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Answering your questions about Press Release structure. Timing: Press release can be “for immediate release”, or “release on a specific date”.  It is recommended to use the first preference since the latter may not be honored at all times.   Target: To whom the press release is intended. When targeting a specific group of people or professions, it may read like the following: Attention sports editors, Attention business editors, Attention entertainment editors.   Headline: This can be opted to write in all capital letters. Consider using shorter titles and make it interesting. Alliteration can be of help or giving tips.   Sub-Headline: This is optional. However, sub headlines are used to get the attention of readers and audience. This also provides a description of the target niche or specific topic.   Date: It is necessary when reporting, such as news clip or other events specified with a date. For example, a press release written for some key speaker for ... Read the rest of this post

It seems like I am always writing about books set in New York City! That is not intentional, but there certainly are an abundance of them.

I'm quite surprised I have never come across Where Are You, Little Zack?before. Co-written by Judith Ross Engerle and Stephanie Gordon Tessler, Where Are You, Little Zack? is a classic tale of "lost in the city." The authors have added in a fun counting exercise, so while 3 ducks, Brick and Brack and Thackery Quack search for their brother, they are joined by 4 busy commuters, 5 taxi drivers... you get the idea. They are also joined by 80,000 Yankee fans, but don't worry, you don't have to count that high. Of course, the brothers are united in the end (after traveling on the number 9 train on the number 10 track) and all is well.

Around here, we are big fans of Brian Floca's illustrations, but I think it's interesting he does not list this book on his website. True, it's not as spectacular as his more recent books, such as Moonshot and  Ballet for Martha, but his artwork is still appealing. Even while the duck brothers are still searching, little eyes can locate Little Zack playing among the many landmarks of the city. The search also takes the reader to locations high and low, wet and dry, crowded and sparse, and fast and slow around New York. The reader will certainly understand that the city is a varied and interesting place!

This book is lots of fun, and judging by the lack of reviews on Amazon, I'm guessing it's not well-known, which I find surprising. I think it would be a lov

Richard Michelson has written a thoughtful, intelligent picture book about the a young African-American boy and his brother who are bussed to Central the "white school." (Little Rock Central was a High School, this Central is an elementary school.) Richard Michelson's Busing Brewster is about a heavy topic, but while it does not shy away from the negative experience of the boys, neither does it pass judgment on the busing policy.

For the most part, illustrator R. G. Roth illustrates the city at the beginning and end of the book, evoking the urban landscape with spare playgrounds surrounded by chain link fences, brick walls, brownstone stoops and city lights out a bedroom window. Brewster and his friends play stick ball, a classic city streets game (with which my husband is obsessed). I also really liked the two page illustration of the school bus passing through the city, accompanied by Brewster's observation that the bus was passing a Jewish cemetery and a Catholic church. This not only  suggests how central to the community the bussing event was, but that a diverse community does not just mean black and white.

An author's note at the end of the book will help children place the story in a wider context. The story also includes a wonderful hip-hip-hooray for librarians, which I thought was a nice touch. It's a well-done book that deserves to be included in any study about diversity in our schools.

Want More?
Conversation with the author (and lots of artwork from the book) at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast.
Read an interview with the author at Cynsations.
Read Rasco from RIF's take on the book.
Visit the author's website.

Big Kid: I could be president, too. [Brewster wants to grow up to be the president.]

Starting in the morning when everyone wakes up, yawning and ending at night, when "moms and dads are home at last," Christine Loomis' Rush Hour is a rhythmic, rhyming whirlwind tour of the adventure that is every city commuter's day.

Little Kid is so obsessed with this book, he can "read" it page by page to himself. I'm not surprised. Loomis' uses words guaranteed to give any toddler and preschooler a heady buzz: "Whizzing, zipping, clickety clack, rumbling, roaring, jiggling, jumping, left turn, right turn, backing, bumping."

Mari Takabayashi's illustrations are busy, busy, busy, reflecting the crowds and bustle of the city. What I like best is the immense variety of experiences she illustrates. For example, when "people have begun their jobs,"  she doesn't stop at the standard police officer, teacher and business person -- there are more than 20 careers pictured. There are small details one might not normally think about: a man retrieves his mail from a row of apartment post boxes, a kitchen lacks adequate counter space, in the middle of the day, subway platforms are much emptier. It's the kind of city life detail I enjoy seeing in urban picture books.

Even though the city depicted is New York, none of the text is specific to NYC. I almost wish that the pictures were more city-generic, but of course my boys like to recognize the buses and trains they see everyday.

If your kid loves things with wheels, this book is sure to be a hit. But you might have to read it 12 dozen times.

Fair warning.


