNED BY ZELDA is now in paperback! Kate Feiffer's Signed by: Zelda (with wonderful cover art by Kelly Murphy) is her second novel for young readers and comes on the heels of nine pictures books, four of which are illustrated by her father, the great Jules Feiffer. Besides her own great track record as a children's book author and her wonderful lineage, I was intrigued by Signed by:
By: Stephanie Roth Sisson,
on 5/20/2013
Often when I'm working, I listen to This American Life. This week's show turned out to be a foreshadowing of today's huge tornado in Oklahoma. This is SO worth a listen, please listen.
.jpeg?picon=3498)
By: Cait,
on 5/21/2013
Running is a crazy, paradoxical, numerical-obsessedo, backwards world.
Just when you don’t think you can run another step, you push through five more minutes, then instantly you feel like your legs have transformed into two totally different running entities. You go on for miles.
The first interval for a runner can sometimes feel like the worst. That’s where the nerves are, getting started.
Races are even crazier, poised at the line, in the seconds before the gun is about to CRACK you feel certain if they take any longer to fire it you’ll explode. Then, CRACK, and the whole world slips away.
“Back to those intervals…ya, suckers say the hardest is the first one…plowing through miler number three of five HAS to be more painful,” you think.
You then say, “Legs, don’t worry, this is the last interval we have to so…promise.” You say that after every one. Until you finish. Scr##w honesty.
Funny how a running partner that you train with feels like a war partner. You come to know them so well, read their breathing and stride as well as your own. You become intrinsically linked in the shared quest for your best.
Easy days can feel like the epitome of hypocrisy sometimes.
Out of nowhere getting blessed with one of THOSE days is a special kind of euphoria a runner never forgets.
The good days, the slog runs, the meh ones, the mentally tough workouts you’re proud of, the long runs that you wish never end…all of it. It’s crazy stuff. But it’s runner crazy and we wouldn’t have it any other way.
1) Just before you start a race, what makes you feel confident on the line?
2) Best lie you’ve told yourself/legs to get through a workout?
3) One of THOSE days, how many do you think a runner gets?
By: Ronica Stromberg,
on 5/20/2013
I recently took a full-time position as a proofreader for an accounting firm. Proofreading financial reports differs from the type of proofreading I’ve done in the past, but I’m learning a lot and enjoying it.
Over my writing career, I’ve discovered the importance of remaining flexible to making a living from writing. The writer who has diversified talents is better able to weather changes in the economy and workforce than a one-skill wonder.
Some writers choose to work a full-time job outside the writing field for better financial security. They may find a nonwriting job drains their creativity less than a writing job does, giving them the energy and enthusiasm to write in their spare time.
Proofreading work is a good fit for me because it draws little from my creativity but keeps me current and my writing mechanics sharp.
By: Cindy R. Williams,
on 5/20/2013
By Sparkin
Not sure what Squiggy Time is? It is when you have the wiggles and nothing, and I mean NOTHING will help you stop wiggling until you get up and dance around. Does this ever happen to you? It happens pretty much every day to me. No worries though, we dragons are good dancers! How about you?
Posted on 5/20/2013
Last year was the Patrick White centenary, and among the highlights surrounding that was the posthumous publication (in Australia and the UK) of a novel he had begun in 1981 but left unfinished.
Now Picador has brought out a US edition (as a beautiful little (i.e. appropriately -- more mass-market than trade -- sized) French-flapped paperback original) of The Hanging Garden -- and my review of it is the most recent addition to the complete review.
It got good but not great critical attention in the UK (a lot of papers skipped it), but it's great to see that US coverage begins with a bang: apparently the cover-review of the coming (26 May) issue of The New York Times Book Review will be John Sutherland's take on the novel.
(White has been critically and, especially, popularly neglected in recent years, and only a few of his titles are still in print (barely any in the US) -- but it wasn't always quite like that: recall that even something like The Twyborn Affair had been reviewed in, of all places, People (!) back in the day.)
