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Title: CIRCLE SQUARE MOOSE Written by: Kelly Bingham Illustrated by: Paul O. Zelinsky Published by: Harper Collins Children’s Books, 2014 Themes/Topics: shapes, moose, zebra, friendship Suitable for ages: 3-7 Opening: Shapes are all around us. We see them every day. Have you ever looked … Continue reading →

by Kelly Bingham

Hello, everyone!

CONGRATULATIONS on tackling PIBOIDMO. You are awesome!

Doesn’t it feel amazing to know that some of the ideas you cook up this month may become real, solid books in the hands of real kids someday? Yes, that’s going to happen. It WILL. But before that happens, a few steps have to take place. And one of those first steps, for some of us, will be to take a close look at how we manage our time.

Specifically, our writing time.

First off, I would like to encourage everyone to stick with your PIBOIDMO momentum not only this month, but beyond. Maybe you won’t come up with a picture book idea every single day forever, but you know what? When you sit down to write, you will write something. And any “something” has a better chance of becoming a book than a “nothing.”

That being said: This is as good a time as any to evaluate your writing goals for the remainder of the year and for next year. Want to get published? If so, those goals MUST include making time for writing. Consistently.

Think of it this way. If you ever—for some crazy reason—wanted to run a marathon, would you only train a few hours on the weekends? Or the few times a year you find yourself alone in the house with quiet time? No, you would not. You would train and train and train, every day, no matter what, in “Rocky”-like montages of rain and snow and stairs and fists pumping in the air. You can do that. You can channel your inner-Rocky and do your victory dance at the top of the staircase of your public library, because YOU have the power of imagination AND the discipline of a dedicated writer!!

Let’s lace up your sneakers, tape up those knuckles, head to a meat packing plant to punch some sides of beef, and think about a few things, shall we?

1. Are you where you want to be?
2. Does your family know you are serious about writing?
3. Are you wasting time waiting until you have that extra room cleared out and your writer’s desk set up? Are you waiting until the holidays are over or work settles down or the kids grow up? Are you being non-Rocky-ish?
4. Do you make time for your craft and guard that time? Or do you feel guilty for taking time to write, as though writing is a secret, indulgent hobby that you should only do from 2 a.m. to 3 a.m. so that you don’t dare deprive anyone else of something THEY might need?\

“No, Kelly, I do not make time for my craft. My family/job/life is too stressed right now. If you knew what a big deal it was for me to commit to ONE MONTH of writing, you’d be awed.”

I hear you. I do. I’ve been there, too. I wrote Z IS FOR MOOSE while working full time, raising two babies, and completing a master’s degree. I had excuses a-plenty. But the thing is, I wanted to write, and I wanted to be published, really, really bad.

So: If you feel yourself putting writing last—due to external or internal pressure, guilt, mixed messages, embarrassment, misconceptions, or whatever—then I would encourage you to think about that. Again, it comes back to: Do you want to be published? Yes? Well, then. How do you think that will happen if you are unwilling to inconvenience anyone else in order to write for a few minutes a day?

No one scoffs at a pianist who practices hours a day. No one rolls their eyes when a doctor-in-training goes to yet another conference. Right?

Writing is a job. It’s a profession. It matters. So take it out of the closet, stop worrying about whether or not it’s selfish, silly, private, or whatever, and just DO IT.

Inspiration will only take you so far. Great ideas will sit in your folder if you only look at them every other Thursday. If you have a desire to be a published writer, then make a commitment. It doesn’t have to be huge. Try ten minutes a day to start. Just stick with those ten minutes a day. Take the energy of this month and keep it going. Take your writing time and guard it, protect it, and utilize it. You deserve it. Making time to write—even if it’s ten minutes a day—is the straightest path to writerly growth, skill, and publication.

[cue Rocky music.]

Now, let’s make magic!

I’ve been invited to share a tip on inspiration. I’d like to talk about one of my favorite exercises that I use for working through hard spots. It’s particularly helpful with the “what do I do with this snippet of an amazing idea?” syndrome.

It is the simple act of Brainstorming. It requires you to relax, open yourself to possibilities, and put aside your inner censor. Sound fun?

I don’t need to tell you where to find inspiration. You see it in your family, your pets, your garden, your daily life. You hear it in conversations between strangers. You read it in the news, see it on TV, or hear it in song. Ideas are everywhere, and once you begin collecting them, you’ll find an abundance. The universe provides. All we have to do is listen.