Want more?
Visit the illustrator's website.
Watch this you tube video of a crowded subway in Japan. Can you imagine if we had these white gloved "helpers" in NYC!

Little Kid says: Rush Hour, please!

The traffic lights were out in places on the drive to school & work this morning. It was busy. People were not stopping or taking turns. No police were directing traffic at the intersections. It was not the way to start the day.

It seems we will continue to face this problem, as CUC continues to have power problems. I wish the Legislature would address the traffic light issue with a simple law, and the police would enforce it. If a traffic light is out or malfunctioning, it should become and be treated as a stop sign. This slows traffic down--true. But then everyone knowns what to do, and everyone gets a chance to get through intersections, even if they're--heaven forbid--turning left.



Don Farrel's letter in the Variety today-here--is really good. The Governor, Howard Willens, Cinta Kaipat, and possibly Deanne Siemer all seem to be trying very hard to spread misinformation and fear as the means to combat the federalization effort. I know that there are important issues that the US Congress must tackle, but the CNMI needs their attention and an end to the current mess. We are stuck in this quaqmire, the worst of which may be listening to the distortions being thrown about by our current administration. Could we just get on with federalization now, please?


January in Saipan is my favorite month--weather-wise. The moon at night is huge, with a deep field of stars playing back-up. Days are sunny, warm, with a cool breeze coming in. Green and lush, tangerines and star fruit still plentiful. It's a tough life in the tropics, but someone's got to live it. :-)

Rolling Through Stop Stop Signs: Stop the Madness!...

This may be a rant apropo of nothing, but here it goes:

Why why why why why does no one stop at stop signs? WHY? I'm a pretty laid back kinda gal. I go with the flow, roll with the punches, all that stuff. But numerous times each day during my 3-mile round trip commute, none of the other driver seem to ever stop at stop signs. And at the 4-way stops--they don't take turns! It's anarchy! Today on my way to lunch the lady coming the other way didn't even bother to slow down, even a little. I'm on the brink of road rage.

I have a vivid memory from Kindergarten of the very first time in my entire life that I ever raised my hand in class to answer a question. (This was a big deal; I was painfully shy.) We were talking about stop signs and traffic lights and my teacher Mrs. Hill asked why it's important that cars stop at red lights and stop signs when they are supposed to. It was quiet for a spell and when no one else answered, my tiny hand tentatively went up. "Because a car might be coming the other way and you could get in an accident," I said. How very wise I was. If 5-year-old me can figure this out, why can't everyone in the greater Nati area who is on the road when I am?

Perhaps if all teachers go over this stuff in Kindergarten and each subsequent year of school and parents start talking about traffic laws at an early age, I'll be a happier commuter. I've spent a little time on Amazon to see if there are any kids books that would be helpful, and I found a few to share with all of you (who I'm sure are very good and conscientious drivers). I might have to stop in a bookstore soon to check these out, so I can start to read to Murray about the rules of traffic. He'll remember it all when he's 16, right? (At this point I'm sure he's onto the stop sign thing--he generally witnesses my rants to other drivers from his car seat).

There’s a strange phenomenon that keeps happening, recently: the enormous number of cyclists and even drivers who think that traffic signals don’t apply to them.  When I’m crossing the road, especially in a busy place such as London or Brighton, between the two of which I spend much of my time, I don’t especially wish to come across a vehicle, either of the two- or four- or more-wheel variety, when they should be stationary at the lights.

The number of times I’ve been about to cross the road, only to have to step back abruptly because of a cyclist, I’ve completely lost count of.  As for vehicles with more than two wheels – and this includes buses – this is my plea to drivers of them to not carry on until they cross the line and block the way.  This is especially noticeable outside the Angel Tube station, where I find myself two or three times a week.  Please – all of you – let pedestrians across without making them dodge your car/hummer/bus/whatever.  It’s not much to ask. 

Quite apart from the fact that dodging lights is illegal, it’s downright dangerous.  Those signals are there so that we can all use the roads as safely as possible and it’s only when someone thinks they’re the most important person using said roads that they become infinitely more dangerous than they need to be.

If we were all a bit more considerate to each other, I wouldn’t be writing this.  Car drivers may wonder sometimes why there might be a thud on their bumpers when they’re waiting at a signal but have gone too far across.  Look behind you – someone’s bag might accidentally-on-purpose have bumped against your car because it’s in the way!!!  Is it any wonder pedestrians get angry, sometimes?  We have as much right to use the roads as you, so when we get treated like second class citizens, it’s irksome, to say the least.

Car drivers, bus drivers, motorbike riders, I’m asking you to learn (or re-learn) a simple but extremely useful art: that of simple respect.  Perhaps then, we would all be happier when using the roads.