As longtime readers know, I'm a huge fan of White -- a batch of nine reviews (rather thin ones, I'm afraid) of White titles were among the first fifty-odd to appear on the site, more than 14 years ago (yes, back in April 1999), and almost all of his work is now under review (I'm saving up The Tree of Man, for a last hurrah -- and I still need to get my hands on a copy of Happy Valley).
Unfinished and posthumous it may be, but The Hanging Garden is well worth your attention.
By: Kathy Temean,
on 5/20/2013
An annual prize for Young Adult and Children’s Literature. A chance for your YA and Children’s Lit to be read by Hunger Mountain editors and guest judges!
One overall first place winner receives $1,000 and publication! Three category winners receive $100 each and publication. The categories are
Anyone! Everyone!
Is there a fee to enter?Yes, the fee is $20.
Yes, it is 10,000 words. Your entry may be a short story or a novel excerpt, but if it’s a novel excerpt it should really stand alone.
The 2013 judge is Rebecca Stead, author of Liar and Spy and When You Reach Me, which won the Newbery Medal in 2010.
The postmark deadline is June 30th
The 2012 first place winner, “Crabcake Charlie,” a Middle Grade story by Sally Derby was published in Hunger Mountain 17: Labyrinths. (Order a copy here).
Other winners:
Yes! Please enter your original, unpublished piece under 10,000 words. Your entry may be a short story or a novel excerpt, but if it’s a novel excerpt it should really stand alone. Feel free to include a brief synopsis if your entry is a novel excerpt. Your name and address should not appear on the story; we read contest entries blind. Click the link below to access our online submission system. Once in the submission manager, you’ll need to choose “Katherine Paterson Prize” (scroll all the way to the bottom to find it!) Pay the $20.00 entry fee and upload your entry. Please include a cover letter in the comments section, letting us know what age group your piece is intended for: Enter the Katherine Paterson Prize
Yes! Please send one original, unpublished piece under 10,000 words. Your entry may be a short story or a novel excerpt, but if it’s a novel excerpt it should stand on its own. Feel free to include a brief synopsis along with your novel excerpt. Include a $20 entry fee. Make checks payable to “Vermont College of Fine Arts.” Entries should be postmarked by June 30th. Your name or address should not appear anywhere on the story itself (we read entries blind.) Instead, enclose an index card with story title, intended age group (YA? MG?), your name, address, phone number, and email address. You may also enclose an SASE (self addressed stamped envelope) for notification of winners. Entries should be typed, and on one side of the paper only. No staples please! Send entries to:
KPP Hunger Mountain Vermont College of Fine Arts 36 College Street Montpelier, VT 05602
Yes. This year for the first time, we’re allowing illustrations along with picture book manuscripts. These should be copies/pdfs only. PLEASE DO NOT SEND ORIGINAL ART! We’ll consider illustrated and unillustrated text for picture book entries.
If you submit by mail, send copies of art only. If you submit through Submittable, your entry should be a pdf.
Yes, it will. Several stories we publish have come from the Katherine Paterson Prize entries.
Yes. Enter as many as you like! But each entry needs its own entry fee.
Yes, but please let us know right away if your work is accepted elsewhere. And unfortunately we can’t refund entry fees if the work is accepted somewhere else.
You may. But your work will be evaluated alongside adult work. If you’re a serious writer, it’s okay with us if you enter the prize, just know this prize isn’t intended for teenagers or for children.
Email us at hungermtn@vcfa.edu
Maybe this is the year your manuscript will be ready to enter. If so, Good Luck!
