Sunday begins National Picture Book Writing Week, NaPiBoWriWee for short. The goal is to write 7 picture books in 7 days. Here are the basic rules: 1. Midnight May 1st to 11:59 p.m. May 7th: Write 7 separate and complete picture books. 2. You are NOT allowed to write the same picture book in 7 variations. [...]
Archive for April, 2011
NaPiBoWriWee May 1-May 7
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged NaPiBoWriWee, Paula Yee on April 29, 2011 | 4 Comments »
Oh The Places You’ll Go!
Posted in Uncategorized, Writing information and tips, tagged Book rejections, grandma's pear tree, inspirational speaking, Raven Tree Press on April 28, 2011 | 3 Comments »
May is right around the corner and with it I will celebrate the one year anniversary (or is it a book birthday) for my picture book “Grandma’s Pear Tree.” I have been very fortunate to share my book at many places this past year including New York for my first book signing and several school signings [...]
SCBWI Summer Conference 2011
Posted in Writing information and tips, tagged bruce coville, David Small, Donna Jo Napoli, Gary Paulsen, Jerry Pinkney, John Green, Jon Scieszka, laurie halse anderson, Libba Bray, Mary Pope Osborne, Norton Juster, SCBWI Summer Conference on April 26, 2011 | 3 Comments »
It’s time to register for the SCBWI Summer Conference. According to the SCBWI website, the conference will feature 3 days of agents, editors, publishers, workshops and networking plus one optional day of intensives, that can help you take your writing and illustration to the next level. The conference will be held August 5-8th in Los Angeles, [...]
I’m Firing My Inner Editor
Posted in Writing information and tips on April 25, 2011 | 5 Comments »
Last week Sarah shared a post that showed us the revision process of author Kate DiCamillo. I was particularly impressed with her first draft. It was messy, sparse on punctuation, and in general just a frame work for the story to come. One of my greatest struggles for my current WIP is the messy first [...]
Book Thoughts: Purple Daze by Sherry Shahan
Posted in Book Reviews, tagged ideas for high school English teachers, novels in verse, poetry, Purple Daze, Purple Daze by Sherry Shahan, Sherry Shahan on April 21, 2011 | 2 Comments »
I picked up an ARC of Purple Daze by Sherry Shahan at the 2011 ALA conference. From the publisher (Running Press Books): (Purple Daze) is a young adult novel set in suburban Los Angeles in 1965. Six high school students share their experiences and feelings in interconnected free verse and traditional poems about war, feminism, [...]
Making Pretty
Posted in A million and two reasons to procrastinate, Uncategorized on April 20, 2011 | 2 Comments »
Little bits of miscellany… Keys to unknown locks An elephant Watch bit Angel set free from its Advent chime Lizard Coyote howling at the moon Rose from an old boyfriend Dog tag too worn to read the name Kookaburra sits in the old (gum) tree Just had to! Still a work in progress… Sarah Wones [...]
Revisions of a Master
Posted in Writing information and tips, tagged Because of Winn-Dixie, Kate DiCamillo, writer's drafts on April 19, 2011 | 7 Comments »
Need proof that revision is part of the process? Check out this gem: Here you can read the first page from five different drafts of one of my all time favorite books, Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo. I think it’s designed for teachers to use with kids, but of course I find it fascinating. [...]
Cake Friday: Red Velvet Cake Balls
Posted in A million and two reasons to procrastinate, tagged Bakerella, Cake Pops, Red Velvet Cake Balls on April 15, 2011 | 6 Comments »
Son #1 went to a party and couldn’t stop talking about the cake balls. After a little research I found this recipe from bakerella.com, the queen of cake balls and cake pops. I thought we needed a little something fun today so I posted the recipe below.Red Velvet Cake Balls 1 box red velvet cake [...]
A Year of Firsts
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged dealing with grief on April 14, 2011 | 12 Comments »
“So, how are you doing?” This is a question that has been asked often in the last year and while it seems like sharing a simple greeting, it really goes much deeper than that. It has now been a year since my sister Wendy passed away and that simple greeting is letting me know that [...]