There’s a strange phenomenon that keeps happening, recently: the enormous number of cyclists and even drivers who think that traffic signals don’t apply to them.  When I’m crossing the road, especially in a busy place such as London or Brighton, between the two of which I spend much of my time, I don’t especially wish to come across a vehicle, either of the two- or four- or more-wheel variety, when they should be stationary at the lights.

The number of times I’ve been about to cross the road, only to have to step back abruptly because of a cyclist, I’ve completely lost count of.  As for vehicles with more than two wheels – and this includes buses – this is my plea to drivers of them to not carry on until they cross the line and block the way.  This is especially noticeable outside the Angel Tube station, where I find myself two or three times a week.  Please – all of you – let pedestrians across without making them dodge your car/hummer/bus/whatever.  It’s not much to ask. 

Quite apart from the fact that dodging lights is illegal, it’s downright dangerous.  Those signals are there so that we can all use the roads as safely as possible and it’s only when someone thinks they’re the most important person using said roads that they become infinitely more dangerous than they need to be.

If we were all a bit more considerate to each other, I wouldn’t be writing this.  Car drivers may wonder sometimes why there might be a thud on their bumpers when they’re waiting at a signal but have gone too far across.  Look behind you – someone’s bag might accidentally-on-purpose have bumped against your car because it’s in the way!!!  Is it any wonder pedestrians get angry, sometimes?  We have as much right to use the roads as you, so when we get treated like second class citizens, it’s irksome, to say the least.

Car drivers, bus drivers, motorbike riders, I’m asking you to learn (or re-learn) a simple but extremely useful art: that of simple respect.  Perhaps then, we would all be happier when using the roads.

Every week I get questions like this: “I don’t have a book out yet [or my first book came out last year], but do you think I need to have a website, a blog, a newsletter, be on Facebook and LinkedIn, and also tweet on Twitter daily? Is all this self-promotion necessary?”

I wish I knew!

A Voice of Reason

If you believe everything you read that “they say,” you might think you needed to do all that self-promotion. However, I’m inclined to think James Scott Bell in his new book The Art of War for Writers is closer to the mark.  In talking about self-promotion, he said, “The more anxious you are about forcing success through self-promotional effort, the less creative energy you have for the writing itself.”

Why? “Because,” Bell says, “the most important promotional tool you have is your best book. Period.”

Creating that “best book” of which you’re capable takes hours and hours of writing and revising, learning new skills, honing your craft, your heart and soul, your blood, sweat and tears. He cautions writers not to dilute their strengths by obsessing over promotion. (Isn’t that a breath of fresh air?)

Good, Better, Best

Bell gives an interesting list of the “ten best forms of self-promotion.” Only one item on the list deals with the Internet. He simply calls #4 on the list your “web presence.” Guess what SIX of the items on the list are. Your book. He says that a good book-and the word of mouth it generates-will do more for your sales than all the Internet marketing efforts put together. That has been my experience personally, but it’s rare to find such a successful author say so. Rare and refreshing!

Concerning the questions I receive weekly about Internet promotion: I think I’m going to start quoting Bell’s book from now on. His simple guideline for “how much” self-promotion to do is this:

“Do what you can without (a) taking away from the quality of your writing time; (b) taking away from the quality of personal relationships, and (c) taking on debt.”

Now that’s food for a lot of thought.

Every morning I drive through San Vicente to get my daughter to school and me to work. The construction of the four-lane highway is in full swing. I hate it.

I can't stand the idea of our small community school being situated on a 4 lane highway. I didn't like the demise of the Roundhouse.

But just now, I can't stand (even more than my dislike of the overall objective of the project) that it takes from 6 to 10 minutes to drive south the half mile or less from SVES to clear pavement. Ordinarily this takes about a minute or two.

Worse, I feel for all of those trying to turn left from Dandan and the eastern roads of San Vicente village. Cars are lined up 10 and 20 deep, with no hope of finding a space for turning. The traffic on Isa Drive goes in both directions, and is now so slow, that those waiting to turn onto Isa must wait for kindness from both directions. But it's hard to be kind to those waiting to turn when you've been waiting a long time just to go straight, and being kind to one will mean forcing the long line of traffic behind you to wait longer.

It's a mess.

A simple fix would be a traffic cop or flagmen directing traffic.

Of course, there is going to need to be a more permanent fix, so we don't end up with a dead child when the traffic from Kagman comes zooming along on the new 4-lane highway and fails to adequately slow down in the village when kids are walking to school. And probably there won't be any sidewalks added, because no one thinks of pedestrian traffic, even if it's our school kids going to a school right there smack dab in the middle of the village on the main road.

We're setting ourselves us for a disaster.

I just can't stand any of it.