Talk tomorrow,
Kathy
By: jordi jvs,
on 5/21/2013
By: Ruth Ayres,
on 5/20/2013
“Mom, you need to talk to Noah and tell him I need more cinnamon on my morning toast.” I raised my eyebrows at the first grader. “I doubt you need more. You already… Read More 
By: Ingrid Sundberg,
on 5/21/2013
Awhile ago I did an 8-part series on Plot to help me understand the differences between the terms: plot, story, and structure. (I’ve since revised some of my thoughts from that series when I did my grad lecture on story structure. More on that coming soon). But what I seem to find interesting is that no one seems to be able to agree on what plot is.
Sure, everyone sort of knows what plot is on a gut level, (and there’s plenty of overlap when writers discuss it), but there isn’t a concrete single definition. I think this is fascinating (and confusing), and oddly empowering. It means each of us gets to create our own personal definition of plot. We get to pick a definition that works for us!
I’ve begun to collect definitions of plot and I’ve shared my list below. Take a look through them and see if any resonate with you. Or maybe you’ll find you disagree with some (I sure do!). Perhaps some will confuse you, while others might help you consider plot in a whole new way! I’d love to know what you think.
As writers, we create our own philosophies about how we each define good writing and how the craft should be approached. Coming up with our own personal definition of plot is an interesting part of that journey. I’ve never found two writers who articulate it exactly the same way.
Here’s what some of my craft books, friends, and teachers have to say about plot:
“Plot is how the events in a story directly impact the main character.” - Martha Alderson
Story is: “The king died and then the queen died.” Plot is: “The king died and then the queen died of grief.” - E.M. Forster
“Story is what happens; plot is the structure of what happens.” - Cheryl Klein
“Plot is merely the mechanism by which your character is forced up against her deepest fears and desires.” - Margaret Bechard
“Plot is nothing more than the way you organize your story.” - Nancy Lamb
Plot is “merely one way of telling a story, by connecting the happenings tightly, usually through causal chains.” - Ursula Le Guin
“Story [is] what your novel is about. Plot [is] what happens within your story … Structure [is] how it’s organized.” - Sheryl Scarborough
“Plot is the arrangement of events that make up a story… Plot is the sequence of unfolding action. In examining plot we are concerned with causality, with how one action leads into or ties in with another.” – Chea Stephenson
“Plot is a system of actions.” – Susan Fletcher
Plot is “the under-the-surface weaving of various lines of action or sets of events so that the story builds steadily … It is a combination of what happens and how those events are revealed to the audience.” - John Truby
“Plot is not just what happens in a story. Rather, plot is a pattern of cause and effect or conflicts upsetting the equilibrium of a situation.” - Ron Layne and Rick Lewis
“Plots engage our capacity to understand motives and thus the logic of action.” - Roger Seamon
How do you define plot? I’d love to hear your personal definitions, thoughts, and ideas!
The above quotes come from the following sources: Alderson, Martha. The Plot Whisperer: Secrets of Story Structure Any Writer Can Master. Avon, MA: Adams Media, 2011. Print. Bechard, Margaret. Small Workshop Plot Handout. Vermont College of Fine Arts. 2012. Chea, Stephenson. “What’s the Difference Between Plot and Structure.” Associated Content. 16 Feb. 2010. Web. 7 May 2010. Forster, E.M. Aspects of the Novel. 1927. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1985. Print. Klein, Cheryl. “The Essentials of Plot.” CherylKlein.com. Web. Nov. 2012. Fletcher, Susan. Structure as Genesis. Faculty Lecture. Vermont College of Fine Arts. 2012. Lamb, Nancy. The Writer’s Guide to Crafting Stories for Children. Cincinnati, OH: Writer’s Digest Books, 2001. Print. Layne, Ron and Rick Lewis. “Plot, Theme, the Narrative Arc, and Narrative Patterns.” English and Humanities Department. Sandhill Community College. 11 Sept, 2009. Web. 7 May 2010. Le Guin, Ursula K. Steering the Craft: Exercises and Discussions on Story Writing for the Lone Navigator or the Mutinous Crew. Portland, OR: Eighth Mountain Press, 1998. Print. Scarborough, Sheryl. “Re: Laura’s (Way Late) Lecture Thread.” MFA Student Forum. Vermont College of Fine Arts. Web. Nov. 2012. Seamon, Roger. “The Price of Plot in Aristotle’s Poetics.” The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 64:2, Spring 2006. Ebsco Host. Web. 10 May 2011. Truby, John. The Anatomy of Story: 22 Steps to Becoming a Master Storyteller. 2007. New York: Faber and Faber, 2008. Print.