But what do you DO with those ideas? For me, this is the problem. This is where I often lose the flush of inspiration—when faced with the challenge of bringing those ideas to life. This is where brainstorming comes in.

DIRECTIONS:

1. Take your exciting snippet of an idea (a girl encounters a magic zebra, for instance) OR your character (a pink polar bear who feels he does not fit in). Write it down.
2. What happens next? Now list at least three ideas for what happens next. Nothing is too silly. Nothing is too dumb. Pull crazy solutions out of thin air. (The polar bear meets a purple penguin who invites him to Rainbow Island.) Write it down. You will create a list of possibilities—some of them a bit unexciting, some of them wonderful, and some in-between.
3. When you run dry on “what happens next,” then choose one of your strung-together storylines. Ask yourself, “What is the most expected way to finish this off?” (The bear discovers that it’s okay to be pink, and lives happily on Rainbow Island with all the other multi-colored animals.) Go ahead, write that down. Then ask, “What is something surprising that could happen here?” (The bear eats the penguin and turns purple, which he decides is even worse than pink.) Write that down.
4. Look at what you have.   You have one predictable path that you have thoughtfully laid out for yourself to avoid. No one is looking for predictable endings, after all. But you’ve also paved the way for more creative, surprising, and interesting developments for your story and character.

Take these varied ideas and begin developing one or two of them in simple thoughts, simple sentences. Just a few sentences, that’s all—no pressure to pound out an entire manuscript. In no time, you will have a whole MENU of magical zebra story possibilities. And that’s all you’re looking for during this exercise: Possibilities.

When the right combination hits you, you will know. You will start tacking on one additional thought after the other, after the other. And from there, you can lift your exercise into a whole separate folder and officially begin poking, shaping, and drafting a full-fledged manuscript.

If that particular phrasing doesn’t work for you, try this:

“My main character is___________, and she wants __________ but the problem is, __________.” Fill in the blanks.

Then below that, write: “How can my main character get what she wants?”

Relax. Brainstorm. Fill in those blanks over and over, in whatever way calls to you. Again—nothing is to be censored or dismissed. When you are done, you should have at least one combination of answers that grabs your imagination and has you to jotting down ideas.

Jotting down ideas leads to more ideas, which leads to stringing actual sentences together. And that leads—to a manuscript!

But we aren’t thinking that far ahead in this exercise. We are just playing. Shadow boxing. Jogging. Training day by day. So play, explore, create IDEAS. We can do that, because we’re open to possibilities, this particular month more than ever. Right?

Besides: we are writers.

So naturally, we write.

Kelly Bingham was a professional storyboard artist, supervisor, and director for Walt Disney Feature Animation for 12 years.  She worked on movies such as The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hercules, Tarzan, and Atlantis.  She earned her MFA at Vermont College and has been writing full time ever since.  She is the author of two novels:  SHARK GIRL and FORMERLY SHARK GIRL, and two picture books; Z IS FOR MOOSE, and CIRCLE, SQUARE, MOOSE, both of which are illustrated by Caldecott-award-winning Paul O. Zelinsky, who is super nice and wonderful and you should go check out his website and twitter account right NOW.  Z IS FOR MOOSE has been nominated for several state book awards, as has SHARK GIRL.  Kelly regularly hums the theme song to “Rocky” while huffing along the treadmill at the gym, and also while tackling sticky plot issues.  One of her proudest possessions is a recent photo with “The Naked Cowboy” from New York City. She lives in Georgia with her sons and husband and a passle of deer and bears. Visit her at KellyBinghamBooks.com on Twitter @kellybingham1 and @MooseThatsMe and Facebook Author Kelly Bingham.

Kelly is donating one picture book critique, to be used at any time within the next 12 months.

This prize  will be given away at the conclusion of PiBoIdMo. You are eligible for this prize if:

1. You have registered for PiBoIdMo.
2. You have commented ONCE ONLY on today’s post.
3. You have completed the PiBoIdMo challenge. (You will have to sign the PiBoIdMo Pledge at the end of the event.)

Good luck, everyone!

Here's a verse novel to watch for, rgz. You know I'm partial to the verse novel. Kudos to publishers who continue to give them voice! So, remember Shark Girl? You can read Kelly Bingham's full issue for rgz here. Get ready to see what happened afterwards: Formerly Shark Girl!