Put a dragon in a story and it’s an instant hit. This holds true in What Goes Up by author/illustrator Paula Bowles.
Martin the dragon is sad because he longs to fly but his wings are too small. He tries all sorts of ways to fly, but always comes down with a CRASH! It takes the village children to show Martin the importance of believing in yourself.
Bowles has created a charming book of a sad dragon who wishes to fly. His friendship with the village children plays a big role, so young children witness the importance of friends in helping a person–or in this case a dragon–reach his goals. What I like the most about What Goes Up is that there isn’t an easy resolution to the problem. It takes Martin many days of practice and exercise before his wings grow big enough to carry him.
The artwork you see on the front cover is similar to what is inside. Soft colors add comfort and sweetness to a delightful story. I’ll be looking for more of Bowles’ work.
Rating: 
Hardcover: 32 pages
Publisher: Tiger Tales (March 1, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1589251199
ISBN-13: 978-1589251199
I received a free hardcover of this book from the publisher. This review contains my honest opinions, for which I have not been compensated in any way.
.jpeg?picon=3068)
By: Cindy R. Williams,
on 5/20/2013
by Cindy R. Williams
Posted on 5/20/2013
They've announced that Gerbrand Bakker's The Detour (published in the US as Ten White Geese), translated by David Colmer, has won the 2013 Independent Foreign Fiction Prize.
(Interestingly, the Readers' Prize and the shadow iffp selection both went to other books.)
Ten White Geese (i.e. the US edition of The Detour) only came out in the US in 2013, so it wasn't eligible for the most recently (just a few weeks ago) awarded Best Translated Book Award (for 2012 titles), but will certainly be in the running next year.
In 2010 Bakker won the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award for The Twin, so he already has two of the major English-language international book awards under his belt -- impressive (though two other author have also managed this particular double: Orhan Pamuk and Per Petterson (the latter with the same book)).
By: Jerry Beck,
on 5/20/2013
This week we’re taking a look at some of the artists who contributed their artistry to the production of Blue Sky’s Epic, which opens in the United States on May 24th.
First up is Stephen P. Neary, a story artist at Blue Sky who has worked on two Ice Ages and Rio, in addition to Epic. He also creates his own short films such as Dr. Breakfast (embedded below) and Let’s Make Out, which you can find on his YouTube channel.
Stephen’s train commute provides daily sketchbook time and he shares a lot of drawings on his blog and Tumblr. Also being a pie enthusiast, Stephen naturally has a pie blog.
Posted on 5/20/2013
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has been visiting India, and this has led to a variety of protocols, agreements, and 'memoranda of understanding' getting signed, as the two nations try to work more closely together in a number of areas.
There's exciting stuff like 'coöperation in the field of sewage treatment' (something we certainly want the two most populous countries in the world to coöperate on) and 'coöperation in the field of water efficient irrigation'
The one I'm most curious about, however, is number six: the "Memorandum of Understanding [...] on Cooperation in Mutual Translation and Publication of Classic and Contemporary Works".
Yes, this:
MoU provides for a Joint Working Group that will coordinate translation and publication of 25 books of Classic and Contemporary Works of each side over a period of 5 years in to Chinese and Indian languages respectively.I'd love to see the list of books each side submits -- but regardless of the exact titles, it sounds like a very worthy undertaking (and maybe the start of something even bigger and better ?). Translation -- and cross-cultural exchange --, after all, is always something good. Add a Comment
By: Colleen Mondor,
on 5/21/2013
As I've mentioned in a few posts here and there, I've been slowly reading an ARC of Andrea Barrett's upcoming story collection Archangel. Her fans are going to adore this; it's everything you expect from Barrett and more - a truly fabulous set of stories. I love it.
The final story is "Archangel" and includes the main character from the earlier story "The Experiment", now all grown up and fighting in WWI. It's 1919 in "Archangel" and although the war is over, for these men it continues in Russia, where they are assigned to The Polar Bear Expedition and bizarrely, stuck in the Russian Civil War. I have never heard about this force which is pretty stunning as I heavily studied US military history in college (it was the main focus of my history degree) and I've read a ton on WWI. (It seems like I'm always finding out more of history that I've missed. So frustrating!)
Barrett does amazing stuff with the setting and characters and brings alive all the confusion and fear of this war-after-a-war where nobody has any idea what is going on. Because this is Barrett there is also a second character, a woman, who is an x-ray technician. The science history of x-rays blends into military history as if they were always meant to be, and readers fall in love with these two people so far from home and so uncertain as to why they are there and what will become of them in that miserable place.
You will read "Archangel" and hate war all over again. It's sublime - brittle and sharp and slices your heart. I ripped me apart a bit, this story, and the final paragraphs were worthy of a Wilfred Owen poem.
I can't wait until you all read this book - I just can't wait.
[Post pic: En route to Archangel, a group of 339th Infantry Regiment doughboys pose with their newly issued M1891 Mosin-Nagant rifles. From the Army Sustainment Bulletin.]
By: Mai Kemble,
on 5/20/2013
Lots of news and more art! Josh and I found out that we are having a baby boy just last week, I started a new book project with a new company (that for the time being is still top secret- although I was given the ok to post an occasional work-in-progress image so long as I blur any text and don't give too much away), and I still have final images to create for Fadenrot!
Phew!
I wish so much that I could post the entire PDF of my storyboards for this story as it is very funny... and I'm pretty happy with the images. I tried to be a lot more loose and a little more "cartoony" with the figures... I think it just fit the story more. So far, this has been a fun project!
I'm also well into the second trimester of the pregnancy and the morning sickness is truly behind me. That was SO hard. Four months of being sick as a dog, and sometimes for the entire day (!!), and just in a total haze... I missed feeling normal... but as I said, I am back, and working hard! :) This has been already pretty crazy but at the same time, I'm sure things have yet to change... hee hee... lucky for me I have plenty of girl friends who have just gone through or are going through this at the same time. I'm sure having a little guy to draw will be very fun, too, and hopefully, we can draw together in the future, my little bean and I... ;)
Fadenrot is always going to be my favorite client... I describe the way we work together to other artists and it is always the "ideal" situation/relationship... I get a theme (and these themes are always wonderfully inspiring and something I would LOVE to draw) and then I sketch like crazy these things that come to mind and my client picks and chooses what she likes... I do some revising, some fine-tuning, and then there it is!! A new image for her to print and show the world! It's the best... especially because sketching always inspires some really great ideas for me... :) It's also just kind of cool to see your art on clothing! :)
I'm just feeling very grateful, I suppose, and had to share... :)
So here are images to reflect what I am writing here...
First, our Benjamin Lee Yoshimitsu at 5 months:
Enjoy your time off. Happy holidays!
Happy Holidays!
This is actually nice for me, because it gives me a deadline to send my work in to you. I wasn't sure what editors did over the holidays -- if they kept reading or shut up shop until Jan. Thanks for letting us know! =)
To clarify - I'M STILL READING - I'm just reading the hundreds of things I already have to read, not taking NEW things.
Oh I'm not taking time off. I've got hundreds of queries and dozens of fulls to get through! :-)
Hope you'll still find time to update the blog amidst the onslaught of work!
Do you realize the date on this post - 2014. :D
I do indeed. I purposely dated it forward so it would remain on top.