Kelly picks up Jane's story a year after the shark attack. She's waffling between nursing and art school. She's dealing with unexpected pain, a possible surgery, fan mail, and a bucket list for her senior year. The pages turn quickly as you journey with Jane through her choices, and she reaches satisfying conclusions.

Way to go rgz, for nudging Kelly to tell the rest of the story. Her dedication reads: "This book is for all the readers who asked for more of Jane's story. Without you, this book would not have been written." Brava, rgz!

Formerly Shark Girl
by Kelly Bingham
Candlewick Press, 2013

The readergirlz book selection for April 2008 is Shark Girl, a verse novel by Kelly Bingham about a young woman whose life changes after she loses an arm. Little Willow, Miss Erin, and Lorie Ann Grover gathered around a virtual roundtable to discuss the book.

Little Willow: I'm fond of saying that Shark Girl is 95% verse novel but 100% heart.

Miss Erin: When I finished reading it, I felt that the story wouldn't have been as good if it'd been told using prose. For certain "tough subjects," verse novels seem to make the story feel starker, more real, more close somehow. Does anyone else feel the same way?

Lorie Ann Grover: Verse is the perfect format to carry intense emotion about hard subjects. Shark Girl definitely deals with these. Verse allows readers to jump in and out of the poems. We have a chance to consider and recover and move forward. It's not as daunting as, say, an entire prose chapter on amputation.

LW: Lorie Ann, you've written multiple verse novels. For you, what's the most difficult part of the writing process? The easiest?

Lorie Ann: I'm actually writing in both prose and verse now, and I don't find either is easier or harder to write. What I do find is each has its own
benefits. Prose carries far more details; verse provides the punch because of its visual impact and structure. I love them both! The work in verse is to pare down to the essentials. The work in prose is to tell enough to create a real sense of place. I guess those are my goals.

LW: I write poetry from time to time, but more often, they are lyrics. I write songs, and they tend to appear complete with lyrics, melodies, and harmonies, all at once.

Erin: I write poems - free verse, mostly. I'd love to write a novel in verse one day.

LW: Write it, Erin!

Lorie Ann: Jumping in here. I don't write much stand alone poetry anymore. I just have so many novels I'm rewriting! Although standalone poems will eek out of me into board books. I love the format so much.

Erin: I adore verse novels. My favorites are Make Lemonade by Virginia Wolff and Loose Threads and On Pointe by Lorie Ann Grover. My favorite poet is Emily Dickinson. I have a book of her complete poetry collection.

LW: Emily is my favorite poet as well.

Erin: What's your favorite poem by Emily?

LW: I have always favored one of her most famous pieces, #288 - I'm Nobody! Who are you? I discovered #953 - A Door just opened on a street just a few years ago and like that quite a lot as well.

Erin: It changes all the time for me, but at the moment I really love poem #704.

LW: My favorite poem/passage from Shark Girl is this:

Their heads lean toward each other.
Their whispers reach my ears.
The two girls over there
fingering their notebooks,
staring.

If they would lift their tinted eyelashes
they would notice I'm staring back.
But they don't.
So I turn in my chair,
placing my shoulder out of their sight.

Erin: Here's one of my favorite passages:

You know the part in Cinderella
when everyone goes to the ball
and she sits at home, crying?
It wasn't because her gown was ripped.
It was because she knew
she was an idiot
for thinking
she could grab a prince.

Lorie Ann: I love Ghost, printed in light gray before the book begins. Here's the last portion:

Sometimes
a prickle crawls across my cheek,
and that right hand tries to
rise from the grave,
moved to scratch.
The fingers, palm.
wrist, and arm
that I remember,
don't know enough
to know
peace.

Erin: Oh yes, that one gives me chills!

LW: After Jane loses her arm, she has to learn how to write and draw with her other hand.

Erin: I was rooting so hard for her! I knew that she could get back to it. Her determination and bravery was inspiring.

Lorie Ann: It was a huge undertaking but so important for her soul and felt purpose. I loved the support she received from family and friends to just try.

LW: Does this book make you reluctant to swim in the ocean?

Erin: Not really. I guess I don't want fear of something that may never happen to keep me from enjoying something as amazing and wonderful as the ocean. What is meant to be will be.

Lorie Ann: Yes! But JAWS did that back in the seventies, I guess. Growing up in Miami, sharks were always on our mind. Sections of beaches get closed because of shark sightings in shallow water. (Lorie Ann shivers) It's a reality. I always think about it when I go in. And then the gators are in the fresh water. We used to swim in a sulphur pond with the gators. We got out whenever they came to our side of the pond. Water equals predators (sharks, gators, water mocassins, man o'war jellyfish, eels. Maybe that's why I love the Pacific Northwest beaches. You hardly ever go in.

LW: Don't tell Maureen Johnson about the jellyfish! My favorite sea creatures are otters. When I was a kid, I had a friend who loved sharks almost as much as she loved cats. What are your general feelings about sharks?

Erin: As long as I'm seeing them behind glass, I'm okay with them!

Lorie Ann: Scary, scary beasties that freak me out! Was I happy when my daughter fed the sharks by walking on a plank with no rails above the middle of their huge tank? She dropped chunks of fish to them? (She was job shadowing Marine Biologists.) Yikes! Although, most of my nightmares have orcas in them...

LW: Sadly, there are people who judge others based on their appearance. Have you ever felt as if you were judged on your looks, or on your abilities or disabilities?

Erin: Well, as an actor, I am constantly being judged by my abilities. It's tough, when I don't get a role, not to take it personally sometimes.

Lorie Ann: I'm usually quickly judged on my height. I'm perceived as haughty rather than shy.

LW: Any closing thoughts?

Lorie Ann: Thanks, Kelly, for writing a book to encourage readers to redefine themselves after life changing events. Thanks for inspiring us!

"Big picture, Jane," he says.
"You could have died.
Instead, you are here. You have time to find out why.
You have your whole life to discover
and rebuild."

Drop by the readergirlz forum to talk about this book with the author throughout the month of April. There will be a live chat with Kelly Bingham on Thursday, April 24th at 6 PM PST/9 PM EST at the forum.

Philip frog was enjoying a lazy day.
He's been to the park on Honeycombe Hill yesterday and today he was busy doing nothing.
Philip lay in the shade and closed his eyes. He'd have a little sleep and then maybe splash around in the pond.
Yes, that's what he'd do.

As Philip snoozed he thought he was dreaming when he heard a tiny squeak.
"Squeak! Squeak!"
Philip opened his eyes and looked around.
"Squeak! Squeak!"
He saw something move in the bush nearby and hopped over to see what it was.
Goodness! It was a little hoglet!
"Squeak! squeak!"
Philip gently spoke to the hoglet.
"Hello little hoglet. Are you lost?"
"Squeak! squeak!"
Philip was puzzled and frowned as he wondered what to do.
The baby hedgehog was very small indeed. It's little eyes were barely opened and Philip knew he'd have to help.

Quickly Philip hopped to Fuzzy's house.
"Fuzzy! Are you here?" Philip called.
Fuzzy came to the door of her house and smiled at Philip.
"Hello there! What's wrong? You look very worried Philip" said Fuzzy.
Phillip quckly explained about the little hoglet and he and Fuzzy ran back to the pond.
"Oh poor little thing" said Fuzzy as she gently picked up the hoglet and carried it to her house.

Fuzzy gave the little hoglet some warm milk and wrapped him in a fleecy blanket.
"There you go little one, now we'll try and find your mummy."

Fuzzy sent Phillip to have a look for Mrs Hedgehog and she herself ran to Mrs Bee's shop.
Hoglet was snug and warm in the fleecy blanket and had now fallen asleep in Fuzzy's house.

Mrs Bee came quickly with Fuzzy to the edge of the woods and they looked in all the bushes and under the hedges for Mrs Hedgehog.
Where could she be?

Mrs Hedgehog was looking for Hoglet and was very worried indeed. She'd no idea how he'd managed to stray, and now she was almost crying.
She'd looked everywhere and still she could not find her baby.

"Oh Mrs Bee!" cried Mrs Hedgehog. "I've lost my baby hoglet and don't know what to do!"

Mrs Bee and Fuzzy had met Mrs Hedgehog in the woods.
"Oh don't cry my dear" said Mrs Bee as she put her arm around Mrs Hedgehog.
"We've got your little hoglet right here at Honeycombe Hill. Philip found him squeaking in a bush and he's all tucked up at Fuzzy's house"

Together they headed back to where Fuzzy had left hoglet.
He was sound asleep.
Mrs Hedgehog lifted him gently and carried him back home to where his brothers and sisters were waiting.
"Thankyou all so much!" said Mrs Hedgehog and everyone kissed hoglet goodbye.

THE END

copyright@evelynsmith

(for faffajane